Australia’s FAR Ltd, a partner in Senegal’s SNE offshore field, announced early March that  the project could start the production process before 2021, earlier than expected and at a higher rate than flagged before, Rigzone reported.

According to Petroleum Africa, Operator Cairn Energy Plc and FAR released updates following drilling on their latest well, SNE-5, which will help the companies and their new partner, Woodside Petroleum, delineate reservoirs and finalize how to develop the SNE field.

FAR currently estimates SNE holds 640m barrels of proved and probable reserves.

The company’s CEO, Cath Norman, said: “One of two reservoirs tested yielded a better-than-expected flow of oil, while the other was in line with expectations.”

He further stated that “the companies expect to come up with a joint estimate of the field’s reserves around June or July.”

Additionally, Norman noted that the timing of first oil “probably” could be brought forward, but that would depend on the targeted production rate for the field, currently estimated at 100,000 to 120,000b/d by Cairn and 140,000b/d by FAR.