Country: The Gambia

Australian independent FAR has announced that its Bambo-1X exploratory well offshore The Gambia did not interpret any moveable oil despite encountering good oil shows. The well was drilled to a total depth of 3317 metres MDBRT within Block A2 just south of Senegal’s Sangomar oil field. FAR is operator of the A2 license with a 50% interest. Drilling consisted in the Bambo-1 well, which was plugged and followed by the Bambo-1ST1 well. The well targeted three key prospects: Soloo, Bambo and Soloo Deep with resources estimated at a maximum of 1.118 billion barrels and chances of success ranging between 7% to 37%. “The drilling and logging data obtained on the main well and the side-track well indicates that several target intervals in the well had oil shows, confirming a prolific oil source is present in the area,” FAR said.   While results are encouraging for future exploration campaigns, they remain a disappointment for FAR’s short-term prospects. The company went into default in early 2021, forcing it to sell its entire 15% interest in the Sangomar offshore oil project (RSSD joint-venture) in Senegal to Woodside Energy. A successful discovery at Bambo would have allowed FAR to enter development stage and continue to be part of the MSGBC Basin’s ongoing success story. Details on the exploration of the A2 and A5 Blocks offshore The Gambia are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

Australian independent FAR has advised that the Bambo-1 well offshore The Gambia has drilled 3,216m measured depth below the rotary table (MDBRT) out of 3,450m. The well has detected oil indications in rock cuttings and logging whilst drilling (LWD) data has interpreted hydrocarbons across several intervals. “Further wireline logging needs to be completed to confirm the finding,” Far said this morning. The company has also announced an increase in the drilling campaign’s cost after significant fluid losses were experienced, forcing the temporary halt of drilling operations. FAR is now planning to plug and side-track the well to continue drilling to the planned total depth. As a result, completing the Bambo-1 well is now expected to cost a total of $61.27m, up from $51.4m. According to FAR, the addition of the side-track programme has also extended the period of operation. Completion is now expected at the very end of 2021. Bambo-1 was spudded in mid-November and is drilling into a series of vertically staked targets with a combined estimated recoverable prospective resource of over 1 billion barrels. Chances of geological success range from 7% to 36%. It is FAR’s second exploratory well on the A2 Block after it drilled the Samo-1 well in 2018. Its main targeted horizons had then proved water bearing. FAR’s success case planning at Bambo-1 relies on a development of 150m barrels of oil via a 48,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Three wells would then support production, gas and water injection operations.

FAR has successfully spudded the Bambo-1 exploratory well on Block A2 offshore The Gambia. The drilling campaign will take about one month and drill the well to a depth of about 3,400 metres. Bambo-1 will drill into a series of vertically staked targets with a combined estimated recoverable prospective resource of over 1 billion barrels with chance of geological success ranging from 7% to 36%. This will be FAR’s second exploratory well on the block after it drilled the Samo-1 well in 2018. Its main targeted horizons had then proved water bearing. While FAR now targets the Bambo, Soloo and Soloo Deep prospects, the Bambo one is believed to be the most prospective of the three of over 500m barrels of estimated recoverable prospective resource. Equally important, the well located is just south of Senegal’s Sangomar oil field where Woodside Energy expects to achieve first oil in 2023. FAR was previously part of the Sangomar joint-venture before it had to exit the license last year. The operator is very familiar with the environment offshore Senegal and The Gambia and expects to prove the southern extension of the Sangomar oilfield. FAR already drilled the Samo-1 well on Block A2 back in 2018 but its main targeted horizons proved water bearing. A new exploration plan was put on the table in 2019 when both blocks benefited from new licenses, still operated by FAR (50%) along with PETRONAS’ subsidiary PC Gambia (50%). Likely Development Scenario In case of a discovery, FAR has indicated that 90m barrels would be the set minimum economic field size. Its success case planning actually relies on a development of 150m barrels of oil via a 48,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Three wells would then support production, gas and water injection operations. Map: FAR Ltd Details on the A2 & A5 Blocks Exploration offshore The Gambia are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.