Australian based oil & gas exploration company Baraka Petroleum Limited together with Operator and joint venture partner CNPC International Mauritania Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNPC International Limited (CNPCI), confirms the drill rig to be used for the drilling of Heron-1 has arrived at the port of Nouakchott, Mauritania.
The land-drilling rig ZJ50LDB, from drilling operator GWDC (Great Wall Drilling Company), arrived on 25 August and will be transported, together with casing and tubing, to the drill site
following inspection. All preparatory work related to the drilling, including relevant Government approvals, construction of an access road, pad, camp and facilities are well advanced and will be complete by the spud date, which subject to weather conditions, the Operator expects to be in the week following 20 September 2006.
The Total Depth (TD) of the Heron-1 well has been fixed at 3800m, with the primary objective at 2200m in the Cenomanian sands and a secondary target at approximately 3600m in the Albian-Aptian sand and limestone interval. The drilling of Heron-1 is expected to take approximately 73 days to complete.
Baraka founder and CEO/MD, Max de Vietri said, “The drilling of Heron-1 has been in planning for over five years ever since the data relating to the onshore portion of the Coastal Basin was first reviewed by us.”
“We are genuinely excited by this drill program, not only because of the milestone it creates for Baraka and CNPCIM, but also because we see it is a step towards the development of the oil and gas industry onshore Mauritania, following the country’s recently announced first offshore commercial production.”