AfrOil: Eco Atlantic strikes out at Gazania-1

UK-based Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas said it had not found any crude oil or natural gas in the Gazania-1 exploration well at Block 2B offshore South Africa in the Orange basin.

In a statement dated November 18, Eco Atlantic said it had sunk Gazania-1 to the target depth of 2,360 metres after spudding it on October 10. Since there is no evidence that the well holds hydrocarbons in commercial quantities, it will now be plugged and abandoned, the company said.

Colin Kinley, Eco Atlantic’s co-founder and COO, explained that results from the Gazania-1 well had not been entirely disappointing in light of a previous discovery at the AJ-1 exploration well. “Gases normally associated with light oil were encountered throughout the drilling of the Gazania-1 well,” he said. “This, in our view, confirms [that] the active hydrocarbon system, proven by the A-J1 discovery well in 1988, extends to the part of the basin where the Gazania-1 well is located. Further seismic interpretation will likely lead to the definition of viable areas for trapping downdip of Gazania-1 closer to the 1988 oil discovery A-J1.”