The oil consortium for exploration of the Jaca well in Block 6 in the São Toméan offshore announced last Friday the drilling of the Jaca-1 well to collect rock samples and fluids, which will now go to analysis.
Also read: Mozambican government admits buying Russian oil in rubles
Jaca-1 is the first exploratory well in the Exclusive Economic Zone of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) and the drilling reached 5638 meters TVD (True Vertical Depth), announced the consortium, consisting of the National Petroleum Agency of São Tomé and Príncipe (10%); Galp (45%, operator) and Shell STP (45%).
Jaca is located about 135 kilometers from São Tomé island and about 130 kilometers from Príncipe island. With the completion of the operation the well was “properly sealed” and the consortium will release information about the laboratory results when they are completed and delivered to the operating companies and ANP-STP.
In April, this first oil drilling was started, with the Maersk Voyager drillship conducting the operation.
Also read: Venezuela agrees to supply oil to Europe but with advance payment
“The start of exploration drilling of the Jaca well marks an important stage because it will allow, for the first time, the collection of more precise information about our EEZ,” said Luiz Gamboa, director of ANP-STP, at the start of the work.
In December last year, the ANP-STP and representatives of Shell and Galp promoted a round of presentations to the holders of sovereignty bodies and local, regional and civil society, in order to share information about this project, which, according to the former director of the ANP-STP, Olegário Tiny, is awaited “with expectation” by the San Tomeans for more than 20 years.
At the time, Olegário Tiny clarified that from a financial point of view, the beginning of drilling does not have “any direct immediate impact” on the country’s economy, but, “from the point of view of geological knowledge of the area, this first hole may be of great importance.
Also read: China’s oil imports from Russia jump 55% year on year
“It creates an expectation, not only in relation to the population and the authorities, but in relation to all the partners that are in the area,” said the former director of ANP-STP, noting that “everyone is waiting.”
