Rig: Cajun Express

Cairn makes further oil discovery in Senegal

Cairn is pleased to announce a discovery of high quality oil in the second well in the Senegal exploration programme. The SNE-1 well is located in 1,100 metres (m) water depth and approximately 100 kilometres (km) offshore in the Sangomar Offshore block with a target depth of 3,000 m and targeting the Shelf Edge Prospect. Intermediate logging of the SNE-1 well has confirmed hydrocarbons in the Cretaceous clastics objective which is of similar age to oil bearing sands found approximately 24 km away in FAN-1. Cairn has a 40% Working Interest (WI) in three blocks offshore Senegal (Sangomar Deep, Sangomar Offshore and Rufisque) ConocoPhillips has 35% WI, FAR Ltd 15% WI and Petrosen, the national oil company of Senegal 10%. The three blocks cover 7,490 km2.

Cairn re-enters SNE-1 exploration well in Senegal

Cairn Energy (Cairn) has announced that the company has re-entered the SNE-1 well in Senegal using the Cajun Express semisub. The rig moved to the SNE-1 location upon completion of the FAN-1 well, with water depths around 1,100m at the well location. The two objectives in SNE-1 estimated by Cairn to have a gross mean unrisked prospective resource of 182mmbbls and 256mmbbls respectively and the well is anticipated to complete before the end of the year.

Cairn hits oil at FAN-1 well in Senegal

Cairn together with its joint venture partners has announced that the FAN-1 exploration well, offshore Senegal, has discovered oil. The well, located in 1,427 metres (m) water depth and approximately 100 kilometres offshore in the Sangomar Deep block, has reached a Target Depth (TD) of 4,927 m and was targeting multiple stacked deepwater fans. As stated prior to the commencement of operations there are no plans for immediate well testing. Further evaluation will now be required to calibrate the well with the existing 3D seismic in order to determine future plans and optimal follow up locations to determine the extent of the discovered resource. Once operations are completed on the FAN-1 well, the rig will move to complete the second well, SNE-1 where the top hole has been drilled pending re-entry. This Shelf Edge Prospect targeting a dual objective in 1,100m water depth is in the Sangomar Deep block. The FAN-1 well was drilled using the semi-submersible drilling unit ‘Cajun Express’. It is the third well in Cairn's North West Africa programme and first in Senegal. Cairn has a 40% Working Interest (WI) in three blocks offshore Senegal (Sangomar Deep, Sangomar Offshore and Rusifique) ConocoPhillips has 35% WI, FAR Ltd 15% WI and Petrosen, the national oil company of Senegal 10% WI. The three blocks cover 7,490 km2.

FAR announces hydrocarbon presence at FAN-1 well in Senegal

FAR Ltd (FAR) has announced that Oil samples have been recovered in the FAN-1 exploration well being drilled offshore Senegal. Elevated gas and fluorescence were encountered in a shallow secondary target and the presence of oil was confirmed by an intermediate logging program. Oil samples from a thin sand were collected by an MDT wireline formation tester for further analysis. This well data confirms the existence of a working petroleum system. The FAN-1 well has reached a depth of 4402 metres where intermediate casing has now been set. The well will be deepened to planned Total Depth (“TD”) of approximately 5000 metres. Conclusive results for this well will not be available until drilling operations are completed and all of the well data is fully assessed. The Operator anticipates that drilling of the FAN-1 well will be completed during the next month after which time the rig will be moved to the SNE-1 well location, the second well of the two well program offshore Senegal. FAR Managing Director, Cath Norman said, ”The presence of oil In the secondary target is important in helping our geological understanding of the margin and is significant because it confirms the existence of a working petroleum generating system. It is very pleasing that the building blocks of a working petroleum system are present and we look forward to drilling ahead to deeper objectives in FAN-1 and completing the SNE-1 well. ”As previously announced, the drilling program has been designated as “tight” by the Operator and hence no information related to depth or formation will be provided during the drilling beyond what is required to meet ASX continuous disclosure obligations. This release in relation to the matter referred to in the Company’s trading halt announcement of 25 August 2014

