Reconnaissance Energy Africa has announced its commencement of drilling operations on the first well (6-2), of an initial three well program, in the deep Kavango Basin in the Kalahari Desert of North East Namibia.  

Drilling Operations are being carried out with the Company owned and operated 1,000 HP rig (Jarvie-1), we are now drilling ahead to a planned 12,500 feet total depth (TD) to evaluate potential hydrocarbon systems in one of five major sub-basins of the larger, more laterally extensive, Permian aged Kavango basin.

The first prospective section of the well is designed to reach 4,800 feet in depth where intermediate casing will be set. Sidewall cores and well logs will be run from an interval of 1,000 to 4,800 feet to identify conventional targets. The well prognosis provides for reaching the top of the Permian section at approximately 4,000 feet.

While the second section of the well is designed to reach a TD of 12,500 feet drilling through the intermediate to lower Permian sections. While drilling the lower sections the Company will take whole core and conduct a full logging suite of all zones of interest (conventional targets and source rocks). A comprehensive state of the art logging program over both sections will be provided by Schlumberger.

The 6-2 well will be drilled with water-based drilling fluid providing ideal samples (cuttings and core) to be utilized to determine a range of petroleum properties and locations for future exploration and production wells.

Inline with the Company’s policy of implementing environmental best practices, ReconAfrica is working with Valence Drilling Fluids, a North American company that provides all organic & biodegradable drilling fluids which are fully environmentally safe, for many aspects, including topsoil enhancement and development. “We welcome the opportunity to work alongside ReconAfrica on this project as they are a company that understands the importance of environmental protection with proven results,” stated Gareth Eckhout, VP, Valence Drilling Fluids.

“Drilling the first three wells in a newly discovered Permian basin, where one company holds all of the rights, is certainly a rare opportunity. There are many important similarities between the Kavango basin and the Permian Basin in West Texas, one of the world’s most prolific producing basins, where I have been actively drilling and completing wells for many years,” said Nick Steinsberger, SVP of Drilling and Completions.

 “I anticipate the first well will take up to 45 days to reach total depth and initial analysis of all prospective productive targets,” Mr Steinberger added.

 “This important three well drilling program will provide ReconAfrica an initial assessment of the various Permian-age potential petroleum systems such as found in the age-equivalent Permian basin in Texas and Karoo basin in South Africa. Geological and geochemical analysis will provide details on potential, stacked conventional reservoirs as well as multiple petroleum source rocks. Petroleum source rock and stratigraphic analysis will provide the Company with a basis for assessing the timing of light oil generation, its expulsion and migration to conventional reservoirs for future production,” Dan Jarvie, ReconAfrica’s geochemist said.