Invictus Energy has awarded contracts for wellpad construction and civil works ahead of drilling Musuma-1, its next exploration well in Zimbabwe's Cabora Bassa project. The scope covers upgrades to access roads and water supply infrastructure needed to move a drilling rig onto the site and keep it running, and the work is timed so the pad is ready when the rig arrives.
The rig is Exalo Drilling's Rig 202. Exalo is mobilizing a team into Zimbabwe to begin in-country setup and carry out maintenance on the rig before it moves to the Musuma-1 wellpad. Invictus has also finished evaluating suppliers for long-lead equipment, securing the remaining major items the well needs, including wellheads and tubulars, the pipe run down a wellbore to carry fluids to the surface. Tenders for well services are in the late stages of evaluation, with that contract expected within weeks, to be followed by logistics and mobilization contracts.
Musuma-1 targets an estimated gross mean unrisked prospective resource of 1.2 Tcf of gas and 73 million barrels of condensate. It is the first high-impact exploration well Invictus has drilled outside the Mukuyu gas-condensate discovery area, and it tests a different play type in the eastern part of Invictus's upstream acreage at Cabora Bassa, mapped through the company's CB23 seismic survey.
Invictus says it remains on track to spud the well, industry shorthand for starting to drill, in the second half of 2026.
