By 
Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando USD$12 billion mining Economy is still on track despite Australian-listed Invictus Energy Ltd, an independent oil and gas exploration company focused on high-impact energy resources in sub-Saharan Africa, stating setbacks.
In an update on oil drilling in Muzarabani, Invictus announced in response to a request by Australia Stock Exchange (ASX) for an update on drilling. Minister Chitando confirmed to TechnoMag, Invictus said drilling at Mukuyu-1 commenced on 23 September and is expected to take 50 – 60 days to complete and evaluate.
Invictus added that it has encountered some minor delays in preparation for, and whilst drilling the 12¼” hole section due to rig maintenance and failures of measuring while drilling (MWD) evaluation tools.
TechnoMag presents Invictus’ direct response to the queries raised by ASX relating to the drilling:
1. Please advise when the drilling was completed.
a. The Mukuyu-1 drilling has not been completed. As above the current operations are drilling ahead in the 12 ¼” hole section
2. Please advise when the drill results are expected to be received by IVZ. Please provide detailed information in relation to the timing of these results.
a. Drilling results will be received once the wireline logging evaluation has been completed
b. The Company is unable to provide detailed timing of the results as it is subject to progress of drilling operations, which can be impacted by drilling conditions, rig and evaluation tool performance amongst other factors.
3. Please advise what arrangements (if any) IVZ has in place to maintain confidentiality of its drill results? Please provide detailed information.
a. The Company has a strict trading policy which applies to all staff and contractors involved in the drilling campaign and the confidentiality of results.
b. The application of this trading policy and confidentiality has been further reinforced through internal communication to all members of the workforce involved in well-related activity – contractors and consultants included.
In response to your questions in your letter please refer to our response below:
1. Is IVZ aware of any information concerning it that has not been announced to the market which, if known by some in the market, could explain the recent trading in its securities?
No, but please refer to the general update noted above on current progress of our Mukuyu-1 Well
2. If the answer to question 1 is “yes”:
a. Is IVZ relying on Listing Rule 3.1A not to announce that information under Listing Rule 3.1? Please note that the recent trading in IVZ’s securities would suggest to ASX that such information may have ceased to be confidential and therefore IVZ may no longer be able to rely on Listing Rule 3.1A. Accordingly, if the answer to this question is “yes”, you need to contact us immediately to discuss the situation.
b. Can an announcement be made immediately? Please note, if the answer to this question is “no”, you need to contact us immediately to discuss requesting a trading halt (see below).
c. If an announcement cannot be made immediately, why not and when is it expected that an announcement will be made?
Not applicable
3. If the answer to question 1 is “no”, is there any other explanation that IVZ may have for the recent trading in its securities?
Following the Company’s announcement on 26 September 2022 Invictus Spuds Maiden Oil & Gas Well in Zimbabwe and on 5 October 2022 Mukuyu-1 Drilling Update the market may have anticipated further update and may be speculating on likelihood of success or failure on our initial target in the Mukuyu-1. Invictus confirms it has no results analysed or available for release in relation to the Company’s initial targets.
4. Please confirm that IVZ is complying with the Listing Rules and, in particular, Listing Rule 3.1.
Yes
5. Please confirm that IVZ’s responses to the questions above have been authorised and approved under its published continuous disclosure policy or otherwise by its board or an officer of IVZ with delegated authority from the board to respond to ASX on disclosure matters.
The oil drilling firm also said it first became aware of the minor delays during the week ending 14 October 2022 adding that these minor delays are often encountered during normal oilfield drilling operations.
Invictus also said the minor delays, such as those detailed above have been provisioned for in the overall estimated drilling timeline.
The Australian company now in Zimbabwe added that it will provide an update if there are any material changes to anticipated timelines following the completion of the casing and cementing of the 12¼” hole section in preparation for drilling the final 8½” hole section:
“As stated in previous announcements, wireline logging is the primary means of evaluating the drilling results. Whilst the failures of measuring while drilling (MWD) tools has resulted in a limited realtime dataset being received, it has no impact on the timing or results of wireline evaluation program which is planned to be run once the respective hole sections have been completed.”
Invictus will update the market once the wireline evaluation is complete.Following an updated independent report from petroleum consultancy firm, Erce, as well as new data from the Cabora Bassa 2D Seismic survey, the reserve estimates are now measured at 20 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and 845 million barrels of conventional gas condensate, according to Energy Capital Power.
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