Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Oliver Kazunga
Senior Business Reporter
INVICTUS Energy, which is searching for gas and oil in the Cabora Bassa Basin, north of Zimbabwe, says it has commenced phase 2 exploration with a two-dimensional (2D) survey getting underway in the firm’s prospective areas.
Discovery of oil and gas in Zimbabwe will make Zimbabwe a key global player in the energy industry and ensure domestic energy security, new job creation, growth of exports and new industries.
Seismic survey in oil and gas exploration refers to the process of using high-tech equipment to gather subsurface vibrations to determine the location and existence of hydrocarbons.
The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company said the exploration programme would help expand data on the existing estimated resource base, part of which has already confirmed hydrocarbons.
In 2021, Invictus carried out the first internal seismic data collection for the Muzarabani-Mbire oil and gas project to identify the best spots to drill exploration wells.
The current seismic campaign will incorporate the firm’s experience from the successful 2021 survey, which was similarly carried out by Polaris Natural Resource Development Ltd and helped inform drilling of the play opening Mukuyu-1/ST1 wells.
In an update statement released by the company, Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan said: “The commencement of line clearing activities for the Cabora Bassa 2023 (CB23) seismic campaign marks the start of operations for our phase 2 exploration programme in the Cabora Bassa Basin.
“The CB23 survey will cover a minimum of 400-line kilometres in the eastern portion of the Exclusive Prospecting Order 1848 and 1849 to mature leads (Mopane, Musuma, Machabel and Mahogany) along with the highly prospective basin margin (Mimosa and Mukwa).
“This additional data will help us firm up several already identified leads on trend with Mukuyu and in the basin margin play into drill-ready prospects.
“It is a key part of our strategy to build on the success of the recent Phase 1 campaign, which saw the Mukuyu-1/ST1 wells confirm the presence of light oil, gas and helium in the basin.”
He said this is just the first step to unlocking the potential of the Cabora Bassa Basin, with the seismic campaign to identify future exploration wells with the potential to not only add to Zimbabwe’s future energy security but the entire southern Africa region.
“We also remain on schedule to spud the Mukuyu-2 appraisal well in the third quarter-CY23 with the aim of confirming a commercial discovery and putting the Company on a pathway to development.
Last month, Invictus, from the results of mudgas analysis for its Mukuyu-1 exploration well confirmed the definite presence of hydrocarbons in line with the company’s geological modelling.
The development boosts prospects for commercial discovery of oil and gas.
It is hoped that the successful discovery of oil and gas in Zimbabwe would make the country energy self-sufficient, create employment, promote economic growth and development on account of the significant potential for value chain linkages.
In the 1990s, Mobil, a France-headquartered company carried out initial seismic surveys but decided not to follow it up.
However, Invictus using more modern data processing techniques, reprocessed the data gathered and found strong evidence that the underlying geological structures had the domes and traps that could indicate oil and gas presence in Muzarabani.