At 6am Mauritanian time on August 13, Flamant-1 was drilled to 1494m where the 36-inch conductor was set, with preparations underway to drill ahead in 26-inch hole.

Flamant-1 is located in a water depth of 1414m, about 340km northwest of the Chinguetti oil field. The planned total depth is about 3370m.

The well is targeting the largest of several carbonate platform/reef plays in Block 8, which differ significantly from the channel sands targeted in the rest of the offshore Mauritanian basin.

“The operator’s assessment of the Flamant prospect suggests it has the potential to contain about 5 trillion cubic feet [Tcf] or 1 billion barrels of oil,” joint venture partner Hardman Resources said earlier this year.

“If successful, it would upgrade a number of smaller plays totalling a similar recoverable volume in the immediate vicinity.”

Hardman said the prospect was believed to be more likley to hold gas than oil, and a major gas find at Flamant could also provide a platform of a Mauritanian liquefied natural gas project, either on its own or in tandem with the Banda oil and gas discovery – drilled by a Woodside-led JV – which is thought to contain about 2.4Tcf of gas, according to Hardman.

On completion of Flamant-1, the Atwood Hunter will drill a second Dana-operated exploration well, Aigrette-1 in Block 7, before returning the rig to Woodside. Aigrette is a structural closure some 40km to the north of the Pelican discovery made by Dana with its first well in Block 7. The Aigrette well is targeting similar age sands to Pelican.

The Block 8 joint JV comprises operator Dana (24%), Gaz de France UK BV (31%) Wintershall AG (25%), Hardman (18%), and Roc Oil (2%). Gaz de France recently boosted its stake from 13.5% to 31%, acquiring additional equity from Dana. Roc has an option to increase its interest to 5%.

The Block 7 JV comprises operator Dana (36%), Gaz de France (27.85%), Hardman (16.2%), Woodside (15%) and Roc Oil (4.95%).