The delay in organising equipment and the rainfall in central Mozambique have led to a delay in drilling the first onshore oil and gas test well in the Búzi block, in Sofala province, said the president of the National Oil Institute.
Carlos Zacarias told daily newspaper Notícias that drilling of the first well was initially scheduled for the end of last year, in an operation led by Indonesian company Buzi Hydrocarbons Pte Ltd., in partnership with the Mozambican state oil company ENH.
He gave assurances, however, that most of the equipment is already in Búzi, despite difficult transport conditions from Beira to Búzi, and that it was possible for drilling work to begin in the next few days.
The Búzi block is located in the Mozambique sedimentary basin, which is so far one of the least explored regions of the country in terms of oil and gas potential.
The only commercial exploration of natural gas in that basin is carried out by South Africa’s Sasol, in Pande and Temane, Inhambane province, which exports most of the gas it produces to South Africa.
The Búzi block has already been the target of surveys in the past, that culminated with the discovery of natural gas reserves in the 1960s, but the amount found was considered insufficient for viable commercial exploration.
Buzi Hydrocarbons Pte Ltd. is a subsidiary of the Energi Mega Persada Tbk PT of Indonesia and has a 75% stake in the Búzi block’s rights.
Source: Macauhub