Invictus Energy has awarded a key well services contract to global oilfield services company SLB for the Musuma-1 exploration well in Zimbabwe’s Cabora Bassa Basin, bringing the company closer to its planned November drilling campaign, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
The contract covers specialised well services, technology and operational resources required for the drilling programme, with equipment preparation, logistics and mobilisation now moving into the next phase.
The award comes as work accelerates across the Musuma-1 site, where construction of the wellpad, access roads and associated civil infrastructure is already underway ahead of the mobilisation of Exalo S.A.’s Rig 202.
Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan said securing SLB marked another critical step in preparing for the campaign, with several workstreams now progressing simultaneously.
“Securing SLB completes another critical component of the Musuma-1 campaign and significantly advances operational readiness ahead of drilling,” Macmillan said.
The involvement of SLB also provides continuity from Invictus’ earlier drilling programme at the Cabora Bassa Project, where the company made its Mukuyu gas-condensate discoveries.
The Mukuyu-2 campaign in 2023 confirmed gas discoveries in the Upper and Lower Angwa formations, establishing a petroleum system in the basin and giving Invictus a foundation from which to pursue additional exploration targets.
Musuma-1, however, is intended to test a different geological play outside the Mukuyu discovery area. The prospect lies in the eastern portion of Invictus’ Cabora Bassa acreage and carries an estimated gross mean unrisked prospective resource of 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 73 million barrels of condensate.
That makes the November well significant beyond the immediate drilling campaign, as a successful result could provide evidence of additional hydrocarbon potential across the wider basin.
Invictus holds a 360,000-hectare position in the Cabora Bassa Basin and has identified multiple prospects through its seismic exploration programme. The company describes the basin as one of Africa’s major frontier rift basins, with exploration dating back to Mobil Oil’s work in the 1990s.
The latest drilling preparations follow the signing of a Petroleum Production Sharing Agreement between Zimbabwe and Invictus in May, which established the legal and fiscal framework governing exploration, appraisal, development and production at the project. Mining Zimbabwe reported at the time that the agreement cleared an important hurdle for the project to move into its next operational phase.
At the operational level, Exalo has now commenced maintenance, inspection and readiness work on Rig 202 ahead of its move to the Musuma-1 wellsite.
Once the programme is completed, the rig will be mobilised to the wellpad, where it will undergo rig-up, final commissioning and acceptance before drilling begins.
Invictus is also coordinating the mobilisation of drilling materials, tubulars, wellhead equipment and SLB’s well services equipment as it works towards the November spud.
The company said customary cultural ceremonies with local traditional leaders were conducted last week as part of the preparations, reflecting its engagement with communities around the project.
“With key drilling and well services now secured, and multiple workstreams progressing in parallel, Musuma-1 remains firmly on track to spud in November 2026,” Macmillan said.
“Execution activity is now accelerating across the project,” he added.
For Zimbabwe’s emerging oil and gas industry, the well represents another test of whether the hydrocarbon potential identified through the Cabora Bassa exploration programme can be extended beyond the Mukuyu discovery.
A successful Musuma-1 result would give Invictus another exploration success to build on as it advances appraisal and potential commercialisation of the basin’s resources.
