Photo courtesy of Bowleven plc
Vitol E&P acquired in 2009 a 25% non-operated working interest in the Etinde production sharing contract (PSC), offshore Cameroon.
The Etinde PSC covers an area of 2,316 sq km in shallow water adjacent to the coast. It lies some 40 km west-south west of the city of Douala and straddles the Douala and Rio Del Rey Basins. The block is highly prospective, with multiple stacked reservoirs proven in Miocene deep marine turbidite sandstones and in the younger Biafra formation in the Rio del Rey basin, and in Miocene and Cretaceous reservoirs in the Doula basin.
There are a number of hydrocarbon discoveries – oil, gas liquids and gas – in the permit area, and while the reserves and resources are subject to an ongoing exploration and appraisal programme, we estimate the most likely gross reserves potential in the discovered fields around 60 million boe (oil plus gas liquids) and more than 400 billion cubic feet of gas. In addition to established Tertiary reservoirs, the deeper Cretaceous reservoirs are expected to offer significant exploration upside potential.
In partnership with operator Bowleven plc, we have an aggressive 2012 work programme to rapidly conclude appraisal of the discovered resources while continuing to explore. Our immediate focus is to commercialise the existing discoveries and establish production and cash flow at the earliest opportunity. In 2011 we acquired 100 sq km of Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) seismic to help target our appraisal and development wells. We are considering several development scenarios – with the final decision dependent upon the outcome of the planned appraisal activity.
The Etinde project is a core component of Vitol E&P’s West Africa portfolio. We are confident that Etinde will establish Vitol E&P as a significant upstream participant in the region.
Etinde PSC: MLHP-5 Exploration Well #1 prognosis