Ebola virus delays drilling

Drilling plans for offshore Liberia have been delayed due to an Ebola virus outbreak in the region, Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) said in a statement adding that “drilling on Block LB-13 has been delayed due to the recent Ebola virus outbreak in the region resulting in a reduced presence of expatriates in country.”

Arthur Millholland, COPL chief executive said: “We continue to make significant progress with the technical evaluation of Liberia. Whilst the possible delay in the commencement of drilling is regrettable, the safety of the partnership’s staff is paramount and we are confident that staff numbers in country will return to normal levels in the near future.”

COPL which holds the remaining 17 percent equity is in a partnership with ExxonMobil (operator and 83 percent equity holder) on Block LB-13 offshore Liberia. 

Block LB-13 covers about 2500sw km. Drilling targets identified by COPL are Cretaceous turbidite sand stratigraphic traps with prospects on the block to derive a statistical aggregate number of 2.6 billion barrels of gross recoverable oil at the P50 (best estimate) probability level. 

COPL is also working on the West Africa Transform Margin (WATM) and has submitted a bid, as the operator of a consortium, for a block in the WATM. COPL said partners in the consortium include a prominent producing independent African energy company and that more information would be available in Q3.