Statoil Makes Another Gas Discovery Offshore Tanzania

Statoil and ExxonMobil have made their third high impact natural gas discovery in Block 2 offshore Tanzania in a year.

The discovery of 4-6 TCF of natural gas in place in the Tangawizi-1 well brings the total in-place volumes up to 15-17 TCF, Statoil said in a statement.

The parties have till now completed five wells within 15 months and will continue with further wells later this year.

“Recoverable gas volumes in the range of 10-13 TCF brings further robustness to a future decision on a potential LNG project", said Tim Dodson, executive vice president for Exploration in Statoil.

The new discovery is located 10 kilometres from the Zafarani and Lavani discoveries. It is located in water depth of 2,300 metres and was drilled by the Ocean Rig Poseidon drilling rig.

Statoil and ExxonMobil are also working to mature additional prospects in Block 2 and have recently acquired 3D seismic data in areas of Block 2 so far covered only by 2D seismic, the statement said.

The Tangawizi-1 discovery is the venture's fourth discovery within a year, preceded by two high-impact discoveries with Zafarani-1 and Lavani-1, and a deeper discovery in a separate reservoir with Lavani-2.

The successful drilling results from Block 2 demonstrate how Statoil's strategy of focusing on high-impact opportunities is paying off and supports the company's ambition of international growth.

Statoil operates the licence on Block 2 on behalf of Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and has a 65% working interest, with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited holding the remaining 35%.