Afren falls in London after abandoning Ghana well

A UK oil and gas exploration company which abandoned a drilling project in Ghana has fallen in trading in London, news reaching ghanabusinews.com says.

The company, Afren, fell the most in three weeks in London trading after it abandoned a well it was drilling off the coast of Ghana.

Afren dropped 10% to 26 pence at 11:09 a.m. London time and the fall is the most since December 5, 2008, bringing the London-based company’s value to £116 million or $170.3 million.

The company began drilling the Cuda-1x well in the Eastern Basin to 12, 425 feet (3,787 meters), an official statement from Afren has said.

According to the statement the well found “an unexpectedly severe high pressure zone in the top of the Upper Cretaceous which ultimately required Cuda-1x to be plugged and abandoned.”

“Whilst we are disappointed at the outcome of this operation, we remain highly optimistic as to the exploration potential of the Keta block, where several attractive prospects, in addition to Cuda have been identified,” said chief executive Osman Shahenshah.

“The Cuda-1 well was targeting a previously unpenetrated section in a sparsely drilled basin, and has provided Afren and its partners with valuable information that will assist future exploration efforts in this world class block which has billion barrel potential,” he added.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi