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Oilex saves Sarha-1 for later



By Upstream staff 

Australian explorer Oilex is suspending the Sarha-1 well on Block 56 in Oman as a future oil producer after oil was detected in a drillstem test of the Al Khlata formation, it said today.

Oilex said it had abandoned plans for a similar test of the underlying Gharif formation after failing to isolate the test interval from water-bearing sands.

However, it said good oil shows while drilling this section of the well suggested the water originated in other deposits that were known to be water bearing.

Oilex said it would attempt to test the Gharif, Huqf and Haima formations in its next well on the block by emplying a different well design.

The company said the well had demonstrated movable oil in at least one target horizon, the Al Khlata formation.

Oilex said the well would its rig would move to drill the Ghadaq-1 well once suspension operation were wrapped up at Sarha-1. The company plans to drill a further 10 wells on Block 56.

Oilex operates the well with a 25% stake for partners Videocon Industries (25%), Gas Authority of India Limited (Gail) (25%), Hindustan Petroleum (12.5%) and Bharat Petroleum (12.5%).

Oilex also said it had spudded the Cambay-23Z well in Gujarat, India, last week, part of a six-well appraisal programme on the field.

The wells will seek to prove up oil and gas reserves in Oligocene and Eocene deposits. Four of the wells will also test deeper Eocene levels and basal Deccan basalts that are known to contain oil in the Tarapur block, to the North.

The Cambay field was discovered by India’s state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation in 1957.


Tuesday, 11 March, 2008, 06:56 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 11 March, 2008, 08:37 GMT

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