Maha Energy AB let a contract to Gulf Drilling LLC, a subsidiary of MB Petroleum Services Worldwide, in Muscat, Oman, for the drilling of a minimum of six wells on Block 70 onshore Oman.
The Gulf Drilling 109 rig, currently in Adam, Oman, will be prepared for the campaign with expected mobilization in October.
Plans for drilling the Mafraq heavy oilfield include obtaining reservoir information to assist in developing a full field development plan, Maha said in a release Aug. 2. Information that will be acquired from two appraisal wells includes the oil water contact, petrophysical and structural properties, and the identification of possible water disposal zones.
Four horizontal pilot production test wells will also be drilled on the structure to ascertain oil productivity. These four wells will be completed with progressive cavity pumps (PCP) from Canada and then placed on an extended flow test.
The Mafraq structure is a delineated heavy oil field that was extensively tested by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in 1988 and 1991. The field tested 15,700 bbl of 13° API oil over a period of 24 days using a PCP from a single well. The test well, MF-5, tested 100% oil for less than 1 day after which water encroachment stabilized at a 25-28% water cut.
According to independent reserve auditor Chapman Petroleum Engineering Ltd. of Calgary, Mafraq field may hold about 35 million bbl of recoverable oil. The Mafraq structure is an east-west fault bounded anticline with the productive interval being at +/- 430 m below ground level. The oil flows freely in the reservoir at 51° C and is expected to cold flow to surface in commercial quantities, Maha said.