Gulfsands Petroleum Plc provided an update on its activities that are currently under way in Morocco, according to a company press release.
Drilling operations on the Al Krima 1 well (AKR-1) located within the Rharb Centre Permit in northern Morocco have now commenced using the recently imported COFOR SAS rig. The AKR-1 well is the first of nine wells to be drilled on the Rharb permits in two back-to-back drilling programs, according to the release.
The AKR-1 well is planned to be drilled to a total vertical depth of approximately 1,450 m (4,757 ft). The well is designed to evaluate two distinct Miocene-aged reservoirs, contained within a fault bound structural closure that have been identified from seismic data as having the potential to be gas-bearing, the company said.
The AKR-1 well is located very close to existing infrastructure, with the surface location of the well lying within 1 km (0.6 miles) of a gas export pipeline into which it is anticipated a successful well would be quickly tied in for delivery of gas to preexisting demand from local buyers. The company expects that drilling operations will be completed within 28 days, according to the press release.
The 3-D seismic survey of approximately 220 sq km (85 sq miles) being carried out over the highly prospective southwestern part of the Rharb permit area is nearing completion with final data capture expected to be completed by the end of October. Thereafter the data will be processed for use early next year to assist the company in the further delineation of drilling targets for the remainder of the company’s nine-well drilling program, according to the release.
The second seismic program, designed to capture approximately 650 km (404 miles) of 2-D data on the prospective Fes permit, is continuing and is anticipated to be completed, subject to weather, early in 2014 with processing and interpretation to follow immediately thereafter. This 2-D seismic program is designed to assist in the identification and prioritization of additional drilling targets on the Fes permit and to more accurately define existing drill targets identified using the results of an earlier gravity survey program and legacy 2-D seismic data, according to the release.
