Invictus to drill second well

Invictus to drill second well

Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa

Independent upstream oil and gas company, Invictus Energy Ltd has expanded its Cabora Bassa exploration licence footprint after executing an agreement with Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe(SWFZ) for assignment of exploration rights in the Basin and now covers entire conventional oil and gas play fairway, the company has said.
The Assignment follows gazettal of the EPOs and Heads of Agreement with the SWFZ, as detailed in the ASX release on March 28 2022, where the Parties agreed to collaborate in exploration for oil and gas within RA MSC003 Cabora Bassa South and will lead to the drilling of a second well after Mukuyu-1 which will be named Baobab-1.
In a press statement to give an update to investors and the public, the Australian Exchange listed oil and gas exploration company said,
“Invictus’ 80% owned subsidiary Geo Associates (Pvt) Ltd (“Geo Associates”) and the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe (“SWFZ”) (collectively “the Parties”) have executed an assignment agreement (“the Assignment”) for the exploration rights to Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs) 1848 and 1849.”
The company said that the EPOs 1848 and 1849 are contiguous to the Company’s current SG 4571 licence with the newly combined area covering the entire conventional oil and gas play fairway in the Cabora Bassa Basin.
The Exploration Licences cover a combined area of approximately 360,000 hectares, with EPOs 1848 and 1849 each covering an area of approximately 130,000 hectares and the current SG 4571 licence area covering a further 100,000 hectares.
The Assignment confers all exploration rights and obligations for EPOs 1848 and 1849 from SWFZ to Geo Associates and conversion to a Special Grant upon application following a commercial discovery. The SWFZ will be entitled to a 10 per cent back-in right within six months of an announcement of Final Investment Decision to develop any commercial discovery.
The Baobab prospect will test one of the multiple Basin Margin targets which display similar structural characteristics to the prolific East Africa Rift “String of Pearls” play and provided material discoveries in the Lokichar Basin in Kenya and Albertine Graben in Uganda.

Invictus Managing Director Scott Macmillan expressed the company’s pleasure with the assignement agreemengt entered with the SWFZ and said that, the combined Exploration Licences provide Imvictus with a basin master position encompassing the entire conventional oil and gas play fairway and running room in the basin.
Macmillan said, “The Exploration Licences are focused on the core prospective area in the basin, which is covered by our CB21 Seismic Survey and minimises our holding costs through the relinquishment of nonprospective areas in the basin. We are grateful for the constructive efforts by the Zimbabwe Government to conclude the amendments to the Petroleum Act to facilitate the signing of the Petroleum Production Sharing Agreement (PPSA).”
He further said, “The PPSA will provide a robust framework to facilitate long-term investment in the oil and gas sector with confidence and ensures the country derives its fair share of any discovered resources. We are excited to confirm Baobab-1 as the second well to be drilled in our basin opening exploration program, which will target the newly identified basin margin play, displaying similar characteristics to the prolific East Africa Rift “String of Pearls” play. Subject to making an opening discovery with either Mukuyu-1 or Baobab-1, it could potentially provide us with future discoveries on a large scale within the basin.”