Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ) Ltd, an independent upstream oil and gas explorer focused on sub-Saharan Africa, said on 29 October 2026 that the Exalo Rig 202 has been moved from the Mukuyu-2 wellsite to the Musuma-1 location in Zimbabwe. The company said Musuma-1 "remains on schedule to commence drilling in November 2026".

Preparations completed and still to come

According to the announcement, wellpad construction, civil works and access road upgrades at Musuma-1 are complete. The company said the remaining steps are rig-up, final rig maintenance and the mobilisation of well services, followed by a final rig inspection and acceptance. Rig acceptance and operational readiness are therefore still pending, and drilling cannot begin until they are finished. Exalo supplies the rig, and the company named SLB and other drilling and logistics contractors as partners in the programme.

The Musuma-1 well

Musuma-1 is planned as a relatively shallow vertical exploration well with a planned total depth of approximately 1,500 metres. It targets a gas-condensate prospect that Invictus identified from multiple seismic datasets, including a direct hydrocarbon indicator and a laterally extensive flat spot. The company estimates gross, unrisked, mean prospective resources of about 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 73 million barrels of condensate.

These are estimates of undiscovered resources. The company stated that they carry both a risk of discovery and a risk of development, and that further exploration and appraisal would be needed to confirm any recoverable hydrocarbons. The competent person for the resource estimates is Managing Director Scott Macmillan.

The Cabora Bassa Project

The well sits within the Cabora Bassa Project in Zimbabwe, which covers about 360,000 hectares. Invictus owns 80% of the project and acts as operator. The tenements are SG 4571 and exploration prospecting orders EPO 1848 and EPO 1849. The project also contains the Mukuyu Gas Field, a prior discovery, as well as multiple prospects along the basin margin. The rig's previous location, Mukuyu-2, is part of that same project area.

What the announcement does not cover

The announcement does not disclose the cost of the well or how it is being funded, and it does not give a drilling duration or a date for results. It also does not provide an update on Mukuyu-2 beyond noting that the rig has left that wellsite. Readers should treat the November spud date as the company's current schedule rather than a confirmed start, because it depends on the rig inspection and acceptance steps that remain to be completed.

Next milestones

The immediate steps confirmed by the company are rig-up at Musuma-1, final rig maintenance, the mobilisation of well services, and the final inspection and acceptance of the rig, leading to the planned November 2026 spud. Any drilling outcomes would only emerge after the well has been drilled to its planned depth of about 1,500 metres, and the prospective resource figures quoted by the company would not be confirmed unless gas and condensate are found and tested.

Invictus has described the well as a test of a seismic feature supported by multiple datasets. Because it is an exploration well in a frontier basin and no hydrocarbons have been discovered at the location, the announcement carries no information about the volumes or flow rates that might ultimately be recoverable from the prospect.