FAR Spuds 1st Gambia Well for Decades

Australian independent, FAR, said October 23 that it has started drilling the Samo-1 exploration well located offshore Gambia, on Block A2. This is the first well drilled offshore Gambia since 1979.

The work, which is expected to take 40 days, will be carried out by the Stena Drillmax drillrig which arrived on site October 21. Samo-1, which is located at a water depth of 1,017 meters, will reach a predicted depth of almost 3,100 meters. FAR hopes to discover a combined prospective resource of 825mn bbls of oil, but may intercept gas because of its proximity to finds offshore neighboring Senegal.

The Samo outlook is located south of the A2 block and extends along the trend of the SNE associated oil and gas field in Senegal, where nine wells yielded nine discoveries, marking a 100% success rate.

FAR holds a 40% interest in Gambian blocks A2 and A5 and is the operator. The shareholders of these perimeters are Malaysian producer, Petronas, with 40% and Johannesburg-listed company, Erin Energy, at 20%.

“This is a very exciting time for FAR as we embark on our first exploration drilling program since the 11 successful wells drilled in neighboring Senegal,” said FAR's managing director Cath Norman.

Map courtesy of FAR