First batch of Muzarabani drilling rig arrives on site

INVICTUS Energy, which is scouring the ground for oil and gas in Northern Zimbabwe, moved closer to its goal of finding petroleum deposits in the country after taking delivery of the first batch of key pieces of equipment at the project site in Muzarabani.

This comes only days after the company announced a resource upgrade of its Mukuyu-1 prospect to 20 Tcf (trillion cubic feet) + 845 million barrels of conventional gas condensate (gross mean unrisked basis) from 8,2 Tc plus 247 million gas condensate previously.

The exploration firm said this marked a 2,7-fold increase on a barrel of oil equivalent basis to the 2019 independent assessment by Getech Group plc, which estimated Mukuyu (then Muzarabani) to hold 8,2 Tcf and 247 million barrels (~1,6 billion boe) of conventional gas condensate, on a gross mean unrisked basis.

Managing director Scott MacMillan confirmed the arrival of the key pieces of the Exalo rig 2020 at the Mukuyu-1 wellsite on Thursday last week, but pointed out that the bulk of the equipment was expected at site over the next three to four weeks.

He said a total of 20 trucks, weighing mostly 30 tonnes but also up 47 tonnes heavier hitch loaders went down the Mavuradona range on Thursday carrying heavy loads of equipment ahead of exploration drilling scheduled to start at the end of this month.

Mr MacMillan said the company expected to “have another 150 plus loads arriving over the next 3-4 weeks” carrying more rig equipment and “other materials like cement, chemicals, etc”.

Once all the rig equipment, which is coming from Songo Songo in Tanzania where it was contracted for similar work, and other materials, Invictus will commence the exploration drilling, the first ever in Zimbabwe.

Up to US$25 million is expected to be invested in the drilling programme per well under the planned two-well drilling programme to test the commercial presence of oil and gas in Muzarabani and Mbire districts of Mashonaland Central Province.

Reinterpretation of data gathered by American oil giant Mobil in the early 90s and results from its own primary data collection, through Canada’s Polaris Natural Resources, have produced evidence supporting possible existence of rich hydrocarbon deposits in the area.

Commercial discovery of oil or gas by Invictus Energy, an Australian Stock Exchange listed junior, is expected to go a long way in making Zimbabwe, a net importer of petroleum, which also faces acute shortage of power, energy self-sufficient.

Speaking onsite following the arrival of the first truckloads carrying Mr MacMillan said the project could “the future of Invictus and Zimbabwe” “if we are successful with our exploration programme”.President Mnangagwa, speaking at the launch of the Petroleum Exploration Development and Production Agreement (PEDA) with Invictus at State House last year, said that the PEDPA represented major strides in Zimbabwe’s efforts to tap into its oil and gas deposits, which is a new territory in the country’s mining sector.

The PEDPA provides the framework for progression of the Cabora Bassa Project through the exploration, appraisal, development and production phases, the obligations and rights of each party, the minimum work program obligations to maintain the licence in good standing, and the security of tenure for the project duration.

The parties will also sign a proposed Petroleum Production and Sharing Agreement (PPSA) — administered by the Ministry of Energy and Power Development , which contains the fiscal provisions of the project, including Zimbabwe’s profit/production share.

Further, apart from driving development and investment in the area around Muzarabani and Mbire districts and rest of the province through Invictus social corporate responsibility programmes, the project will prioritise locals for most job opportunities.

According to Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe chief executive Isaac Kwesu, this shows that the investors are serious with their investment projects and are committed to their development and that of the country.

“The coming in of such equipment is a positive development as they are still in the exploration stage, but this means that the investors are serious and believe it is worth following up on,” Kwesu said.

Mr Kwesu added that, “This is a precursor to the development of the project, which is a good indicator for the mining sector and the country at large.”

He said he believed that if the project does take off as shown and performs in tandem with predictions of geo survey reports, then it could have great benefit to the mining sector and the national economy at large.

“Such projects will result in the betterment of social and economic development of the country. It will also result in the development of the surrounding areas of Muzarabani and Dande,” Kwesu added.-The Herald