Wednesday 13 September 2017

Total’s closely-watched Onesiphoros West-1 wildcat off Cyprus has discovered only non-commercial volumes of gas.

Talking to local reporters, Cyprus’s Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said the probe, drilled in Block 11 by Seadrill’s drillship West Capella, found less than 500 billion cubic feet of gas.

Although the result is disappointing, the minister said it is encouraging that the frontier exploration well found gas in a carbonate reservoir similar to that which holds enormous volumes of gas in Eni’s Zohr field in neighbouring Egypt.

The West Capella began drilling the wildcat in the first half of July. If results were positive, an appraisal well called Onesiphoros West-2 may have followed.

Total drilled the exploration well in 1698 metres of water, targeting a sub-salt, Miocene reef structure at a depth of about 3240 metres to 3540 metres.

The chance of success at Onesiphoros West-1 was about 26%, according to Total documentation filed with the Cypriot authorities.

In March, Italian major Eni farmed in to Block 11, bringing to the table its Zohr carbonate reef play expertise.