Gaither Petroleum Corp., private Houston independent, and Eurogas Corp., Calgary, acquired 350 sq km of 3D seismic data on the Sfax Permit in the Gulf of Gabes northwest of giant Ashtart oil field off Tunisia.
The survey was designed to evaluate two structures, drilled in 1976 and 1995 by previous operators, that flowed 1,200 b/d and 600 b/d of oil.
The companies received government approval for a 105,000-acre expansion, bringing permit size above 1 million acres. This expansion area has several structures, one of which flowed more than 1,800 b/d of oil when drilled by a major oil company in the 1990s.
Eurogas, with 45% interest in the permit, is preparing to seek capital to develop the prospects.
Meanwhile, Eurogas farmed out a 30% interest, retaining 20%, in the El Hamra Permit operated by Pioneer Natural Resources Co., Irving, Tex., in the northern Ghadames basin. The undisclosed farmee will carry Eurogas through the cost of the $5 million well. The first exploration well is to spud in the first quarter of 2005 subject to rig availability.