Gabon: Iris Marin
Location: Southern Gabon Sub-Basin
Area: 402 km2
Sterling Equity: 50% (Operator)
Partners: Addax, Afren
The Iris Marin Production Sharing Contract (PSC) is situated in the prolific Southern Gabon Basin, adjacent to the Gamba and Ivinga producing oil fields and the Olowi oil field development. The permit extends from the shoreline to a water depth of 60 metres. Sterling holds a 32% working interest, having recently sold an 18% interest to Addax Petroleum and it is intended that operatorship will be transferred to Addax. The main reservoir target is the locally productive Gamba Sandstone contained within the pre-salt sedimentary section.
The Iris Marin PSC was signed in November 1999 for a period of nine (9) years, comprised of three exploration terms. Sterling has acquired 1,804km of 2D seismic, 332 km2 of 3D seismic and drilled one exploration well (IIBM-1) - which encountered more than 30m of excellent reservoir quality Gamba Sandstone.
The excellent reservoir quality encountered in the IIBM-1 well prompted Sterling to undertake a state-of-the-art 3D seismic Pre-stack Depth Migration processing project in order to identify prospective structures. As a result, an exploration well (ICM-1) is planned to target the Charlie prospect (20-40 mmbo) in late June 2008.
In January 2008 an additional 351 km of high resolution 2D seismic data was acquired, this data has been processed and is undergoing interpretation, with a view to firming up other leads and prospects on the block.
