Staff Writer
Perennial water woes in the dry Muzarabani and Mbire districts in Mashonaland Central are expected to ease with independent oil and gas exploration company, Invictus Energy, prioritizing borehole drilling in its expanded Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.
Invictus Energy is working on a highly prospective 250,000 acres within the Cabora Bassa Basin in Zimbabwe.
In its latest Cabora Bassa Project update on Monday, Invictus Energy said the projects were in line with the progression of its exploration campaign.
“The prioritization of the second phase of our CSR program for the remainder of 2021 is the provision of water to communities.
“The Company is taking cognisance of the submissions from the Environmental Impact Assessment and feedback to our Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) from ongoing consultations with the local community during the current seismic survey program.
“Water, besides being the most sort after community request, is a key enabler to other CSR initiatives the Company wishes to initiate in the future and is the key to life in remote communities.”
Approximately 40 percent of boreholes present in the Muzarabani–Mbire area are non-functional most commonly due to a lack of spare parts.
“Priority in assisting with the provision of water will be given, in order of priority, to clinics, cattle dips and schools,” the company said.
Invictus Energy said it will rehabilitate, repair and drill new boreholes while it will also install four metre high water tanks on stands to provide water storage and where appropriate solar pumps.
“In keeping with the Company’s strong focus on local content, the fabrication of the storage tanks will be awarded to local contractors in the community,” the company said.
Tendering processes, according to the statement for long lead drilling items – wellheads and casing – have been completed and are awaiting formal award.
“The rig selection process is advancing and the company is in detailed discussions with shortlisted rig providers as well as drilling services providers.
“The process is expected to be complete by the end of the September quarter which will then be followed with the formal award of drilling and services contract.”
Meanwhile, in its update Invictus Energy said preparations for the seismic data acquisition are underway with 400km of line clearance completed ahead of the commencement of data acquisition.
“The maintenance and checks have been completed on the vibroseis units and mobilization to the field camp in Muzarabani is commencing. معلومات عن ميسي
“Data recording is scheduled to commence in the first week of September with the shooting of an initial test line to determine the optimum data acquisition parameters to suit the objectives of the program.”
The company said utilizing the latest generation STRYDE wireless nodes which are less than 25 percent of the weight of comparable systems makes the laying out and retrieving of the wireless nodes significantly easier and cheaper and thus the survey can utilize a swath shot methodology.
“This shooting methodology will in essence allow the company to double the seismic data coverage by providing an effective line spacing of 800-900m and provide a high resolution subsurface dataset at minimal incremental cost,” the company said.
Invictus Energy also announced that the seismic data processing contract has been awarded to Canada-based Earth Signal Processing Ltd.
Earth Signal are an onshore seismic and high resolution 2D data processing specialists and have worked extensively with our seismic contractor Polaris and onshore Africa.
“The Company is pleased to be commencing the seismic data acquisition in the coming days and the preparation for this campaign has gone well and all the equipment and personnel heading to the field. اوراق اونو
“We are extremely pleased with the performance of Polaris and the local field crew who have completed 400km line clearing ahead the data acquisition which will ensure that the campaign is completed seamlessly.
“We are also very pleased to launch the next phase of our CSR program in the Muzarabani and Mbire Districts focusing on the provision of water to the community as part of our ESG commitments under our exploration program. لعب العاب اون لاين
“This is especially important for women and children in the community who will be freed up from pumping water and provide them with more time for education and other positive activities.
“The preparations for the basin opening drilling campaign are progressing well and we are on track to select a rig and the service providers towards the end of this quarter and then commence formal contract negotiations and award.”
The Cabora Bassa Project encompasses the Mzarabani Prospect, a multi-TCF and liquids rich conventional gas- condensate target, which is potentially the largest, undrilled seismically defined structure onshore Africa.
The prospect is defined by a robust dataset acquired by Mobil in the early 1990s that includes seismic, gravity, aeromagnetic and geochemical data.
