Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd (TSX-V:RECO, OTCQX:RECAF) CEO Brian Reinsborough talked with Proactive about the company’s progress at the Kavango West Well in Namibia.
Reinsborough explained that drilling began in late July and has now reached a depth of around 1,900 metres, with the team expecting to set the next casing string at approximately 2,400 metres in the coming weeks.
Proactive: All right, welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Brian Reinsborough. He is the CEO of Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd, ReconAfrica of course. Brian, great to see you again, how are you?
Brian Reinsborough: I’m doing wonderful. Thanks for having me back on.
Well, you’ve had some significant news out yesterday giving everyone a bit of an update on where you’re at as far as drilling is concerned on Kavango West. Let’s update everyone — you’re happy with where you’re sitting right now?
We certainly are. The Kavango West Well, we spud the well very late July and the rig and the team in country are doing an excellent job. We’re down around 1,900 metres right now, drilling very well and very safely. We expect to hit the next casing string, within the next couple of weeks, around 2,400 metres. And that’s the last casing string before we drill into the main objective, which is the Otavi reservoir. We’re super excited about how the team is performing and we’re anxious to get down into that reservoir.
Maybe you can talk to everyone a bit about why this particular area is significant and why you decided to drill it?
Absolutely. The Damara Fold Belt is a new play in Namibia. We drilled our first well late last year called Naingopo and got some really encouraging news. That led us to drill the Kavango West Well. This is a fold belt, and these fold belts are large in extent. This prospect in particular has a lot of size to it and will tell us a lot about potential in this region. Our estimates, through third-party auditors, are around 340.00 million barrels of oil un-risked, and around 30.00 million barrels risked. So this is a game changer if it works. We think this is a great prospect with all the elements we like to see in a petroleum system. If successful, it really transforms the company and the region of Namibia.
You mentioned you’re about 1,900 metres right now and waiting for the next pivotal depth, which is about 2,400 metres. Are you gaining data as you continue to drill down, or are there specific things you’re looking for?
We do gain some data while drilling. We collect cuttings and observe the rocks as we drill. At each casing string we stop and log, so we will see what we have. But we’re not yet in the main objective. We don’t expect anything at this stage. All excitement is down in the Otavi reservoir, below 2,400 metres. Once we start drilling Otavi, we’ll go through around 1,500 to 1,800 metres of that section. It’s an incredibly thick section, all within forward dip closure, so a very prospective section to drill through in October.
And lastly, Brian, you’re going to provide updates as you go along until the end of this well — is that the plan?
Operational updates are not industry protocol. We don’t like to disclose information as we drill because we want to reach total depth, analyse everything, and then disclose with a high level of certainty. That way we have a full picture of what we’ve got.
I’m sure you get asked about it every day.
I do. There’s a lot of eyes on this well, we’re super excited, and the industry is very excited about it too. When you drill these play-opening wells, it gets a lot of attention. All eyes are on Recon right now.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style