Syria: Yousefieh oil field extended eastward

Aug. 26, 2011
Gulfsands Petroleum PLC said its Yousefieh-6 exploratory well on Block 26 in Syria encountered a slightly depleted oil reservoir indicating that the Yousefieh East structure is likely an eastern flank extension of Yousefieh field.

Gulfsands Petroleum PLC said its Yousefieh-6 exploratory well on Block 26 in Syria encountered a slightly depleted oil reservoir indicating that the Yousefieh East structure is likely an eastern flank extension of Yousefieh field.

Drilled to test an undrilled structural high in Cretaceous age carbonates 3 km east of the Yousefieh field discovery well and deviated at 36° from vertical, the well encountered oil-bearing Cretaceous Massive formation reservoir at 1,560 m true vertical depth subsea, 28 m deep to prognosis.

Wireline logs indicate an 18.1-m gross porous reservoir interval overlying a nonporous interval. The reservoir has a 12.8-m net oil column, 18% average porosity, and 69% average oil saturation. Reservoir permeability is interpreted to be similar to that in the main field area.

The well flowed the rate of 250 b/d of 20° gravity oil on a oil in 4 hr on a 2-in. choke on nitrogen lift and will be acidization and retested. It will require installation of permanent artificial lift facilities to flow continuously.

The Safa-1 exploratory well, 7 km north of Khurbet East field, tested formation water with traces of viscous oil and will be plugged and abandoned as a noncommercial heavy oil discovery.

Block 26 drilling will continue as planned. The Khurbet East-20 well is planned as a delineation well to further evaluate the northern flank of Khurbet East field. The Wardieh-1 exploratory well targets a new play, a combined structural-stratigraphic trap on the southern flank of Souedieh field at the Cretaceous “Massive” level.