Sonangol Declares Zalophus-1 Commercial
Angolan state Sonangol has declared the Zalophus-1 well drilled on deepwater Block 20/11 a commercial gas discovery, reported state news agency Angop late on June 21, citing a Sonangol press release that it was sent the same day.
The release – not posted on Sonangol’s website – said the well, drilled in water depth of 1.83km that reached a final depth of 5.21km, encountered a hydrocarbon column of 44 meters of net pay in the pre-salt layer, the preliminary resource estimates for which it estimated at 2.8 trillion ft3 (79.3bn m3) of gas plus 313mn bbls condensate, so a total of 813mn bbls oil equivalent. Sonangol, as concessionaire, would contact the block’s US operator Cobalt to discuss options for developing and monetising the gas and condensates, the release added.
Cobalt -- which has a 40% stake in Block 20/11, alongside Sonangol and BP each with 30% -- said May 3 it had completed drilling the Zalophus-1 discovery, its sixth offshore Angola and its third find on Block 20.
Sonangol holds its first board meeting with Isabel dos Santos, 5th from left, in the chair on June 9 (Photo credit: Sonangol)
Last year Cobalt agreed to sell its 40% interests in blocks 21/09 and 20/11 to Sonangol for $1.75bn. On May 3 this year, Cobalt said that while both companies want to complete the transaction, it requires Angolan government approval, but insisted Luanda had not withdrawn support for the deal. There was nothing in the Angop report to suggest the deal had yet been finalised.
Cobalt would expect to be refunded any Angolan Block 20 and 21 drilling expenses that it has incurred since the deal was agreed last year.
Mark Smedley | www.naturalgasafrica.com