OilVoice - SOCO Announces Spudding of First Well on Marine XI, Republic of Congo

SOCO Announces Spudding of First Well on Marine XI, Republic of Congo

Monday, August 24, 2009

SOCO International plc announces that the Liyeke Marine 1 well has spudded on 22nd August 2009 in the Marine XI Block, located in the Congo Basin, offshore the Republic of Congo.

The Liyeke Marine well is the first in a two well drilling programme on Marine XI and is targeting a Sendji sandstone prospect, previously called S1, above the salt layer. The well will be drilled by using the jack-up drilling rig Pride Cabinda and is expected to take 25 to 35 days, with a planned depth of approximately 1,130 metres below mean sea level. The follow-up well will appraise the existing pre-salt Viodo oil field at a location approximately one kilometre from the field’s discovery well.

The spudding of the Liyeke Marine well launches the most active drilling programme in the Company’s history, which includes a 12 month drilling campaign in the Cuu Long Basin, offshore Vietnam, one exploration well on the Marine XIV Block, offshore Republic of Congo, a further exploration well on Marine XI, and two exploration wells on the Nganzi Block, located onshore the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa).