ReconAfrica has finished vertical production testing at its Kavango West 1X (KW1X) discovery well in northeast Namibia, and natural gas along with possible liquids reached the surface from the Huttenberg formation. The uppermost Huttenberg zone flowed hydrocarbons to surface as soon as the well was perforated, before any acid stimulation was applied. That followed an earlier flow from the Upper Elandshoek zone.
ReconAfrica did not get a flow rate for either zone. Equipment limitations kept the company from measuring volumes, and it has since bought additional equipment and switched its surface operations service provider to fix the gap. Samples from the flow have gone to laboratories in the United States for compositional analysis, with results due in the coming weeks.
Horizontal test through Huttenberg
The Jarvie-1 rig is still on location at KW1X. ReconAfrica now plans to drill up to 1,000 meters of horizontal section through the Huttenberg formation, which original well log analysis put at 75 meters of pay. The horizontal leg will be completed open hole, without casing or cement, so the exposed rock can flow directly into the wellbore through its natural fractures rather than through perforations in a cemented liner.
ReconAfrica holds the Kavango West license with partners BW Energy, which holds 20%, and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia, which holds 10%.
