AGS set to launch 3D seismic study of Ruvuma in mid-December

Africa Geophysical Services (AGS) of Oman is reportedly on track to launch the first phase of a 3D seismic survey programme at the Ruvuma block in southern Tanzania in mid-December.

In a statement, UK-based Aminex, a non-operating partner in the joint venture set up to develop the block, said that AGS had begun preparatory work at the licence area on November 15. Since then, the company noted, the Omani firm has established its GPS control points and has started calibrating its survey equipment for ground staking. It is now due to begin line-clearing work and to mobilise its camp within a week, it reported.

AGS is also working to mobilise equipment for the survey, Aminex said, citing information from the operator of the Ruvuma block – ARA Petroleum Tanzania (APT), a subsidiary of ARA Petroleum of Oman. As of December 2, it noted, the company’s five vibroseis trucks were ready to be unloaded at the port of Dar Es Salaam, and efforts to import receivers were moving forward and slated to be wrapped up within a week.

These activities will allow AGS to achieve full mobilisation and begin its survey on December 15 as anticipated, Aminex said. It noted that the contractor was slated to collect as much data as possible over the next few months, weather permitting, and would then ramp up its activity after the end of the next rainy season in the late quarter of 2022.

Charlie Santos, the executive chairman of Aminex, called the start of 3D seismic work at Ruvuma a positive development. “We are delighted to provide this update on operations on the ground in Tanzania,” he said. “The acquisition of a modern 3D survey over the target area, including the Ntorya discovery, is a significant step for the joint venture and, tied with the upcoming well, will further define this important Tanzanian gas resource.”

According to previous reports, the seismic survey will allow Aminex and APT’s contractor to collect about 338 square km of 3D seismic data from Ruvuma. The programme will focus primarily on the area where the joint venture partners hope to drill the Chikumbi-1 exploration well in the third quarter of 2022.

The exploration programme will help determine the size of the Ruvuma block’s gas reserves. Earlier this year, APT estimated that Ntorya, the largest field within the licence area, contained 3.024 trillion cubic feet (85.63bn cubic metres) of mean risked gas in place (GIP), with mean risked recoverable GIP at 1.99 trillion cubic feet (56.35 bcm). It drew up those figures after completing a technical programme that involved revised mapping and internal management estimates.

Aminex is the original leader of the Ruvuma project, but in October 2020, it concluded a farm-out agreement with APT. The two companies are now working together in a joint venture that provides for the latter to carry the former’s 25% participating share of associated field development costs, or up to $35mn of estimated total development expenditures of $140mn.