5 February 2012, Dar es Salaam
– PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Ltd. (PAT) has announced the start of drilling of a new gas production well (“SS-11”) on Songo Songo Island, marking a major milestone in its US$130m investment programme intended to eventually double gas production capacity from the Songo Songo gas field.
The Sakson PR5 rig is the most powerful land rig to currently operate in Tanzania and will be drilling a new well as part of PAT’s push to increase gas production capacity from 113 million standard cubic feet per day to well over 200 million standard cubic feet per day in the coming months. With Tanzania’s power needs growing rapidly in line with the country’s economic development, PAT remains committed to playing its part to support the Government’s drive for increased energy supply and security, and to meeting the needs of the Tanzanian people.
“To start the year with the spudding of the Sakson PR5 rig is exciting and reflects the busy year that we have ahead of us. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with our partners to help meet Tanzania’s energy needs as we enter our eleventh year here in Tanzania,” said PAT General Manager, Andrew Brown. PAT is also planning the drilling of a US$35mn offshore well as part of the company’s US$130 million investment programme.
The powerful, 2,000hp Sakson PR-5 rig will drill to a depth of approximately 2,400 metres through the coming ten weeks. Well SS-11 will be the seventh well in the Songo Songo Field, which extends both onshore under Songo Songo Island and offshore to the west of the island in the Kilwa District, 185km south of Dar es Salaam.
PAT has played a key role with other stakeholders in the development of Tanzania’s gas industry since 2001. The company’s Production Sharing Agreement is in partnership with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and PAT is the operator of the Songo Songo gas processing plant under contract to Songas. PAT supplies gas primarily for power generation to the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) and Songas, as well as 38 industrial customers. The use of natural gas particularly for power generation has made a significant contribution to Tanzania’s economy, which is widely recognized to have saved over US$2 billion in other fuel costs to the country since commercial operations began in 2004.
About PanAfrican Energy Tanzania
PanAfrican Energy Tanzania (PAT) has for the past 10 years been the lead private sector investor in Tanzania’s gas industry, producing up to 102 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. Over 85% of this gas is used for power generation in Tanzania.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Orca Exploration Group Inc., PanAfrican Energy Tanzania operates a gas processing facility on Songo Songo Island on behalf of Songas Limited (Songas) on a no loss, no gain basis. The plant supplies natural gas through a 25 km 12\” offshore pipeline and a 207 km 16\” onshore pipeline to the power sector and industrial markets in the Dar es Salaam area.
Songo Songo is Tanzania\’s first major natural gas development.
About Songo Songo West (SSW)
Songo Songo West lies approximately 2.5 kilometres west of the main field and is mapped on seismic as having closure on an elongate north-south oriented tilted fault block trap. As with the Songo Songo main field, two reservoirs are envisaged to be present within the SSW prospect – the Neocomian and the Cenomanian, although the primary exploration potential lies within the Neocomian interval. SSW lies entirely within the Company’s Discovery Blocks.