On 23 April 2018, Savannah Petroleum PLC (Savannah) has announced that the Bushiya 1 well has discovered oil in its primary target Alternance Sokor âAâ Sands. Preliminary results on wireline logs, fluid sampling and pressure estimations have shown the existence of 10 m net pay of excellent quality light oil in two intervals of 3 m and 7 m respectively. The well has been suspended for future re-entry with a dedicated production test to be performed once the planned drilling of the remaining two wells is completed (see below for more information).   Bushiya 1 is located in the southernmost sector of the R3 block. Savannah Niger is the operator of the Agadem R1, R2, R3, and R4 blocks through a joint venture between Savannah Petroleum Ltd (95%) and Niger Exploration (5%) which is in turn 100% controlled by Savannah's country manager, Yacine Wafy. On 3 April 2018, Savannah announced that the drilling of its first prospect Bushiya in R3 block had started on 31 March 2018. The well Bushiya 1 primarily targeted the Alternance Sokor "A" Sands with the Upper Sokor Sands âUSâ as secondary target which was considered to be upside (see below for more information). The prospect had estimated total mean unrisked recoverable resources of 36 MMbbl.    Well name: Bushiya 1    Spud date: 31 March 2018  Total Depth: 2,200 m   Planned depth: 2,114 m    Rig name: GW-215 (GWDC, subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, CNPC)    Duration: 16 days to reach the target, operations to be completed in 25 days (over estimated 35 days)   Well cost: USD 6 to 8 million per well (Savannah, December 2017). Following the drilling of Bushiya 1 in 25 days, Savannah reported that the well cost was âunder budgetâ  Prospect overview:     -Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  R3 block area:  oÂ Â  DRILLED: The Bushiya prospect (vertical well) is located the southernmost sector of the R3 East 3D survey area and covers a surface of approximately 16 sq km. It shows excellent hydrocarbon potential according to the interpretation of the seismic data. Bushiya has the Alternance Sokor "A" Sands (Eocene) as primary target and the Upper Sokor "US" Sands (Oligocene-Miocene) as secondary target with a volume potential of 28 MMbbl and 38 MMbbl respectively.    oÂ Â  100% OF PREPARATION WORKS READY (as of late April 2018): Savannahâs second well (deviated 20Âº) will target the Amdigh prospect, also located in the R3 East area few kilometers north of Bushiya. It covers a surface of around 20 sq km and also shows excellent reservoir potential. Targets are the same with volumes of 33 MMbbl for the "A" Sands and 25 MMbbl for the "US" secondary target.    oÂ Â  The third prospect to be drilled will be Kunama which is the northernmost prospect in the R3 East area, right on the block limits. It covers a surface of approximately 12 sq km and shows excellent reservoir potential. The targets are the same with volumes of 24 MMbbl for the "A" Sands and 75 MMbbl for the "US" sands.     oÂ Â  Eridal, Efital and Mujia are considered as optional drilling targets in R3 block. They cover a surface of around 12 sq km. The targets are the same with volumes of 15 MMbbl, 75 MMbbl and 47 MMbbl respectively for the "A" Sands and 28 MMbbl, 60 MMbbl and 59 MMbbl respectively for the "US" secondary target.    -Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  R1 block area (DRILLING PLANS CANCELLED BY SAVANNAH IN DECEMBER 2017):    oÂ Â  The Damissa and Mena prospects will be evaluated once the seismic is done. They are located in the southern part of the R1 block and have volumes of 85 MMbbl and 54 MMbbl respectively for the "A" Sands and 55 MMbbl and 16 MMbbl respectively for the "US" secondary target.     oÂ Â  Kiski is considered as optional drilling target in the R1 block. It hosts volumes of 19 MMbbl for the "A" Sands while the âUS" secondary target has not yet been evaluated.    Note: Volumes are given as unrisked mean recoverable resources with an estimated recovery factor of 30% (CGG Robertson, December 2017).   