ShaMaran Petroleum Corp., Vancouver, BC, said it identified two oil-bearing zones in its Pulkhana-9 appraisal well in Iraqi Kurdistan in addition to the two already encountered.
ShaMaran drilled to a total depth of 2,333 m and ran six well tests, recovering oil in four reservoirs. The zones confirmed by previous drilling, the Miocene Euphrates and Cretaceous Shiranish formations, and two new horizons, the Eocene Jaddala formation and an undifferentiated fractured Cretaceous formation below the Shiranish recovered oil on test.
The total prospective pay based on petrophysical analysis of electric logs was more than 800 m in four separate reservoirs. Oil is 28-34° gravity. Due to failure of an external casing packer in the lower zones and possible formation damage due to heavy mud weights, representative flow rates could not be established.
The company will sidetrack the well to establish oil flow rates in the lower two zones using open hole testing that gives the greatest chance of success in fractured carbonate reservoirs. It also will drill another Pulkhana appraisal well and is planning an early production system for the field.
ShaMaran is also reentering the Pulkhana-8 well, drilled in 2006, to confirm the Shiranish reservoir in this portion of the field.
ShaMaran is operator of the Pulkhana block with 60% interest. Petoil and the Kurdistan Regional Government hold 20% each.
