Whilst the operating group have not yet made any substantial announcement (apart from on time and on budget), ANP (the government regulator) has said the well found thin oil pay in the Upper Cretaceous clastic targets.
This is significant for the first well in this large deep-water basin, distal to both the Rio Muni and North Gabon basins. Light movable oil is often elusive to the first wildcat campaigns in these frontier basins, so an early indication of an oil source and migration will lift the chances of success here.
There are also some industry rumours that the Upper Cretaceous reservoirs are of good quality, and having sand reservoirs this far from the provenance is also a good sign for the future.
The well was drilled in 2,500 m water, between April and May 2022. Shell, Kosmos, Oando, TotalEnergies and Galp Energia have similar acreage adjacent and on trend, and further drilling can be expected in this frontier basin, where large structural traps can be found over the transform faults sweeping through the area.
