Tullow Discovers Oil in Odum Well, to Suspend Ngassa Well

UK-based exploration and production firm Tullow Oil has announced an oil discovery in the Odum-1 exploration well in Ghana and has decided to suspend the nearby Ngassa exploration well and re-drill from an alternative location.

Odum-1, the second exploration well drilled on the West Cape Three Points license offshore Ghana, has discovered a commercial light oil accumulation based on the results of drilling, wireline logs and a sample of the reservoir fluid.

The well, in water depths of 955m, has been drilled to a depth of 3,387m and has encountered a gross oil column of 60m. Following completion of drilling operations on Odum-1, the well will be suspended as a future development well and the Songa Saturn drillship will move to drill Mahogany-2, the next appraisal well on the Jubilee field.

While appraisal of the upside of Jubilee is ongoing, the field partnership is also working on plans for a phased development of the field. The Eirik Raude fifth-generation semi-submersible rig has been contracted for a minimum of three years and is said to be a critical element in Tullow’s plan to target first oil in 2010.

Drilling difficulties on Ngassa-1 were accentuated by the necessary high-angle deviation of this long-reach well through thick claystones close to a major fault zone. The well trajectory was reportedly selected on the best available 2D seismic data and on the basis of the location’s minimal environmental footprint.