Rift Helium (RIFT ) has commenced a programme of 3D seismic data acquisition at its Upepo project in Tanzania.
The programme is designed to identify and rank potential helium traps ahead of exploration drilling in the first half of 2027.
Rift is planning approximately 90 square kilometres of 3D seismic coverage, increasing the area envisaged at IPO by approximately 83% for an 18% increase in the survey budget.
The company has deliberately expanded the programme to gain a more comprehensive understanding of Upepo’s subsurface structures, improve target ranking and make better-informed drilling decisions.
The Rukwa Basin, in which Upepo lies, already boasts a demonstrated working helium system. New imaging will help assess structural closures and faults that may influence whether helium is trapped.
The survey will thus build on the five existing exploration leads, helping Rift rank targets and refine well locations before drilling.
Rift’s existing mid-case (P50) prospective helium resource estimate is approximately 19 billion cubic feet of helium. The data now being acquired are expected to support an updated independent resource assessment targeted for the first quarter of 2027.
“It is exciting to see our team acquiring 3D seismic data at Upepo.” Said Charles FitzRoy, chief executive of Rift Helium.
“This marks an important step in Rift’s exploration strategy, as we gather the information needed to better understand where helium may have accumulated and refine our drilling targets ahead of our planned exploration programme in the first half of next year. The Rukwa Basin has already demonstrated a working helium system. The critical question for Rift is where helium may have been trapped in commercially meaningful volumes. Our expanded survey is designed to give us a clearer picture of those structures, rank our strongest leads and focus drilling capital where the geological case is most compelling. We have made a deliberate decision to invest more in seismic because we believe the additional geological understanding will improve the quality of our drilling decisions. That is central to our approach at Rift: investing in the right information before committing capital to exploration wells.”
View from Vox
The company remains on schedule for its two-well exploration programme commencing in the first half of 2027, with no change to the timetable. But this seismic programme is a crucial prelude to that and will provide a meaningful guide as to what’s likely to follow. So far Rift has been keeping to schedule, and progress has been good.