Exploration has returned to Bangladesh after a hiatus of several years, with ONGC Videsh (OVL) partnering Bapex and Oil India on the SS-04 Block (formerly Block 16) as part of the 2012 Licensing Round. Sinopec are believed to have the drilling contract. This is the first well on the block and would have been spud two years ago but for delays due to Covid-19.
Map showing location of the Kanchan-1 on Moheshkhali (Maiskhali) Island, Bangladesh.
The Kanchan prospect, located on Moheshkhali (Maiskhali) Island, is ~30 km along strike from the Magnama-1 exploration well, drilled by Cairn in 2007–2008, and plugged and abandoned with gas shows. There was abnormal high pressure in the deeper Mio-Pliocene targets of the well and these might be objectives in Kanchan-1. Shallower, normally pressured sands in Magnama-1 are also expected to be present at Kanchan-1. The prospect sits along the eastern edge of the fluvio-deltaic Mio-Pliocene Bengal Basin wedge against the Tripura fold belt, north of the Rakhine Basin. The prospect benefits from modern ocean bottom seismic data. Drilling is expected to be completed this month with the well at 3,199m in mid-December.
