The desktop review of the reprocessed historical data, acquired by Baraka between 2002 and 2004, is the first time a single company has held and evaluated the complete set of data for this entire West African basin, according to Baraka chief operating officer Dr Satyavan Reymond.
“The desktop evaluation of this historical data has confirmed the expected stratigraphy and favourable structural style, as well as delineating the extent of the Ordovician and Infra Cambrian play fairways, in Baraka’s 260,000 square kilometre holding in the Taoudeni Basin,” he said.
The results have made Baraka optimistic that the Taoudeni could be similar to Algeria’s oil-rich Ahnet and Illizi Basins, according to Reymond.
“In the nearby and related Ahnet and Illizi Basins, the Ordovician and Infracambrian contain multi-billion barrel reserves and produce approximately 1.23 million barrels of crude oil and 445,000 barrels of condensate per day,” he said.
“Within the Taoudeni, the seismically-observed structures are large to regional scale anti-clinal features and large faulted monoclines with widths typically in excess of 10 kilometres, which are expected to extend laterally over large areas and possibly have closure over several hundred square kilometres.”
Along the defined structural trends, Baraka has determined the location of about 40 oil and gas leads that require further analysis and evaluation to determine their actual prospectivity.
However, the Taoudeni basin is in the earliest phase of exploration for hydrocarbons and relevant data is very sparse. There are just four exploration wells and approximately 12,500 line km of seismic in 1.5 million sq.km, an area more than twice the size of Texas.
The company is currently engaged in a $US3.7 million ($A5.2 million) airborne survey of its five blocks over the Mali portion of the Taoudeni (numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9), covering a total of 193,200sq.km.
This survey is due to be completed by August or September, with the analysis of the acquired data likely take a further month to complete, the company said.
“The regional airborne magnetic and gravity survey, which is now 20% completed, is expected to upgrade several of the identified structural trends in anticipation of acquiring further seismic, prior to selection of any prospective drilling locations,” Reymond said.
Baraka is continuing farm-in discussions with several international companies regarding some or all of its Taoudeni blocks.
“Baraka is maintaining its strategy to preserve exploration capital while adding value to projects in a manner that will ensure that any farm-in opportunities negotiated in the future are maximised to the benefit of the company and its shareholders,” the company said.
