Canada’s TransGlobe Energy Corporation announced a successful appraisal and new pool discovery well at Al-Nagyah #3 on Block S-1 in the Republic of Yemen, in which the company holds a 25 percent working interest.
The Al-Nagyah #3 well was drilled to a total depth of 1,292 meters and suspended as a potential oil well. Al-Nagyah #3 is located 1.3 kilometers west of the Al-Nagyah #2 well which tested light sweet oil at 1,091 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from a gross 28 meter Upper Lam oil reservoir. Two separate reservoirs were encountered, the Upper Lam and the Lower Lam.
The Al-Nagyah #3 well encountered the Upper Lam sandstones in a structurally higher position than the Al-Nagyah #2 well and found a thicker gross reservoir section (43 meters gross thickness). Better porosity and permeability are indicated on the logs than found at Al-Nagyah #2. The sands were not flow tested as they were structurally higher and were therefore entirely above the gas/oil contact found in the Al-Nagyah #2 well.
In addition to the thicker Upper Lam sands, the Al-Nagyah #3 well also discovered a new pool in the Lower Lam sands. This new zone has a net pay of five meters and a tested oil column of more than 50 meters. The zone was perforated and flow tested at a rate of 240 Bopd of 42 degree API, light, sweet oil.
A two-meter water interval was confirmed at the base of the zone during testing. The core and test data indicate the Lower Lam reservoir has less porosity and permeability than the Upper Lam reservoir and therefore may require stimulation to enhance production. The discovery of a new productive horizon in the Lower Lam should augment development economics.
The Al-Nagyah #3 well has proved the continuity and quality of the Upper Lam reservoir and discovered a new oil reservoir in the Lower Lam sandstones. This encouraging result warrants an additional appraisal well to determine the extent of both reservoirs.
Therefore a new appraisal well at Al-Nagyah #4 will be drilled, located 1.2 kilometers north northwest of Al-Nagyah #3 and 2.5 kilometers west northwest of Al-Nagyah #2. The drilling rig is scheduled to move to Al-Nagyah #4 in the next few weeks.
Commercial development of the Al-Nagyah discovery will be contingent on proving a minimum threshold reserve size. The Al-Nagyah structural closure, as mapped on 3-D seismic data, encompasses up to 17 square kilometers and therefore could require several additional wells to prove the full extent of the oil accumulation.
If threshold reserves are established, the proximity to pipeline facilities would allow "fast track" development, according to a company press release. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
