FAR Ltd. and joint venture (JV) partners ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Cairn Energy Plc (LONDON: CNE.L) and the government of Senegal’s Petrosen planned a first-phase work program to evaluate the SNE-1 and FAN-1 discovery areas offshore Senegal, FAR said April 13.

The SNE-1 and FAN-1 wells were the first deepwater wells drilled offshore Senegal in 26 years, the company said. They discovered oil and yielded key data for updating predrill geological models.

Two appraisal wells will be drilled to assess the SNE-1 area, and one will assess a shelf prospect, FAR added. FAN-1 will also be evaluated. A 3-D seismic survey will be run in part of the Sangomar and Rufisque blocks, and an evaluation work program will be sent to the government of Senegal in May.

A notice of discoveries was sent to the government in November 2014, and since then the JV has done detailed analysis of the wells’ data, geological studies and 3-D processing. Based on current data, FAR reassessed its portfolio of leads and prospects, the company added.

The SNE-1 area is thought to hold 330 MMbbls. It is the more attractive discovery for early evaluation, and will be the initial focus of the evaluation work program, FAR said. The SNE field has both an oil column and an overlying gas column in stacked Albian clastic reservoirs. This field was the second in a two-well exploration program discovered in 2014. The SNE-1 well was drilled in 1,100 m of water on the geological shelf edge.

Cairn is the operator. It estimates that about 200 MMbbl is the minimum economic field size for a standalone development. The reserves will be evaluated for commercial development.

AN FPSO is included in Cairn’s concept for field development. FAR said the probability of encountering hydrocarbons on shelf prospects ranges from 33% to 52%.

Cairn is searching for a rig for the evaluation program. Cairn said recently that wells offshore Senegal could be drilled for US$30 million to US$40 million each, and added that the firm drilling program might cost about US$150 million. FAR’s share would be about US$25 million (AU$33 million).

FAR Ltd. is based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Offshore