Statement re Senegal Appraisal Well result

RNS Number : 6953Y

Cairn Energy PLC

19 May 2016

 

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 7AM                                                                           19 May 2016

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn" or "the Company")

Senegal Appraisal Well result

Cairn is pleased to announce the results of the SNE-4 appraisal well offshore Senegal where operations have been safely and successfully completed following drilling, coring and logging. The well is now being plugged and abandoned.

The SNE-4 well was appraising the eastern extent of the SNE field discovered in 2014 and aiming to confirm the nature of the upper reservoirs in the oil zone.​

Cairn's analysis of the dataset collected is continuing with initial results as follows:

Ø Confirms the extension of reservoirs in the eastern extent of the SNE field, more than 5 kilometres (km) to the east and down dip of SNE-3

Ø Confirms oil bearing Upper Reservoir sands of similar quality to those encountered as gas bearing elsewhere in the field

Ø The uppermost gas sands first encountered in SNE-3 and BEL-1 were also present and gas bearing in SNE-4

Ø Confirms correlation and presence of the principal reservoir units between each of the wells across the whole field

Ø A gross oil column of ~100 metres (m) encountered, similar to SNE-1, SNE-2, SNE-3 and
BEL-1 

Ø 108m of continuous core taken across the oil bearing reservoir interval with 100% recovery

Ø Multiple samples of gas, oil and water recovered to surface

Ø Initial indications confirm similar 32° API oil quality as seen across the field

Cairn Energy Chief Executive Simon Thomson said:

"We have now drilled four successful appraisal wells in Senegal and we are delighted with the results to date of the multi-well evaluation programme, which has confirmed the scale and potential of this world class asset. 

Operations in Senegal have been safely conducted and are ahead of schedule and substantially under budget. We have gathered a very large volume of data from operations to date and we look forward to progressing our long-term, multi-field, multi-phase exploitation plan to maximise value in Senegal. We see clear potential to access additional cost savings from the current lower operating environment in respect of planned future activity."

The SNE-4 well is the Joint Venture's (JV) sixth well offshore Senegal and the fourth completed this year as part of a multi-well evaluation programme to help delineate the shape of the structure and establish deliverability and full potential of the field. The Ocean Rig Athena will now be de-mobilised and the JV will continue integrating the significant amount of data collected from the four wells, including two drill stem tests and more than 600m of core.  This will enable the JV to determine the most effective way to further the appraisal of this significant oil accumulation and evaluate development options.

The SNE-4 well, located in 942m water depth and approximately 85km offshore in the Sangomar Offshore block, reached the planned total depth (TD) of 2,944m below sea level (TVDSS).  

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6953Y_-2016-5-19.pdf 

Enquiries to:

Analysts / Investors

David Nisbet, Corporate Affairs                                                                              Tel: [phone]

Media

Patrick Handley, David Litterick

Brunswick Group LLP                                                                                           Tel: [phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Cairn has a 40% Working Interest (WI) in three blocks offshore Senegal (Sangomar Deep, Sangomar Offshore and Rufisque), ConocoPhillips has 35% WI, FAR Ltd 15% WI and PETROSEN, the national oil company of Senegal 10% WI.  The three blocks cover 4,490km².

Cairn Energy PLC ("Cairn") is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Cairn has discovered and developed oil and gas reserves in a variety of locations around the world.

Cairn's business operations are now focused on frontier exploration acreage in North West Europe, North West Africa, North Atlantic and Mediterranean, underpinned by interests in development assets in the North Sea. Cairn has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland supported by operational offices in London, Norway and Senegal. 

Cairn and Corporate Responsibility

Ø Cairn is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and our core values of respect, responsibility, relationships and our commitments towards people, the environment and society are enshrined in our Business Principles, which are available on the Cairn website at http://www.cairnenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=282

Ø Cairn became a participating company in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in September 2013. The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies and civil society, who have adopted a multi-stakeholder approach to applying the EITI global standard promoting transparency of payments in the oil, gas and mining sectors http://eiti.org/

For further information on Cairn please see: www.cairnenergy.com

 

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