 Gulf Keystone provides an update on its ongoing appraisal programme at the Shaikan block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is a major discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between 8 billion barrels to 13.4 billion barrels calculated on the P90 to P10 basis, with a mean value of 10.5 billion barrels.
The Company has completed the drilling operations of the Shaikan-5 appraisal well, drilled 6 km to the northeast of the Shaikan-2 appraisal well. Shaikan-5 is the fourth well in the five-well appraisal programme, which has been drilled to evaluate the eastern culmination of the Shaikan structure. In May 2012, the well reached a total depth of 3,750 metres in the Kurre Chine Dolomite formation in the Triassic, which is the deepest horizon drilled by a Shaikan well to date.
Extensive logs and core acquired during the Shaikan-5 drilling operations have further enhanced the Company's understanding of the reservoir and its fracture system. Results obtained in the Jurassic interval indicated a continuous oil column with approximately 237 metres of net pay, and porosities, which are consistent with results, obtained elsewhere in the field, most recently with the Shaikan-4 appraisal well. Good hydrocarbon saturations were calculated throughout the Jurassic interval where fracture intensity appears to be comparable to or exceed those seen in other Shaikan wells. Oil shows were also recorded whilst drilling in the Triassic formation.
Work is underway to evaluate these preliminary results, and further testing of the prolific Jurassic reservoir and the Triassic interval is being considered once a work-over rig is available to move to the Shaikan-5 location. Following the completion of the well testing programme, Shaikan-5 will be completed as a Jurassic producer and tied to the Company's second Extended Well Test facility (EWT-2), which is currently under construction.
John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer commented: "These solid preliminary results obtained with the Shaikan-5 appraisal well confirm the massively prolific nature of the Jurassic interval of the Shaikan structure. We look forward to completing the Shaikan appraisal programme, including further testing of the Jurassic and Triassic intervals with the Shaikan-5 and -6 wells, and incorporating all the new results into our independently audited gross oil-in-place estimates for the world-class Shaikan discovery. Deeper potential of the Triassic and Permian horizons will be tested with the Shaikan-7 exploration well in 2013."
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