PA Resources Completes the Sidetrack of the Elyssa 3 well in tunisia

PA Resources Completes the Sidetrack of the Elyssa-3 Well in Tunisia

PA Resources 05-02-2007

PA Resources has completed the sidetrack of the Elyssa-3 appraisal well in Tunisia. A promising new and previously untested oil reservoir as well as several gas bearing intervals also seen in Elyssa-3 were penetrated by the well. However, the Upper Cretaceous Bireno reservoir proved to be structurally more complex than originally mapped.

PA Resources has completed the drilling of a technical sidetrack to the Elyssa-3 exploration/appraisal well in the Zarat Permit, located offshore Eastern Tunisia. The sidetrack reached a total depth of 3,170 meters MD in the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous.

The well penetrated a very interesting oil bearing limestone in the Tertiary with very good reservoir quality. This limestone interval, regarded as secondary target for the well, was logged and oil samples were extracted for further analysis. Above this oil zone, the Elyssa-3 sidetrack did also confirm the lateral extent and reservoir quality of the gas bearing intervals discovered earlier in the original Elyssa-3 well, in the Eocene Vascus and Cherahil formations. Preliminary log analyses show a total net oil pay of 12 meter and a total net gas pay of 28 meters in the Elyssa-3 sidetrack. The Upper Cretaceous Bireno reservoir, however, proved to be structurally more complex than originally mapped in this part of the field and the results of the sidetrack did not meet expectations for this interval.

The new data from Elyssa-3 and the sidetrack will now be integrated with the results from new reprocessed seismic data, in an updated full field evaluation. This field evaluation will be used as a basis for new reserves estimates and further development planning. A preliminary assessment of the consequences on Elyssa reserves is that the total oil reserves remain the same, whereas the total gas reserves may increase by more than 30 percent.

The Elyssa-3 will now be plugged and abandoned. Following this work, the Ocean Spur jackup will be released as planned from the contract with PA Resources. Further drilling in the Zerat permit is planned for to start early 2008. An early development of the new oil discovery, as a satellite tie-in to the Didon platform, will now be included into the Elyssa field development evaluation.

PAR is operator and has a working interest of 45 percent in the Zarat Permit. Partner is ETAP, the Tunisian State oil company, with a working interest of 55 percent.