Drilling resumes at FAN-1 well in Senegal

FAR Ltd (FAR) wishes to advise that drilling has resumed on the FAN-1 well offshore Senegal. FAR had previously announced a modification to the Senegal drilling programme in order to incorporate essential maintenance. FAR holds 15% and is in a Joint Venture with Cairn (40%) and Operator, ConocoPhillips (35%) and Petrosen (10%). Drilling to date on FAN-1 has reached a depth of approximately 3,000 metres. The well is planned to be drilled to a depth of approximately 5,300 metres. The second Senegal well, SNE-1 is currently suspended and drilling will resume on completion of the FAN-1 well. SNE -1 has been drilled to a depth of approximately 1,900 metres and will be drilled to a total depth of approximately 3,300 metres. FAR managing director, Cath Norman, said, “These two wells offshore Senegal have the potential to radically alter the prevailing international view of the hydrocarbon potential of Senegal where no offshore wells have been drilled for more than 20 years. The two well program in the Atlantic margin is being closely monitored bymany international oil and gas players because of the large prospect sizes being drilled and the potential for numerous nearby follow up targets in the event of success.

'Cajun Express' moves to new well location

FAR Limited (FAR) has announced that Transocean’s ‘Cajun Express’ semisub rig has been moved from the FAN-1 well location to the SNE-1 well location in Senegal. The rig has been moved whilst ongoing maintenance is completed at the FAN-1 well position and as such, the unit has been moved to drill the top-hole section of the SNE-1 well. The ‘Cajun Express’ is expected to require five to seven days to drill the top-hole section of SNE-1, after which the rig will return to the FAN-1 well in order to drill to the planned total depth. The FAN-1 well has currently been drilled to 1,200m and has 20” casing cemented in the top-hole portion of the well. Cairn Energy is the primary operator of the project offshore Senegal, with FAR having farmed into the drilling of the two exploration wells.

'Cajun Express' commences drilling offshore Senegal

Drilling has begun on the offshore exploration well, FAN-1, offshore Senegal in which FAR Ltd holds a 15% interest (Cairn Energy PLC (“Cairn”) 40%, ConocoPhillips 35%, Petrosen 10%). The FAN-1 well will test a stacked fan structure with the potential to contain approximately 900 million barrels of oil with approximately 135mmbbls net to FAR Ltd. The well will be drilled using the fifth generation rig, the ‘Cajun Express’, which arrived on site Saturday 12th April. FAN-1 is the first exploration well in a two well programme, offshore Senegal with the wells to be drilled back to back. The first well will be located on the North Fan prospect in 1,500m water depth. This well will be immediately followed by a second exploration well targeting a shelf edge prospect in 1,100m of water. These will be the first deep water (>1,000m) wells drilled in Senegalese waters and the first offshore wells to be drilled for over 20 years. The two exploration wells will test combined prospective resources of approximately 1.5 billion barrels of unrisked prospective resources and FAR Ltd retains a 15% working interest in the blocks. In accordance with the terms of farm out deals completed with Capricorn Senegal Limited (a 100% subsidiary of Cairn) and ConocoPhillips, FAR Ltd has successfully secured its share of funding for these two exploration wells. Based on current well cost estimates, the carry funding and cash payments that FAR Ltd has or will receive under the farm out agreements are expected to be in excess of FAR Ltd’s share of the combined well costs for the two wells.

Cairn Energy releases Morocco drilling update

Cairn Energy (Cairn) has released an operational update relating to its 2014 exploration drilling campaign in Morocco. Cairn’s JM-1 well, which was spudded in January 2014 by Transocean’s ‘Cajun Express’ semisub has reached a total depth of 3,711m and has now been plugged and abandoned without further testing. The well was drilled to evaluate the Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic objectives. In the Upper Jurassic section, the well has confirmed the presence of heavy oil over a gross interval of 110 metres as originally tested in the 1968 MO-2 well, some 2km from the JM-1 well. Reservoir quality and the oil gravity in the Upper Jurassic across the Cap Juby structure require further evaluation by Cairn and its joint venture partners (Office National Des Hydrocarbures et Des Mines “ONHYM” and Genel Energy). Work is ongoing to correlate the core and log data from JM-1 with other wells on Cap Juby to evaluate the extent of moveable hydrocarbons and how any further assessment should be conducted. The Middle Jurassic objective was encountered with limited primary porosity and evaluation of well logs and side wall cores continues. The next well in Cairn’s planned exploration programme is ‘FAN-1’ located in the Sangomar, Sangomar Deep and Rufisque blocks (Cairn 40% WI, Operator) offshore Senegal. This well will target multiple stacked structural and stratigraphic fan closures interpreted as trapping a variety of potentially thick, high quality clastic reservoirs.

