Significant new information was obtained on a large deepwater block offshore Cameroon, according to one of the drilling partners, despite the lack of success on the recently-drilled Bamboo 1 exploration well.
According to partner Sterling Resources Bamboo-1 “provided significant new geological information in a lightly explored area”. The well, which spudded in February, was operated by Murphy Oil and was the first exploration probe to be drilled in the Ntem concession.
Drilled in a water depth of 1,600 m (5,248 ft), the well encountered all the targeted stacked Cretaceous basin floor submarine fans but without finding commercial hydrocarbons. Although the well was subsequently plugged and abandoned, Sterling said well data will be used to update its mapped prospect inventory and to assess remaining prospectivity in the block, pointing out that it covers 2,319 sq km (895 sq miles).
No outstanding work commitments remain on the Ntem concession, but the license runs until April 2015 and there is an option to extend it for a further two years, Sterling indicated.