Exploration Potential in the Northern Portion of the Central African Republic

Grynberg, Jack J., Grynberg Petroleum, Greenwood Village, CO

RSM Production Corporation of Denver, Colorado, USA, has been granted exclusive onshore oil and gas exploration and production license on November 27, 2000 covering 55,125 square kilometers (13,615,875 acres) in the northeastern portion of the Central African Republic (CAR) and is presently undergoing an extensive 2-D geophysical explo­ration program using state of the art processing technology and utilizing the geophysical gravity data obtained by RSM. The license area in the CAR covers parts of the Doba-Doseo-Salamat sub-basins that straddle the border between CAR and Chad. The Chadian part of the Doba-Doseo sub-basin immediately across the border from CAR contains three (3) large world-class oil fields and a number of smaller but commercial oil fields that may develop into larger fields with additional drilling which is anticipated. Since the inception of exploratory drilling in Chad through 1986, a total of 29 exploratory wells were drilled, 10 of which tested positive for hydrocarbons, mostly oil. Between 1988 and 1996, Exxon, (Esso) focused its efforts on the Doba Basin and drilled 14 more wells, 11 of which resulted as potential oil discoveries with a 78.6 % success ratio. Proven presently recoverable reserves for the Doba Basin are approximately three (3) billion barrels of recoverable oil.