Australian-listed Invictus Energy Ltd IVZ.AX has started drilling one of two exploration wells for oil and gas in the northern part of Zimbabwe, Reuters reported on Monday.
The 3.5 kilometre (2.17 miles) deep well, situated in the Muzarabani-Mbire area, is part of the Cabora Bassa project in Zimbabwe, which is 80% owned and operated by Invictus through its interest in Geo Associates.
Invictus said in a statement that the drilling of the first well, Mukuyu-1, began on Friday and will last between 50 and 60 days.
Mukuyu, which will cost $16 million, is one of the largest oil and gas exploration prospects to be drilled globally in 2022, estimated at 20 trillion cubic feet and 845 million barrels of conventional gas condensate, or about 4.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.
Invictus Energy, who describes their company as an “independent upstream oil and gas company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange” has been prospecting for oil and gas deposits for the past four years in the Cabora Bassa and Zambezi basins.
The company said that Mukuyu-1 will be followed by the 1.5 km deep well, Baobab-1, which will be completed in 30-40 days.
Last month, the company raised additional $17 million to fund the drilling of the exploration wells through private placement.
Invictus Managing Director Scott Macmillan commented: “This is an exciting and long-anticipated moment for Invictus and our shareholders. Invictus, together with our partners, have methodically de-risked and matured the Mukuyu prospect and our Cabora Bassa acreage over the last several years and the commencement of our drilling campaign is a significant milestone. Mukuyu-1 is a world-class, basin opening well which, if successful, could be transformative for the Company and Zimbabwe.”
On their website, Invictus state that the Cabora Bassa Project encompasses the Mukuyu (previously named Muzarabani) prospect, with an independent prospective resource estimate of 20 Tcf and 845 million barrel conventional gas-condensate target .The Mukuyu prospect is an enormous anticline feature mapped on seismic data with over 200km2 under closure and contains multiple prospective horizons.
Mukuyu is one of the largest undrilled conventional global exploration targets with world class scale underpinned by a robust dataset including seismic, gravity, aeromagnetic and geochemical data.
Invictus completed the acquisition of 840 km of high resolution 2D seismic data in November 2021 which has revealed new targets within the Mukuyu prospect.
