Nobel Helium on track to commence drilling at its North Rukwa Project next month

Noble Helium Limited’s is on track to commence drilling its first well at its North Rukwa Project in Tanzania in the second half of September as planned, following the rig’s departure from the UK.

Marriott’s Drillmec HH102 #16 rig was loaded onboard the MV Bohwa Tsingtao, which departed Hull directly for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s port city, and ultimately destined for arrival at the Mbelele-1 wellsite by mid-September.

The drilling program remains on track for Q3 spud and completion well ahead of the arrival of the summer rains.

Noble Helium Chief Executive and Co-founder, Mr Justyn Wood commented, “There are an extraordinary number of moving parts to our drilling program, but with our deeply experienced, committed and aligned team and service partners, we remain on track to drill and complete these wells within the 2023 dry season, as planned.”

He added, “The decision to contract the highly experienced Marriott drilling company is already paying dividends. They have met all milestones in completing the post-well rig maintenance program and turned the rig around in the assigned time to mobilise for our drilling program. Their previous experience not only in operating this rig but also in East Africa, will be invaluable.”

He said it is a very exciting time for Noble Helium as we seek to extend the 100% strike rate for exploration wells drilled into Basin Margin Fault Closures (BMFCs) within the East African Rift System (EARS).”

“We have a number of different of play types in our North Rukwa Basin portfolio, but 20 years ago we drilled BMFCs to demonstrate that the EARS could and does host significant oil and gas resources. This play type still has an unbroken record of success after 14 exploration wells and the only difference with our North Rukwa basin BMFCs is that the geological evidence points to helium gas, rather than petroleum oil and gas, within the geological traps.” He added.