eBusiness Weekly
Business Reporter
INVICTUS Energy, which is scouting for oil and gas at the Cabora Bassa Basin in Muzarabani and Mbire districts in Mashonaland Central has sunk about US$50 million on exploration activity.
In December last year, Invictus announced further gas discovery at its Mukuyu-2 exploration well in Muzarabani-Mbire districts, confirming the country’s potential as one of the world’s largest future producers of gas.
The announcement buttressed earlier proclamations made by Mines and Mining Development Minister Zhemu Soda together with GeoAssociates and Invictus that substantial moveable hydrocarbons in the Upper Angwa, geological zone of the Mukuyu-2 exploration well, had been discovered.
Prior to Mukuyu-2 exploration well, drilling conducted at Mukuyu-1 prospect in 2022, though drilling was abandoned, also confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons but without the fluid sample.
Drilling on Mukuyu-1 where Invictus spent US$20 million, was abandoned after the company experienced technical glitches.
A total of 11 hydrocarbon samples were recovered to the surface from Mukuyu-2’s Lower Angwa, and additional Upper Angwa geological zones of the exploration well, expanding the initial net estimates of the available resource from 20 trillion cubic feet to 34,9 TCF.
Following exploration work so far carried out on both Mukuyu-1 and Mukuyu-2 exploration wells, GeoAssociates, the company which is the licence holder of the special grant 4 571 on which the gas has been discovered, claims that about US$50 million has so far been channelled towards exploration.
In an interview, GeoAssociates managing director Paul Chimbodza said: “I don’t have the actual numbers offhand, but we have so far spent in the region of about US$50 million.
“We are still exploring, we finished Mukuyu-2 and we are planning to drill more wells so we are not yet in the production stage.”
Invictus holds 80 percent of GeoAssociates while the balance is owned by indigenous group, One Gas Resources.
The discovery of gas offers limitless economic opportunities for Zimbabwe including energy security, improved export earnings, and job creation, among others.
Asked when gas production is expected, Chimbodza said this will be guided by the results of the ongoing exploration work.
“Exploration being what it is, production is guided by the results of exploration but you recall we declared a gas discovery so we are working now on trying to commercialise the opportunities for gas.”
The Cabora Bassa Basin is the biggest untested structure of its kind in Africa and Invictus is confident of a commercial discovery on the back of the results so far produced.
It is believed that a major initial industry after commercial discoveries of natural gas would be gas power stations, which can be built quickly and are more efficient than coal thermal plants and have only about half the carbon footprint.
The successful implementation of the project also provides a leeway for Invictus to convert the extracted gas into other forms of fuel such as diesel, kerosene, paraffin and waxes, among others.
