The well was drilled by the Noble Gerry de Souza drillship between July and August 2022 in 1140 m water. TD was reached at 5,290 m, similar to the 5 to 6 km TD range for the wells in this basin, and over 34 m of oil pay was recorded in the Campanian.
Baja is reported to be a down-dip lobe of the Krabdagu depositional system, which was successfully drilled to the west in Block 58 by APA and TotalEnergies. APA have been working on Block 53 a number of years, and drilled the Popokai 1 well (oil shows) in 2015. In 2017, the current operating group drilled the Kolibrie 1 well to the east of the block, again with only oil shows in the Upper Cretaceous.
Most recently, in April 2022, the operating group drilled the dry Rasper well in the north of the block in 2000 m water. With 34 m pay and a number of misses, APA and partners will need to decide if this is a commercial extension of the Suriname Campanian play, but for now the area remains part of a prolific petroleum basin.
Petronas and ExxonMobil are considering drilling options south of Baja in Block 52, with further opportunities to stretch the model. Block 58 remains the most successful block offshore Suriname, and Total Energies and APA will continue to evaluate the commerciality of five discoveries there. The group is currently taking an extension to the exploration phase on that block, where they also plan to appraise the Sapakara field. The Gerry de Souza rig will mobilise to Block 58 for the Awari 1 well, located north of the original Maka Central discovery.
IAN BLAKELEY – NVENTURES
