Hess Middle East New Ventures Ltd. has spudded the Shakrok-1 exploratory well on the block of the same name in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Shakrok-1 targets Jurassic and Triassic fractured carbonate reservoirs that have yielded a number of major discoveries along trend, including Shaikan, Swara Tika, Atrush, and Bina Bawi.
The Shakrok prospect is a broad, four-way dip closed anticlinal structure mapped at surface and in the subsurface. The prospect contains multiple stacked reservoir targets of Jurassic and Triassic limestones and dolomites sealed by interbedded evaporites and shales. Drilling time to proposed total depth of 3,000 m is estimated at 150 days.
Hess Middle East and Petroceltic hold production sharing contracts on the Shakrok and Dinarty exploration blocks in the Kurdistan region. Hess Middle East has a 64% participating interest and Petroceltic Kurdistan has 16%. The Kurdistan Regional Government has a 20% carried interest.
Since July 2011, a substantial technical work program has been carried out on the blocks, including multiple fieldwork and rock sampling campaigns, structural modeling, and ongoing 2D seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation programs.