Independent oil and gas company Corcel has announced the start of a 326-km 2D seismic data acquisition program in the second half of 2025, aiming to drill a new exploration well on the KON 16 block in the onshore Kwanza Basin approximately 12 months later. The announcement was made on September 2 during a company-sponsored pre-conference workshop on the eve of the Angola Oil & Gas 2025 conference.
As the operator of the KON 16 block—located onshore in the Kwanza Basin—Corcel will utilize both new and existing seismic data to support future drilling activities. Since acquiring the block, the company has received a package of seven 1970s-era 2D seismic lines and six modern 2D seismic lines acquired in 2010 by TGS and purchased by Geokinetics from the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG). These datasets were reprocessed and delivered to Corcel in April 2025, enabling the identification of both post-salt and pre-salt prospects.
“KON 16 has one well drilled in 1960: Tuenza-01. We also have 100% coverage of high-resolution eFTG data, acquired in 2024 in partnership with Metatek. By integrating all this data, we were able to identify post-salt and pre-salt prospects. This year we will acquire over 300 km of 2D seismic lines,” said Richard Lane, COO of Corcel.
In its upcoming projects, Corcel plans to fully integrate the geological workflow using all available technical data. This includes 1970s 2D data, 2010s 2D data, 2024 eFTG data, regional reports, as well as seismic and well data from outside the KON 16 block.
“We also have to look at wells beyond KON 16—we can’t just look at our license. There are many pre-salt and post-salt prospects with significant potential. The plan is simple: we need to acquire more seismic data. The goal is to fill in the gaps where we have identified interesting prospects. We will acquire the data this year, process and interpret it in Q1 2026, and within 12 months, drill an exploration well,” added Lane.
