ANGOLA ALGERIA CAMEROON CHAD. CONGO EGYPT.. EQUATORIAL GUINEA GABON LIBYA. NIGERIA SOUTH AFRICA SUDAN TUNISIA OTHERS
Gulf
Keystone 05-03-2007
Gulf Keystone
Petroleum Limited, an independent oil and gas exploration company operating in
the Republic of Algeria, in partnership with SONATRACH, issues an update on the
HEK-3 well in Block 129 (Djebel Bottena).
Well test operation and results:
On 7th April 2007 Gulf Keystone commenced workover operations on well HEK-3,
an oil and gas discovery well drilled by SONATRACH in 2004. At that time, the
well was tested over the
Cretaceous,
Coniacian limestone interval and achieved, post acidisation, flow of 184 barrels
of oil over a 4 hour period,
prior to the well being suspend
Gulf Keystone
re-entered the well and tested the same zone, over the measured interval 2,439
to 2,446 metres, employing an acid fracturing technique to improve connectivity
between the reservoir and the wellbore.
After cleaning up the well, a stabilised flow rate of 1,040 barrels per day of
31 degrees API oil was achieved through a 32/64 inch choke. The well was flowed
through a separator for a total of 4.5 days and over 3,500 barrels of oil were
produced during this period. The crude contained little entrained gas and has an
estimated gas/oil ratio of 93 scf/bbl. The well is presently suspended with a
pressure gauge in the hole. This will be retrieved in 3-4 weeks to obtain the
pressure data.
A large amount of good quality engineering data was collected during the test
programme which, combined with the produced volume of oil and the long flow and
shut in periods, will provide valuable data for reservoir evaluation and field
development study purposes. Production optimisation studies will be carried out
to analyse options for further increasing well productivity with a view to the
possible early development of this discovery, subject to necessary consents. In
this regard, consideration will be given to pump and/or gas lift options to
further improve both the rate and delivery pressure of the well.
The information contained in this release has been reviewed and approved by Mr
Peter Dempsey (B,Sc, M.Sc), VP Engineering for Gulf Keystone, who has 24 years
experience as a petroleum / reservoir engineer in the oil industry.
Bill Guest, President of Gulf Keystone said:
“We are very pleased to have successfully re-entered well HEK-3 and achieved
what we believe to be a commercial rate of oil production. The successful use of
acid fracturing technology on this well, to optimise production performance from
this complex reservoir, provides us encouragement to consider a wider use of
this technology within the HEK area and also within our northern licence areas (Ferkane
and Ben Guecha blocks).
Equities in Block 129 are:/i>
Gulf Keystone Petroleum LTD.: 75% (Operator)
SONATRACH: 25%