Oil Potential in Tanzania’s Ruhuhu Block placed at 3.6 BOE

Australian explorer Jacka Resources has said a prospective resource assessment at the Ruhuhu Block has set the highest estimate at 3.6 billion barrels of oil in both convectional and unconventional oil.

According to the resource assessment the 3.6BOE  include 263 million barrels of oil (MMBO) of conventional neogene oil and 20 Tcf unconventional gas + liquids potential (shale/tight gas and coal seam methane).

The conventional Neogene oil prospective resource estimates are a combination of play-level estimates and lead-level estimates.

Jacka says that he convectional oil resources have been estimated on the basis of average size and yields of the Mputa, Waraga and Nzizi discoveries in the Albertine graben of Uganda. These discovered fields – the first in the East African Rift – lie in a highly analogous Neogene delta setting with which Jacka is very familiar.

Shale gas and tight gas resource estimates on the other hand are based on a probabilistic range of areas likely to contain the thick early Permian high TOC shales and silt stones.

Coal seam gas prospective resources have similarly been estimated using areas anticipated to contain thick coals within a depth range considered viable for commercial CSG development with GIIP yields derived from the measured CSG holding capacity of the Ruhuhu coal while a range of recovery factors were drawn from a number of CSG developments in early Permian coals from around the world.

The summed prospective resource estimates Jacka however warns have not been adjusted for risk as the plays have no co-dependent risk elements.

Jacka reveals that conventional gas potential has been recognized in the Karoo section of the Ruhuhu Licence although it cannot be reasonably quantified as yet.

Following the assessment the Ruhuhu project is now moving to operational phase, aiming to quantify the risks associated with each of the identified plays with geological field work, an airborne gravity survey and a seismic survey planned for the balance of 2014 and the following year.

Should the project yield results Jacka says a number of commercialization options are available to the project, depending on the type of hydrocarbon.

One potential commercialization route for Ruhuhu gas resources has recently emerged, electricity company Tanesco awarding a contract to connect the south west Tanzania township of Songea to the Tanzanian national electricity grid. The 220kV electricity transmission lines will cross the middle of Ruhuhu Licence, providing a potential opportunity for power generation for all of Tanzania from future Ruhuhu gas.

(Figure 1). Transmission line construction is expected to commence in March 2015.

Nyasa and Ruhuhu Basins depth to Basement maps with Ruhuhu surface features. 

An exploration well is planned to be drilled on any identified targets before March 2017.

Jacka Resources is also in the process of identifying potential partners for a farm-out as the company seeks to continue with the Ruhuhu project.