Oman: Harvest spuds Qarn Alam multizone wildcat

Nov. 2, 2011
Harvest Natural Resources Inc., Houston, has spudded the first of two wildcats on 955,600-acre Qarn Alam Block 64 in east-central Oman.

Harvest Natural Resources Inc., Houston, has spudded the first of two wildcats on 955,600-acre Qarn Alam Block 64 in east-central Oman.

The Mafraq South-A exploratory well is to go to 12,000 ft to test the Mafraq South structure, a large salt-supported high with stacked reservoir targets in the Barik, Miqrat, and Amin reservoirs. Targets are in the footwall and hanging wall fault blocks that comprise four segments (north, west, south, and east). The well will test coincident fault-bounded dip closure at all three reservoir levels.

The mean prospective resource for the targeted south segment totals 1.25 tcf of gas and 46 million bbl of condensate. The geological chance of success for a discovery in the Barik is estimated to be 28%, Harvest said.

Harvest has 100% working interest in the exploration phase, and Oman Oil Co. retains the option to back-in for up to a 20% interest if natural gas is discovered. The Oman Ministry of Oil & Gas created the block to stimulate exploration for nonassociated gas and condensate to generate power for industrial diversification in an area where Petroleum Development of Oman is producing oil.