‘Muzarabani oil project set to become national asset’




Invictus Energy Managing Director Scott Macmillan
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THE Muzarabani oil and gas project represents huge potential to become a key asset for Zimbabwe, project developer Invictus Energy managing director Scott MacMillan has said.

Citing changing market conditions and improvements to local regulations, Invictus is confident that it can make the prospect viable in an energy deficient region.

 Gas, a growing energy source, was reportedly discovered by Mobil in the early 1990s but reserves were unexploited due to a lack of regional demand and Zimbabwe’s economic challenges.

The area has also shown significant potential, from reprocessing of data gathered by Mobil and use of latest technology, to host significant deposits of petroleum oil.

In a speech at the company’s annual general meeting held on Tuesday, Mr MacMillan, said the last 12 months had been a period of intense activity for the company, thanking all stakeholders for their immense efforts.

He said 2022 had been transformative for the company, which saw Invictus achieving a number of significant milestones to advance the project including the signing of the Petroleum Exploration Development and Production Agreement (PEDPA) with the Government of Zimbabwe.

The PEDPA provides the framework for the rapid progression of the Muzarabani oil and gas project through the exploration, appraisal, development and production phases of the project, as well as rights and obligations of each part through the project’s life cycle.

President Mnangagwa said the signing of the PEDPA represented a rare opportunity for the country to tap into its oil and gas deposits as well as develop downstream value chains, a new territory in the country’s mining sector.

Further, the company managed to renew its special grant 4571 licence for a further 3 years to June 2024, completing the first seismic acquisition campaign in the country for 30 years through Canadian firm Polaris. 

Further, Invictus this year also appointed drilling contract manager in Aztech Well Services, and commenced the second phase of a Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

The Cabora Bassa Muzarabani Seismic Survey, which acquired 840 line-km of high quality 2D data was achieved flawlessly with 142 000 hours lost time injury and incident free. 

Importantly, the initial processing results of the seismic acquisition have produced high quality data revealing a variety of structural and stratigraphic features providing for a target rich environment for the upcoming drilling programme.

“Our technical work will progress over the next few months which will enable us to quantify this additional potential of our licence area and is expected to add materially to our already world class prospective resource base. 

“This is a project that can have national significance for Zimbabwe and its people and we are privileged to be able to lead the efforts to drill the first conventional oil and gas exploration well in the country,” Mr MacMillan said.

“The potential of our acreage is truly staggering for a company of our size and we will continue our efforts so that the value is reflected for our shareholders”, he added. 

The Company will also continue to focus on its core values of delivering growth, maintaining capital discipline, and fostering relationships with our stakeholders and host communities.

“The milestones achieved over this year have placed us firmly on the path to drill the world class Muzarabani prospect in 2022 first half. Details of the drilling campaign will be provided in the coming days as we near the finalisation of a number of elements of the programme.

“Our asset portfolio consists of a highly prospective 250 000 acres within the Cabora Bassa Basin in Zimbabwe. Special Grant 4571 contains the world class multi-trillion cubic feet Mzarabani and Msasa conventional gas-condensate prospects,” he continued.

Mr MacMillan took the occasion to “thank our partner One Gas Resources (Invictus local shareholder partner) and the Government of Zimbabwe and the Muzarabani and Mbire communities for their support of the Cabora Bassa Project.

“We would also like to thank all our stakeholders and shareholders for their continued support as we strive towards delivering transformational value in what will be an exciting period ahead for the Company as we move towards a basin opening drilling campaign”. 

Mr MacMillan said the coming year would be incredibly important for Australia Stock Exchange (ASX) listed Invictus and its shareholders as the company progresses the Cabora Bassa Project and begins preparations for drilling the first exploration well in the 2022 first half. – Herald