The drilling operations will be performed through three phases: the first phase will consist on the drilling itself and logging of the targets. In case of suspended well, a dedicated cheaper rig will test the reservoirs in the phase two. If satisfactory results, a workover rig will complete the well for future production in phase three. The drilling will take between 35 and 40 days on each prospect with a 7 to 10 days transition period. Total depths will range between 2,100 m and 2,600 m. GWDC is the drilling company in charge and is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) which holds the operatorship in Niger's Agadem, Bilma and Tenere permits.       Savannah in Niger: timeline    Savannah was awarded the Exclusive Exploration Authorization for the Agadem R1, R2 blocks on 4 August 2014. Signature bonus amounted to USD 42 million.     Between November 2014 and February 2015, Savannah acquired an airborne Full Tensor Gravity (FTG) survey by the Arkex aircraft.    On 14 May 2015, Savannah reported that it had interpreted 680 sq km of 3D seismic data in the south western part of the Agadem R1 block, leading to 14 drill-ready prospects. The survey covered approximately 8% of the whole R1, R2 permit.     In July 2015 the R3/R4 licence was awarded to Savannah.    On 30 September 2015, Savannah reported that the restart of exploration activity might be subject to the introduction of a partner. In July 2015 the company received approvals from the Ministry of Environment to acquire new seismic surveys and drill new exploration wells over the R1, R2 permit. Upon initial geological evaluation, Savannah identified 29 leads on the R3, R4 licence.    On 17 February 2016, Savannah reported that it signed a contract with BGP Niger SARL to acquire some 2D and 3D data over the R1, R2 and R3, R4 permits. The start of the acquisition was scheduled for the first half of 2016.     On 24 January 2017, Savannah reported that it had completed the acquisition of an 800 sq km 3D seismic survey over a portion (800 sq.km) of its R3 licence area. The survey was completed two weeks ahead of schedule and on budget.     On 11 April 2017, Savannah confirmed that its three-well drilling programme will be focused on the R3 PSC area. The company would use the land rig GW215 which was already in Niger. Savannah also reported that the construction of the logistic camp had already started and that it was still expecting to start drilling the first well before the end of the first half year 2017.    On 15 March 2017, Savannah reported that it signed a Letter of Award (LoA) with Great Wall Drilling Company Niger (GWDC) for a three-well drilling programme with the option to drill 6 more in the Block R3.     On 4 December 2017, Savannah reported that it had extended its drilling campaign from three to five wells. The two new prospects to drill were Damissa and Mena located in block R1 with total unrisked mean recoverable resources of 101 MMbbl and 50 MMbbl of oil respectively. The company also announced that a seismic survey of approximately 500 sq km was going to be acquired over block R1. Drilling was planned to start in early 2018 targeting the Bushiya, Amdigh and Kunama prospects using the GWDC 215 rig at a cost of USD 6 to 8 million per well.     On 20 December 2017, Savannah announced that regarding several changes with respect to the transaction with Seven Energy, it had decided to drill only the initially planned three prospects in Niger and not to acquire the additionally planned 3D seismic over block R1 in 2018. It was understood that the prospects not to be drilled in 2018 were Damissa and Mena, located in block R1.  On 3 April 2018, Savannah announced that the drilling of its first prospect Bushiya in R3 block had started on 31 March 2018. The well Bushiya 1 primarily targeted the Alternance Sokor "A" Sands with the Upper Sokor Sands âUSâ as secondary target which was considered to be upside (see below for more information). The prospect had estimated total mean unrisked recoverable resources of 36 MMbbl.
Bushiya 1, op. by Savannah Petr. (100%) 1st of multi-well programme, R3 East area, in SE Niger, TD=2200m, results based on interpretation of available data set (wireline logs, fluid sampling + pressure data) indicate an estimated 10m net oil sandstones were encountered across 3m + 7m intvâs in the target Eocene Sokor Alternances. Testing planned, following which a reserves estimate will be determined.