APACHE CORPORATION’S WILDCAT natural gas well tested 16 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas and 486 barrels of condensate per day from a 12 metre (40-foot) section in the Jurassic Lower Safa formation. Kahraman B-22 logged a total of 26 metres (84 feet) of net pay from Jurassic- age sands between 3773 -3916 metres (12,379 and 12,849 feet), but the thickest and best quality segment of this pay was perforated between 3903metres(12,805feet) and 3914metres (12,840 feet) and fracture stimulated. The well was drilled to the Jurassic Lower Safa formation at a total depth of 4213 metres(13,822 feet), in order to appraise the westward extent of the shallow Kahraman “B” Bahariya oil field and to explore for deeper traps in the Alam el Bueib and Jurassic Safa formations. The pay flowed through a 2-inch choke with a flowing well head pressure of 660 pounds per square inch (psi)resulting in the 16 MMcf of gas and 486 barrels of condensate per day.
Located 29 kilometres north of the company’s Qasr Field in Egypt’s Western Desert and 15 kilometres south of Shell’s Obaiyed field- the nearest Jurassic gas production-the prospect was mapped on a new Jurassic exploration model based on the geological and geophysical analysis of the Qasr field, which was discovered and 60 million barrels of condensate, is currently producing 362 MMcf of gas and 13,000 barrels of condensate per day from eight wells. Qasr has produced a total of 97 billion cubic feet of gas and 4.2 million barrels of condensate from the Jurassic reservoir since production started in July 2005 and also produces about 8,700BOPD from 11 wells in the overlying Alam el Buieb (AEB) and Bahariya formations.
Results from the recently drilled Kahraman UC88 well, located 5.2km to the southwest of the Kahraman B-22, indicate a possible Jurassic sandstone play expanding northward through the Kahraman B-22 well and onto Apache’s Shushan “C” concession. Apache recently acquired 215 square kilometres of new 3-D seismic over the Shushan “C” lease. The Kahraman B-22 is located on the southern edge of this play and new wells are planned in the Shushan “C” concession to extend the Jurassic play. “The Kahraman B-22 is a significant distance from known Jurassic gas accumulations and may open up a new area for development,” said Rodney J. Eichler, executive vice president and general manager of Apache ‘s operations in Egypt. Current gross production from Apache’s Jurassic fields stands at 512 MMcf of gas and 18,200 barrels of condensate per day, which is the limit of existing processing facilities. Current net production is 224 MMcf of gas and 8,000 barrels of liquid hydrocarbons per day. The company has about 23,000 square kilometers of 3-D seismic data covering nearly 56 percent of its 10 million acres in Egypt, said Eichler. “The 3-D seismic was key to identifying of deep structures missed by earlier 2-D surveys, particularly in the Qasr, Syrah, Muntaga and Matruh areas” he commented.
