FAR in Dialogue with Kenya over 2D seismic acquisition on Block L6

Onshore Block L6 operator Australian explorer FAR says the company is in dialogue with the ministry as a result of the challenges the company faced in accessing land due to the ongoing security issues in Lamu County last year that hindered it to go ahead with a planned 2D seismic acquisition.

FAR Ltd says it continues to enjoy the temporary suspension of the permit work commitments granted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in the interim months after the company formally notified the Kenya government of a force majeure event over Block L6.

No technical work was completed in 2017 on block L6 due to continued issues as mentioned above. Once these access issues are rectified, FAR says it is planning to proceed with 2D onshore seismic survey.

FAR is fully carried through a proposed onshore well and a 1,000 line kilometre  onshore 2D seismic survey and associated processing and interpretation by Milio group of companies through a farm-out completed in February 2014 last September said it continued to suffer delays due to civil upheaval and security incidents in the region.

It was expected that the seismic will define drillable locations on primary prospects Mamba, Kudu and Boundary Anticline within block L6.

The L6 permit area in the Lamu Basin covers over 3,134km² with about one quarter onshore and the remaining offshore in water depths up to approximately 400m. FAR’s initial strategic interest was on the onshore exploration play which should there be a discovery could be readily commercialized. The largest potential prospect identified to date is the Kifaru prospect in water depths of 80-100m in the southwest of the L6 permit. This prospect and several others have been covered by a 3D seismic survey (refer Table 3). Block L6 has the potential to contain approximately 3.7 billion barrels of oil or 10.2 trillion cubic feet of gas prospective resources on a gross, un-risked, best estimate basis, as assessed by FAR and audited by RISC.

FAR’s adds it intends to discuss with its partner in the L6 joint venture (Pancontinental Oil and Gas Limited: PCL) on future of exploration plans for the block.

In Block L6 FAR has 24% paying interest, PanContinental 16% and Milio International 60%. Offshore FAR has 60% interest while PanContinental has 40%. FAR has said it will reduce its offshore interest to under 25%. FAR has operatorship in both block L6 onshore and offshore.