FD-1 wildcat exploration well to be plugged and abandoned

The following operational update relates to Cairn’s 2013/14 exploration drilling campaign offshore Morocco where drilling operations commenced in late October 2013. The FD-1 exploration well is located in 1,500 metres (m) of water approximately 120km offshore Morocco in the Foum Draa block (Cairn 50% Working Interest (WI) and Operator). The primary target of the well was a Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous deep-water turbidite slope fan and channel complex. The FD-1 well has reached a Total Depth of 5,255m but has not encountered clastic reservoirs, although it has penetrated the oldest stratigraphic section of any deep water exploration well along the Moroccan margin. Gas shows and gas composition ratios encountered in the well have confirmed an active thermogenic petroleum system. The well is now being plugged and abandoned. Cairn is the Operator through its wholly owned subsidiary Capricorn Exploration and Development Limited with Joint Venture partners ONHYM, San Leon Energy plc, Serica Energy plc and Longreach Oil & Gas Limited. The next well in Cairn’s planned exploration programme is in the Juby Maritime III block in Morocco (Cairn 37.5% WI, Operator) and it will target a Middle Jurassic carbonate prospect located in 100m of water where the primary objective is some 1,000m below the 1969 Cap Juby oil discovery in the Upper Jurassic. Operations will commence on Cap Juby once the FD-1 well has been successfully plugged and abandoned.

Cairn starts drilling operations offshore Morocco

Cairn is pleased to announce it has entered into a farm-in agreement with Kosmos Energy and the Moroccan National Oil Company (ONHYM) for a 20% non-operated interest in an exploration block offshore North West Africa which is scheduled for drilling in H2 2014. The farm-in to the Cap Boujdour exploration permit enables Cairn to access frontier acreage with transformational potential and containing a range of exploration play types. In the event of success, the area has significant follow-up potential. The permit is ~50 kilometres (km) offshore Morocco, covering an area of 27,700km2 in the Aaiun Basin in water depths of 1,000 - 3,000 metres (m). The permit is covered by a regional 2D grid and 2,000 km2 3D seismic surveys. Kosmos has identified three prospects within the 3D area with the largest of these, Gargaa located at ~2,135m water depth. Under the terms of the farm-in agreement, which is subject to Morocco Government approval, Cairn will pay a promoted share of future exploration costs, towards a 3D seismic survey, an exploration well planned for 2014 and, if successful, two appraisal wells, all subject to a maximum expenditure cap. Cairn also announces that it has now commenced drilling operations on the FD-I wildcat exploration well on the F prospect offshore Morocco using the Cajun Express, a fifth generation semi-submersible drilling unit. The FD-I exploration well is located in 1,500m of water approximately 120km offshore Morocco in the Foum Draa block (Cairn 50% Working Interest (WI) and Operator). The well has a planned Total Depth of 5,500m True Vertical Depth Sub Sea (TVDSS) and operations are anticipated to take approximately 60 days. This well is the first in a planned multi-well exploration sequence and once operations are completed on FD-1 the rig will move to the Cap Juby location in Morocco to drill an exploration well targeting Middle Jurassic carbonates, subject to necessary approvals. Cairn, through its wholly owned subsidiary Capricorn Exploration and Development Limited, partners in the project with ONHYM, San Leon Energy, Serica Energy plc and Longreach Oil & Gas Ltd.

Cairn secures rig for Frontier Exploration Campaign

Cairn is pleased to announce it has secured a long term contract with Transocean for the “Cajun Express” drilling unit. The rig, which is on an initial one-year contract, will be used on Cairn’s planned multi-well frontier exploration programme in Senegal, Morocco and potentially other areas. Subject to obtaining the necessary approvals the rig will be mobilised to begin operations for Cairn, offshore Morocco on the Foum Draa licence in H2 2013. The Cajun Express, is a deep-water, 5th Generation, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible drilling rig with shallow mooring capabilities and a 15,000 psi bop stack. The historic performance of the Cajun Express indicates it is a highly efficient rig with low operating downtime.