Bigwa Rufiji Mafia exploration licence (Maurel & Prom, 60% operator) On the evening of 17 April 2009, the drilling of the Mafia well reached a depth of 5,437 m.
At this depth, drilling engineers are encountering particularly high temperatures (230°C)and very high levels of pressure. As a result, they have to adopt precautionary measures that will prolong the operation timing and slowdown the drilling. This is to comply with the safety rules and technical constraints that apply to any well whose drilling tests current technological limits.
Operations to deepen the well by about 100 m are scheduled for the coming days. Following these, electric logs will make it possible to measure the thickness of the reservoirs and determine a testing programme that will verify the potential of the gas level saturation indicators that have been currently highlighted.
Under the economic conditions of the Tanzanian market, no conclusion may be reached before the results of the works in progress are known.
