EXALO Rig 202, the oil rig that was contracted by Invictus Energy to drill for oil and gas samples in Zimbabwe, will stay in the country for the next 12 months, the Australia Stock Exchange-listed firm said this week.
Invictus drilled two test wells at its Zambezi Valley oil and gas claims, called Cabora Bassa, this year, following years of exploration that began following an announcement in 2015.
However, both the two test wells — Mukuyu-1 and STI 1 — failed to deliver positive results. But following the completion of drilling, the firm says it is mobilising resources to sink more test wells on the claims, which are located close to Mahuwe in Mbire district.
Invictus has indicated that despite the setback, it is confident that substantial resources could still be found in Zimbabwe.
In a statement accompanying the company’s financial statements for the half-year ended December 31, 2022, Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan said keeping the oil rig in Zimbabwe would be cost-effective.
Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan
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“The highly encouraging results from the Mukuyu-1 and ST-1 wells provided the company confidence to execute a contract extension with Exalo Drilling SA to keep the Exalo Rig 202 in the Cabora Bassa basin for up to 12 months,” the Invictus boss said.
“Keeping the rig in country will result in significant time and cost savings, compared to demobilising and remobilising the rig to and from East Africa for future drilling.”
Drilling at the next test well is expected to commence during the third quarter of 2023, he said.
The financial statement showed that Invictus, which is not yet trading, posted a net loss from continuing operations of US$2 million. This loss was significantly down from US$2,6 million during the previous comparable period.