MDOil

SEYCHELLES WATCH

Activity

Currently Afren and Perth based WHL hold acreage in Seychelles.

WHL Energy have recently acquired new seismic over acreage (~22,000 sq km) formerly held by Petroquest and Afren have plans to drill in one or more of their 3 tranches (~15,000 sq km in total). Fugro are acquiring a large 2D seismic set, some 17,000 line km over the entire plateau.

It is puzzling why AMOCO left in 1981 and chose to ignore the Reith Bank #1 shows. The Enterprise well was a throwaway well and added nothing to the understanding of the region. As the Amoco wells were drilled in close proximity to each other the plateau (and beyond) effectively only has one well in an area bigger the Central North Sea.

Most of Seychelles 1,300,000 sq km EEZ is under water with less than 500 sq km of territory represented by 115 Islands. Two of the islands (Silhouette & North Islands) are volcanic and some 48 are granitic. The granite has been dated as Pre-Cambrian, the same age as the granite that outcrops in NW India.

The granite has supplied excellent reservoir sands that feature in the Karoo section. The same section also holds the main source succession. Oil shows in the Reith bank #1 and Seagull Shoals #1 wells contain biomarkers that can be attributed to a lower Mesozoic source. Numerous tar balls have been collected from the shores of most of the islands and the majority of these can be matched to the oil in the AMOCO wells using stable isotope ratio determination and biomarker data. There is then a potent regional source system. Evidence for a second distinct source may also be seen.

Exploration of this micro-continent commenced in the 1970s. Mobil, Burmah Oil and Amoco were the first to explore the region and this phase of exploration culminated in the drilling of 3 wells by AMOCO. The next phase lasted from the late 1980s though the nineties led by Texaco then Ultramar and Lasmo, ending with Enterprise drilling secondary target dues to water depth considerations.

Exploration was resumed in 2005 first by Petroques, now WHL Energy, then EAX now Afren plc. This phase of data gathering continues with new wells scheduled for next year.

Evidence for hydrocarbons:

Seychelles oil families

Tar ball data, ref AAPG Perth 2005 & Seypec

Seychelles tar balls

Airborne slick detection, 1991, southern Seychelles, ref Seypec

Tar ball data, ref AAPG Perth 2005 & Seypec

Seychelles Tar Balls

Oilsearch Seepfinder data, 1991, southern Seychelles, ref Seypec

CJMD AAPG Perth 2005 Seychelles oils poster (PDF)

Seychelles: WHL Energy reports good progress on Seychelles seismic program and offshore acreage acquisition

Cooperation Agreement between SEYPEC, Fugro and Geomahakarsa for acquisition of geophysical data

MDOIL Limited, Marlow, England,
info@mdoil.co.uk

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