Zimbabwe discovers oil, gas and helium near border with Mozambique
The Australian oil and gas company Invictus Energy announced on Monday a discovery of light oil, gas and helium in northern Zimbabwe, near the border with Mozambique, after months of exploration.
The discovery comes 30 years after US giant ExxonMobil gave up its quest to secure crude oil in the area.
According to Invictus Energy Managing Director Scott MacMillan, cited by the international media, the result “definitively proves the presence of hydrocarbons in multiple reservoir pay zones at one of the wells.”
“Analysis shows the presence of light oil and rich natural gas condensate, with condensate gas ratios estimated at between 30 and 135 barrels per million cubic feet”, he said.
Invictus Energy signed the exploration, development and production deal with Zimbabwe in 2018 and it plans to build a gas-to-power facility to supply the national grid, at a moment when Zimbabwe is suffering severe power outages of up to 19 hours a day.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government will take as much as 60 per cent of the project’s output under an agreement with Invictus Energy.
The find could lead to Zimbabwe’s first gas production and help improve power supplies in a country plagued by dire electricity shortages.
Exploration started in August some 200 kilometres north of Harare in a field that is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Invictus plans to drill a second well, Mukuyu-2, during the third quarter of this year.
“Success at Mukuyu-2 and confirmation of a significant discovery will further unlock the value of our material portfolio”, said McMillan.
(AIM)
