OREANDA-NEWS.   Oryx Petroleum Corporation Limited announces an update on its drilling activities at Banan and Demir Dagh in the Hawler license area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Commenting, Henry Legarre, Oryx Petroleum’s Chief Operating Officer, stated:
“We continue to make excellent progress in the Hawler license area. Preliminary indications from the Banan exploration well continue to be encouraging and we have spudded our first appraisal well at Demir Dagh with the re-completion of the Demir Dagh discovery well soon to follow. In Haute Mer A the results of the high risk Horse well were disappointing; however, we will now accelerate testing of the previously announced Elephant discovery.”

Hawler License Area
Banan Exploration Well
As previously reported, the KS Discoverer 1 rig spudded the BAN-1 well, the Corporation`s fourth exploration well in the Hawler license area, targeting the Banan prospect in mid-September. The BAN-1 well is targeting light oil potential in the Lower Jurassic and Triassic, and medium oil potential in the Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic. Netherland, Sewell & Associates (“NSAI”) estimates as of March 31, 2013 that the Banan prospect contains 196 MMbbl of best estimate unrisked gross (100%) prospective resources (risked: 102 MMbbl). NSAI`s estimate excludes a significant portion of the Banan prospect that was outside the Hawler license area boundaries prior to the December 2012 boundary extension.

The well has now reached a depth of approximately 3,550 metres in the uppermost Triassic and is expected to reach a total depth of 4,153 metres and test in Q1 2014. As previously indicated, logging data, core analysis and observations during drilling in the Cretaceous confirms the presence of hydrocarbons and similar reservoir properties as observed at Demir Dagh. Logging data and observations during drilling, including free oil on the shakers and cuttings also confirm the presence of hydrocarbons in the Upper and Lower Jurassic. Losses of drilling fluids also indicated existence of a permeable fracture network. While these are encouraging indications, no conclusions can be reached until a testing program is conducted.

Demir Dagh Appraisal
The first well in the Demir Dagh Appraisal program (DD-3) was spudded in mid-November and is expected to reach a total depth of 4,115 metres in Q2 2014. The well is being drilled down flank of the anticline approximately three kilometres to the southeast of the DD-2 discovery well and will test the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic reservoirs. The DD-3 well is on schedule, having reached a depth of approximately 1,600 metres in the uppermost Cretaceous. Drilling experience to date with DD-3 has been consistent with the drilling of the DD-2 discovery well.

In addition, the Romfor 22 rig that successfully tested the Zey Gawra (ZEG-1) discovery well is now moving to Demir Dagh to re-complete DD-2. The re-completion will allow for oil production from Demir Dagh’s Cretaceous reservoirs once the Corporation’s production facilities are operational, which is expected in Q2 2014.

Oryx Petroleum is the operator and has a 65% participating and working interest in the Hawler license area.