London-based Energean has completed drilling the Anchois-3 appraisal well in the Lixus license, 40 km off Morocco, without reaching its exploration targets, according to Offshore Energy.
In April 2024, Energean expanded into Morocco by partnering with Chariot to take over as operator at two Moroccan offshore licenses, including Lixus, where the Anchois gas development project is located.
Stena Drilling’s Stena Forth drillship was hired on a one-well contract with an additional option.
Drilling began in August 2024, and preliminary results showed gas-bearing reservoirs in the B sands, one of the appraisal objectives.
However, further analysis did not support Energean’s pre-drill estimate of over 1 trillion cubic feet of prospective resources.
The Lixus offshore license is owned by Energean (45% stake, operator), Chariot (30%), and ONHYM (25%). Despite some signs of gas, the results fell short of expectations.
The Stena Forth drillship drilled the Anchois-3 main hole to a depth of 3,045 meters in 349 meters of water. Although the target reservoirs in the C and M sands were encountered, they were water-wet.
The Anchois North Flank also revealed well-developed O sand reservoirs, but they too were water-wet.
Chariot’s CEO Adonis Pouroulis stated in this regard that “the primary exploration objectives were unsuccessful. However, we did demonstrate the extension of gas-bearing reservoirs in the main appraisal B sands, albeit with thinner columns than estimated.”
Pouroulis added “Data from other reservoirs will be useful for understanding the field. We will now work with our joint venture partners to determine the forward plan.”
As a result, the Anchois-3 well was plugged and abandoned without flow testing, and the drillship is being demobilized. The Lixus partnership is now reassessing its strategy for the Anchois project.