SOCO has reported that the Baobab Marine-1 commitment well has commenced drilling. The well is in the Mer Profonde Sud Block, located in the Lower Congo Basin, offshore the Republic of Congo.
The BABM-1 well is to be drilled on the RR Prospect. It will target stacked early Miocene channel complexes that are mappable in the seismic data, delineated by stratal discontinuities and variations in seismic amplitudes. Previous exploration drilling targeted different types of prospects, and the BABM-1 well is unique relative to all wells in and near the Block. The BABM-1 well targets gross P50 prospective recoverable resource of approximately 330 million bbls of oil.
The well will be drilled by the deepwater drillship Noble Globetrotter II and is expected to take 25 to 35 days, with a planned depth of approximately 3400 m below mean sea level. SOCO, with a 60% interest, is carrying 100% of the expected US$25-30 million well cost.
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock