OREANDA-NEWS. Oryx Petroleum Corporation Limited announces the discovery and testing of crude oil at Ain Al Safra. The Ain Al Safra discovery will be appraised in 2014 as part of the multi-well appraisal and development drilling program in the Hawler license area, where Oryx Petroleum is the operator and has a 65% participating and working interest.

Commenting, Henry Legarre, Oryx Petroleum’s Chief Operating Officer, stated:
“We are very pleased to make a second oil discovery on the Hawler license area. Based on the results of the recently completed test program at Ain Al Safra, we are proceeding with further analysis and appraisal to determine the size and quality of the discovery as well as its potential commerciality. We look forward to working with our partners to appraise this new discovery.”

Testing Program and Results
The Sakson Hilong 10 rig spudded the exploration well targeting the Ain Al Safra prospect, a broad fault-bounded anticline, in the Hawler license area in early June. The AAS-1 well targeted oil potential primarily in the lower Jurassic and Triassic and secondarily in the Cretaceous. Netherland Sewell & Associates, Inc. estimated as of March 31, 2013 that the Ain Al Safra prospect contained 225 MMbbl of unrisked gross (100%) prospective resources (risked: 44 MMbbl).

The AAS-1 well reached a depth of 3,039 metres in the uppermost Triassic in early September and was originally scheduled to be drilled to a total depth of 3,700 metres. Drilling was suspended and the well secured at the 3,039 metre depth as heavy losses of drilling fluids caused the bottom hole assembly to become stuck. The well was logged down to the lowermost Jurassic and there was evidence of oil shows in the Cretaceous, Jurassic and lower Jurassic of varying quality. As previously reported, the Cretaceous reservoir was deemed wet and not tested. In the lower Jurassic reservoirs, free oil on the shakers and sizable losses of drilling fluids were observed during drilling with significant quantities of oil flowing to surface. As such, three cased hole drill stem tests (“DST”) were conducted in the lower Jurassic zones.

The results of the AAS-1 testing program are as follows:
- The first and second DSTs tested the Butmah and Adayiah formations, respectively. While logging results of each formation indicated the presence of fractures, the results of both tests were inconclusive as the tests were unable to connect to a permeable fracture network and flow fluids to surface.

- The third DST tested the base of the Alan formation and the Mus formation together as the Corporation believes fracture systems in the two formations are in communication. Two intervals were perforated in a section totaling 58 metres. The well was successfully flowed using 20/64” and 16/64” choke sizes. The two choke sizes yielded average oil flow rates of 850 bbl/d and 675 bbl/d, respectively, over 8 hour flow periods. During the entire test period oil was flowed through a separator using a variety of choke sizes for a total of 38 hours inclusive of the two 8 hour flow periods using the fixed choke sizes. 36 hours of pressure build-up was also recorded for the test. Well performance during testing appears to have been highly impaired by the rise of heavy mud in the tubing during the flow periods as an analysis of pressure gauge records indicates the well was still cleaning up at the end of the well test. The heavy mud was used to control the well during drilling.

Field tests designed to measure the crude gravity produced conflicting results with some samples indicating heavier (18° API) gravity oil and some samples indicating lighter (29° API). Fluid samples have been sent to a laboratory for further analysis. Some natural gas was encountered with the gas oil ratio of approximately 160 scf/bbl. Hydrogen sulfide was also encountered and measured at 20% in the gas phase.

The data gathered from the well and field tests should be considered preliminary until such time as a pressure transient analysis or well-test interpretation has been carried out. Test results are not necessarily indicative of long-term performance or of ultimate recovery.

Appraisal Plans
Oryx Petroleum is conducting further analysis of the AAS-1 well and intends to drill an appraisal well at Ain Al Safra in 2014. In addition to appraising the discovery in the Alan and Mus formations, appraisal drilling is expected to include the Triassic Kurra Chine formation, which was not possible with the AAS-1 well. Oryx Petroleum also intends to re-test the Butmah and Adayiah formations where logging information acquired during drilling indicates the presence of fractures.