The results of the tests on the wells drilled as part of the gas exploration at the Búzi Block, in Mozambique’s Sedimentary Basin, may be known within a month.
As part of the research, the Indonesian company Buzi Hydrocarbons PTE Limitada (BHPL), which holds the rights to the concession, in partnership with the Mozambican company Empresa Moçambicana de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), drilled two wells, whose preliminary tests confirm the existence of gas.
After completing the drilling of the wells, at the end of August the company began tests to determine the quantities and commercial viability of the gas discovered.
Work on drilling the wells began in early 2020, but was interrupted when work was being done on the second hole, designated BS-2 (Búzi Supercial-2), due to Covid-19.
At the time, the hole had reached a depth of 836 metres of the programmed1548, and was located at a distance of a thousand metres from the first, designated BS-1.
According to daily newspaper Jornal Notícias, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Petroleum Institute (INP), Carlos Zacarias, said that tests on well BS-1 had been completed and the results were encouraging.
BS-1, which was also run last year, reached a total depth of 1 567 metres (on 10 March 2020) and at the time there were signs of natural gas occurring.
“Therefore, with the tests now carried out, the occurrence of gas is confirmed and the results are encouraging,” Carlos Zacarias indicated, reiterating that one should wait for the completion of the work on the second well in the coming weeks.
It should be noted that the prosperity of the Búzi Block was triggered during the colonial era, which led to drilling of the Búzi-1 borehole, in 1962, by Gulf/Amoco, which revealed the existence of natural gas in the area.
The last two wells now drilled by Buzi Hydrocarbons PTE Limitad are in fulfilment of the work programme agreed in the exploration and production concession contract signed with the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy in 2010.
In the first exploration period, BHPL reprocessed 300 kilometres of pre-existing two-dimensional (2D) seismic and reinterpreted1 650 kilometres of pre-existing 2D seismic, as well as the acquisition, processing and interpretation of 600kilometres of 2D seismic.
