BG closer to Tanzania LNG hub project following gas-rich offshore drill

The DST on the Mzia-3 appraisal well, drilled in approximately 1,800 metres of water around six kilometres north of the original Mzia-1 discovery, included sustained gas production at a maximum flow rate of 101 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), equivalent to approximately 17,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed).

"The excellent results from this latest drill-stem test further reduce reservoir risk, a critical factor as we progress design of the upstream production facilities and infrastructure,” said Sami Iskander, BG Group's chief operating officer. “Also, the Mzia-3 DST, along with previous appraisal activities, supports our efforts to optimise the value of a development across our Block 1 discoveries."

In May 2013, BG Group announced a test on the Mzia-2 well, the first done on a Cretaceous discovery in deep water offshore Tanzania, had flowed at an equipment-constrained rate of 57 mmscfd, or around 9 500 boed.

Mzia, discovered in 2012, is a multi-layered field of Upper Cretaceous age with a gross gas column in excess of 300 metres. The Mzia and Jodari discoveries in Block 1 are estimated to hold around nine trillion cubic feet (tcf) of total gross recoverable resources, with around 15 tcf of total gross recoverable resources, around 2.5 billion boe, across Blocks 1, 3 and 4.

The drill ship, the Deepsea Metro-1, will now move north to complete the exploration and appraisal programme on the Block 4 discoveries by drilling the Kamba-1 well.

BG Group has a 60 per cent interest in, and is operator of, Blocks 1, 3 and 4 offshore Tanzania, with Ophir Energy holding 20 per cent and Pavilion Energy 20 per cent.