Solo reports site preparations for Ntorya-2 appraisal well in Tanzania

Solo has announced that the site preparations for the Ntorya-2 appraisal well have been completed and mobilisation of the Caroil #2 rig from the Ntorya-1 well site is currently underway.

The Ntorya-2 well is located around 1.5km to the south-west of the Ntorya-1 well.

The rig and related equipment are being transported to the new site, then rigged up and tested, before going through any maintenance required and being taken on under the contract.

As most of the other well services have also been contracted, Solo estimates that the Ntorya-2 appraisal well is likely to spud in December.

Solo holds a 25% stake in the Ruvuma petroleum sharing agreement (Ruvuma PSA), which contains the Ntorya gas condensate discovery made in 2012 with the Ntorya-1 well.

Ntorya-1 well was tested at a rate of 20.1 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and 139 barrels per day of condensate from a 3.5m interval at the top of a 20m Cretaceous sandstone pay zone at a depth of around 2,600ft. 

An independent report by Senergy (GB) Limited stated that Ntorya-1 well has a gross of 153 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas in place, of which 70bcf are considered gross best estimate contingent resources. 

An additional gross best estimate of undiscovered gas in place of more than one trillion cubic feet is attributed to the Ntorya Prospect as a whole and is the target of the Ntorya-2 well, which is being drilled up-dip and in a thicker part of the sand body interpreted on the 2014 seismic data acquired to facilitate appraisal. 

Solo chairman Neil Ritson said: “Advancing the Ntorya appraisal and its commercialisation is now a key objective for Solo and we are pleased that rig mobilisation is now underway. 

“The discovery of gas in high-quality Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs in the onshore portion of the Ruvuma Basin represents very significant value and we look forward to confirmation of the spud date in due course."

The Ntorya discovery is located 20km from the 36in Mtwara to Dar es Salaam gas pipeline, which was commissioned in late 2015 and is transporting produced gas from various fields to gas markets in the north of Tanzania.