Horn Petroleum has announced that it will continue to drill through the entire upper Jesomma sand reservoir section of the Shabeel North well in Somalia, which so far
reaches a depth of 2,200 metres
The company, partnered with Range Resources and Red Emperor, discovered that the section contained several additional sands, prompting a full set of electrical logs to be run in order to determine whether they contained potential oil zones. The initial analysis of these logs indicated that the most promising zone in the well was the upper Jesomma sand interval, it said.
The area, however, had already been confirmed by testing to contain fresh water and therefore no further testing could be justified, it commented.
Based on the positive evidence of oil shows and the presence of a good quality reservoir in the Jesomma, the partnership has decided to deepen the well in order to evaluate the potential of the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic sections.
David Grellman, president and chief executive officer of Horn Petroleum, stated, "While we are obviously disappointed that the Jesomma sands tested wet, the overall results of the two wells drilled during this campaign are quite encouraging in the long-term prospects for oil potential of the basin.
“We have confirmed a working petroleum system, good quality reservoirs and thick impermeable sealing rocks.”
The current revised total depth is approximately 3,400 metres which is expected to take an additional 15 to 20 days to reach. The Jurassic section in the nearby Shabeel well had thin reservoir sands with oil and gas shows, but was not thick enough to warrant testing. These sands are expected to thicken basinward towards Shabeel North.
Horn Petroleum claimed there was also evidence to suggest faulting had occurred in the well, which could have cut out a significant portion of the basal reservoir section, which is not expected in Shabeel North.
Horn Petroleum holds a 60 per cent working interest in the Dharoor and Nugaal Valley Production Sharing Agreements alongside working interest partners Range Resources and Red Emperor, who each hold 20 per cent. Africa Oil Corporation holds an equity interest in Horn Petroleum of approximately 45 per cent.
“We are still hopeful that the lower zones in the Shabeel North well may have favourable trapping geometries against the deeper thick carbonate and anhydrite sections seen in the original Shabeel well," Grellman concluded.
