Kinetiko engages drilling contractor for SA project

Perth-based explorer Kinetiko Energy has engaged a drilling contractor for a three-well programme at the Korhaan project in South Africa, it said on October 20.

Kinetiko engaged Torque Africa Exploration which has the largest fleet of drilling rigs in the sub-continent, it said. Two drilling rigs have been mobilised and the first is already on-site anticipated to spud next week with the second rig arriving two weeks later.

The upcoming programme to be drilled within 400 m of Kinetiko proposed gas collection terminal at Amersfoort in Eastern Transvaal where access and infrastructure are being established, focusing on developing new gas discoveries and potentially creating a five well pilot production cluster. The company has also engaged contractors to perform the well cementing and wireline logging all of whom are mobilising to site.

The three new wells named Korhaan-3, Korhaan-4 and Korhaan-5 are estimated to reach a depth of up to 450 m to test the gassy sandstones and coalbed methane horizons from the known coal beds that were intersected and observed to be gassy from adjacent flow tested gas wells Korhaan-1 and Korhaan-2.

The programme will comprise two drill rigs with the first rig spudding Korhaan-4 as early as next week and doing a percussion/air-drilled well. The second rig will spud Korhaan-3 two weeks later. Rig B21 will then drill Korhaan-5 using percussion/air once more, expecting all drilling activities to be completed by early December. All three wells will be flow tested after logging.