Kuwait Energy Egypt drilled and tested the Al Jahraa-8 (AJ-8) development well in the Abu Sennan license, 12 km to the northeast of producing Al Jahraa field in Egypt's Western Desert, partner United Oil & Gas PLC said in an Aug. 2 release.
The AJ-8 well was spudded on May 2, targeting the Abu Roash (AR) and Bahariya reservoirs in an undrained portion of Al Jahraa field (OGJ Online, Apr. 6, 2021). The original hole was sidetracked after encountering poor hole conditions in the highly deviated well.
Preliminary interpretations indicate that the sidetrack encountered net pay in AR-E, and over 30 m net pay across Upper Bahariya and Lower Bahariya Upper reservoirs. Due to hole conditions in the sidetrack, a decision was made to run liner at 4,314 m MD and TD the well without reaching the Lower Bahariya Lower reservoir that had been a pre-drill target.
The well has been successfully tested from Lower Bahariya. Preliminary testing was carried out over a 17-hour period on several choke sizes. Results indicate a maximum flow rate of 2,093 b/d and 3.63 MMscfd on a 64/64-in. choke and a rate of 1,189 b/d and 1.22 MMscfd on a more constrained 26/64-in. choke.
The well will be completed and brought onstream from the Lower Bahariya reservoir. Hydrocarbon-bearing zones that were encountered in the Upper Bahariya and AR-E will be later tested and brought onstream.
After completing AJ-8, the EDC-50 rig will move about 7 km north of Al Jahraa field to drill the ASX-1X exploration well, expected to spud in the coming days. This is expected to be the final well of the 2021 campaign. Longer-term plans for the Abu Sennan license are under discussion.
Abu Sennan is operated by Kuwait Energy Egypt (25%). Joint venture partners are United Oil & Gas PLC (22%), Global Connect Ltd. (25%), and Dover Investments (28%).