Oil & Gas News
Solo Oil (LON:SOLO) PLC (SOLO LN, 0.63p, ? 7.63%) today announced an update on drilling of an exploration well, Ntorya-1, in the Mtwara Block of the Ruvuma Basin PSA ("PSA") in Tanzania with its partners Aminex plc ("Aminex") and Tullow Oil plc ("Tullow"). Aminex (LON:AEX) operator of the PSA through its subsidiary Ndovu Resources Ltd, has advised that the Ntorya well site was completed in late October and that the rig accommodation has been fully installed. The Caroil-6 rig, contracted to drill the well, has been successfully barged to Mtwara port and is now in transit 30 kilometres by road to the site. Rig up is anticipated to take 12 days and the well is expected to spud around the third week of December 2011. The Ntorya-1 well will be drilled to a depth of approximately 2026 metres and will test the Tertiary and late Cretaceous sandstone sequence identified in the Likonde-1 well previously drilled by the partners in the PSA 14 km to the north. The Ntorya-1 well is planned to take 30 days to drill. Ntorya-1 is the second well in the PSA and continues an active exploration program targeting the same hydrocarbon play as has already been proved successfully offshore. Solo estimates the Ntorya prospect to have a mean unrisked potential resource of approximately 100 million barrels of oil or 600 billion standard cubic feet of gas, and a chance of success of 1 in 4. Solo holds an 18.75% interest in the PSA, with Aminex holding 56.25% and the balance (25%) held by Tullow.
Xcite Energy (LON:XEL) (XEL LN, 94.75p, ? 7.06%) announced that, as expected, the Rowan Norway jack-up rig has been made available to Xcite Energy Resources Limited ("XER") and is now on hire, subject to a satisfactory audit and inspection prior to acceptance. Following acceptance and in accordance with the originally scheduled work programme in Dundee, the rig will be modified to accept drilling and processing equipment, before being appropriately equipped and prepared by XER prior to deployment to the Bentley field as soon as practicable. This is expected to be early February 2012, subject to suitable weather conditions prevailing and all expected permits and consents having been obtained, after which the Company expects to commence drilling for Phase 1A of the…
