Vintage appraisal well indicates discovery potential in Yemen republic
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 14 -- Tests by Vintage Petroleum Inc., Tulsa, of its second appraisal well—drilled to evaluate the subsalt Lam formation of its An Nagyah 2 discovery in Yemen—indicate the continuity of productive oil and gas sands over that structure and "the potential of a new exploration play in the Sab'atayn basin," company officials said Wednesday.
"Our focus will be to complete the technical and economic evaluation required to determine if sufficient reserves and long-term production rates exist to justify field development," said S. Craig George, Vintage CEO.
The An Nagyah 4 appraisal well, drilled to a total depth of 5,074 ft, tested 45° oil from the Upper Lam formation. Company officials said electric log and pressure analysis indicate a gas-bearing interval of 115 ft gross and an oil-bearing interval of 191 ft. A 99 ft interval in the Upper Lam was perforated between 3,385-493 ft and tested at a stabilized rate of 1,320 b/d of light, water-free oil and 800 Mcfd of gas, with a flowing tubing pressure of 335 psi.
The Upper Lam interval tested in the appraisal well correlates to the interval in the discovery well that tested 1,091 b/d of oil, officials said (OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2002). They said the appraisal well encountered the Lower Lam formation downdip and below the water-oil contact, and so was not tested. The first appraisal well, An Nagyah 3, tested in the Lower Lam formation in a structural position above the water-oil contact at 205 b/d.
Vintage is operator with 75% working interest in the 85,000-acre S-1 Damis block.
