Dana Petroleum commenced drilling operations at the Manatee-1 exploration well on the Bakassi West block, offshore Cameroon, according to partner SDX Energy.

SDX says the well which is located in shallow water in the prolific Niger Delta basin, will be drilled using Paragon M825 jackup rig to a depth of 1550m, with the operation expected to take up to 45 days.

The concession, which contains a number of discoveries, is covered by 350km of newly acquired 2D seismic from which 13 prospects and leads have been identified.

The location of Manatee-1 is in the South Western corner of the block, and has been chosen based on the seismic data which has identified strong geological similarities to the adjacent Abana field, which lies 7km to the southwest.
The Abana field has reported recoverable reserves of 85 MMbbl of high quality light crude oil which produced at a plateau rate of 30,000 b/d when it came on stream in 1999.

“The data we have acquired on this block provides strong evidence that this prospect is very similar to the Abana field, which has been a strong oil producer since it came on stream. In the success case of an oil discovery, we believe that an accelerated development plan could be put together given the shallow water location and the example set by Abana which achieved first production less than 24 months after the TD of the discovery well,” Paul Welch, SDX CEO said.

Manatee-1 is the first of two high impact exploration wells SDX plans to drill this year, the company said.
Manatee-1 is operated by Dana Petroleum with 55% stake. Partners include SDX (35%) and SoftRock Oil & Gas (10%).