Staff Writer
Reconnaissance field work at Invictus Energy’s Cabora Bassa project in Zimbabwe has identified additional seal potential that de-risks its potential to contain gas, a Special Report by the Stockhead has revealed.
The work has revealed additional exposure of the Jurassic-Cretaceous aged Dande Formation and possibly younger sediments approaching the southern Basin edge.
The report further notes that, additionally, a significant sequence of mud rock inter-bedded with sandstone, giving rise to typical ‘ridge and furrow’ topography, was observed for several kilometres along a section coincident with the traverse completed along proposed seismic line L35.
“Invictus Energy says this is an indication that the post-Dande formation contains a far larger proportion of mud rock than previously recognised.
“The mud rock sequences within this unit is consistent with the interpretation of better developed seals moving basin ward.”
This interpretation is further supported by elevated amplitude anomalies which may indicate the presence of hydrocarbons on the high side fault trap coincident with the previously identified Lead A feature in the post-Dande formation and could indicate a competent seal and reservoir pair.
Notably, these younger Dande and post-Dande sequences were not the focus of previous studies, which is why there has been little information on their potential until now.
Additional locations for further geochemical sampling and analysis have also been identified by the reconnaissance program.
Other Activity
Separately, Invictus has completed detailed traversing and mapping across the Cabora Basa Basin and has identified the optimal acquisition routes for its planned seismic program.
The seismic, which will be the first in Zimbabwe for 30 years, is expected to begin in 2021 once the rainy season has concluded.
This will be followed by a high-impact drilling program to test the petroleum potential of the Basin.
Invictus added that production sharing agreements with the Zimbabwean government are not in the approval process.
Cabora Bassa gas project
The Cabora Bassa project has the potential to host multi-trillion cubic feet of gas that could alleviate the energy shortages that are hampering industry and economic growth in South Africa.
It hosts the Mzarabani prospect that was defined from a robust dataset acquired by Mobil in the early 1990s.
Invictus has already inked supply deals covering maximum supply of 730 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas, which represents just a small slice of the project’s potential.
This includes a non-binding MoU with Tatanga Energy to jointly investigate the economic and commercial viability of supplying gas to Tatanga’s proposed 500-megawatt (MW) plant.
