Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- Invictus Energy (IVZ) has brought its Exalo rig on-site to its Cabora Bassa project and rig testing is now underway
- Rig testing precedes full operational drilling and drilling contracting crews are soon to arrive on-site
- The company’s Mukuyu-2 well follows the first of the same name which hit hydrocarbon deposits but not in the right conditions to support full production
- The second well is expected to pass through several hydrocarbon-bearing intervals along its mostly vertical 3.7-kilometre run
- Shares last traded at 17 cents
Invictus Energy (IVZ) has confirmed that the rig responsible for spudding the much-awaited Mukuyu-2 well is now on-site and assembled, with early rig testing currently underway.
The company is scheduled to perforate its second Mukuyu well in September, targeting what is believed to be a shallower reservoir compared to the one encountered downhole in Mukuyu-1.
Invictus has a vast prospective gas acreage in Zimbabwe, and while the first well didn’t quite hit the economic production target, the company has reiterated, both earlier this week and in the past, that hydrocarbons are indeed present underground.
Invictus has long been a point of interest for microcap investors on the ASX and is among the more well-known gas explorers with an enthusiastic shareholder base.
The company owns 80 per cent of the Cabora Bassa project, which potentially contains trillions of cubic feet of gas – a significant claim to fame.
Management has confirmed that drillers will arrive on-site soon.
“The final preparation of the well services equipment and independent quality assurance and quality control are nearing completion ahead of mobilisation of equipment and personnel to the Mukuyu-2 wellsite,” IVZ Managing Director Scott Macmillan said.
“This follows our highly successful basin opening Mukuyu-1/ST-1 well, with the campaign anticipated to confirm a discovery upon success.”
While described as highly successful, Mukuyu-2 was ultimately the result of the company’s decision to try a different location on-site.
Rig testing is currently ongoing on a 24/7 basis, and a mud disposal tank is being installed.
In the “coming days,” rig testing will be finalised, and Mukuyu-2 is scheduled to be spudded in the “coming weeks.”
The drillhole will be mostly vertical from the surface with a 12-degree angle inclination as the company aims to target several intervals of Triassic-age geology.
The planned depth for the well is 3.7 kilometres, but if undesirable pressure dynamics are encountered downhole, it could pose challenges in bringing the product back to the surface.
IVZ shares last traded at 17 cents.
