Hunt to deepen multizone Kurdistan oil discovery

April 18, 2012
Hunt Middle East plans to set intermediate casing at 3,700 m measured depth at a multipay discovery on the Ain Sifni PSC in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Hunt Middle East plans to set intermediate casing at 3,700 m measured depth at a multipay discovery on the Ain Sifni PSC in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The Simrit-2, to be deepened to 3,800 m to test other zones on the western part of the Simrit anticline, has encountered an estimated 409 m of net oil pay in Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic reservoirs of which 312 m is interpreted from drilling, wireline logs, and sidewall cores as containing light oil, said Afren PLC, which has a 20% interest in the PSC.

No oil water contact has been established in the target reservoirs. Comprehensive tests are planned after drilling is finished, and the rig is to be moved to the East Simrit prospect to drill the Simrit-3 exploratory well.

Hunt Middle East operates Ain Sifni with 60% interest, and the Kurdistan Regional Government has 20%.

Osman Shahenshah, chief executive of Afren, said, “The scale of the oil column that has been intersected suggests that the Simrit structure and surrounding prospects elsewhere on the Ain Sifni PSC have the potential to be transformational for Afren.”

About the Author

Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration

Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.

Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.