French oil major, Total has started drilling the Luiperd-1X well, the second exploration well on Block 11B/12B offshore South Africa following the Brulpadda discovery in February 2019.
Media reports at the weekend said the well is being drilled using the Odfjell Drilling-owned, Deepsea Stavanger semi-submersible drilling rig.
The rig was mobilized from Norway to South Africa in July and arrived during August in time to spud the well during this month.
Block 11B/12B is located in the Outeniqua Basin 175 kilometres off the southern coast of South Africa.
The block covers an area of approximately 19,000 square kilometres with water depths ranging from 200 to 1,800 meters, the report said.
The Paddavissie Fairway is in the southwest area of the block and includes the Brulpadda discovery, which confirmed the petroleum system.
The Luiperd Prospect is the second to be drilled in a series of five large submarine fan prospects with direct hydrocarbon indicators defined utilizing both 2D and 3D seismic data.
Africa Energy, one of the partners, said on Friday that the Luiperd-1X exploration well is being drilled in 1,795 meters of water by the Deepsea Stavanger rig to a total depth of 3,550 meters subsea.
The well will test the oil and gas potential in a mid-Cretaceous aged deep marine sequence where fan sandstone systems are developed within combined stratigraphic/structural closure.
Drilling and evaluation of the well is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Africa Energy currently holds 49% of the shares in Main Street 1549, which has a 10% participating interest in Block 11B/12B.
Total E&P South Africa B.V. is the operator and has a 45% participating interest in Block 11B/12B, while Qatar Petroleum and CNR International have 25% and 20% participating interests, respectively.
By Chibisi Ohakah, Abuja
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