Exploration in Kurdistan is far from simple – just ask Sterling Energy or Heritage Oil. Finding Oil is the number one priority as it it deemed much more valuable than Gas finds.
Today’s news from Genel (the operator) on the BB-1 well is mixed. Firstly, finding a 300m oil column is extremely encouraging indeed. Especially as this well location was chosen on rather dated and basic 2D Seismics data. TheSharehub posted a satellite picture supplied by a highly regarded poster called GRH-1. The pictures showed (in his opinion) a non optimal location for BB-1 and was puzzled why Genel had elected to drill in that spot.
See GRH-1′s post and pictures here.
Genel announced last year that they planned to do extensive 3D Seismics and expected them to take around 6 to 8 months to complete and analyse. This phase should be complete soon and when combined with the recent well data from BB-1 – they should be in tip top shape to agree the next BB exploration well location.
If they have any sense at all – they might want to look at GRH-’1 pictures before they finalise their plans!
Placing common sense aside – there is some value in testing the far flank or boundary of a licence as it means they can define the area more precisely. With BB-1, it looks like the far flank is heavy stuff and it would make sense to move towards the middle area next to hopefully bag the lighter more easily /recoverable oil.
Genel plan to continue testing BB-1 to see if they can recover commercial quantities of the heavier oil but in reality – they will already be thinking about the next well.
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29 May 2012, Genel Energy plc
Update on Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well
The Ber Bahr 1 well has now completed drilling and initial testing. The well was drilled to 3933m in the Chia Zairi formation. The well encountered a 300m oil column in the Jurassic with matrix porosity of 17%. Two drill stem tests over the interval failed to flow and yielded inconclusive results, with evidence of perforations plugged with heavy oil. The well has been temporarily suspended whilst a work over rig is moved to the location to conduct an extended well test.
Tony Hayward, chief executive of Genel Energy, said:
“Whilst the presence of a significant oil column is encouraging, further evaluation with the right flow test equipment is required before we can determine whether this discovery is commercially viable.”