Australian outfit Oilex Ltd advises that preparations are underway to conduct a cased hole drill-stem test of the Al Khlata Sandstone over the interval 1255 metres to 1295 m measured depth in the Sarha-1 well in its Production Sharing Agreement area in Block 56, Oman.

During the past week, open hole DST #1A was conducted over the interval 1626 m to 1641 m. Saline water was recovered which is interpreted to be formation water, the origin of which is either the Haima Sandstone or the Huqf Formation by connection to a major fracture system originating at depth within that unit.

Further review of well and test data will be carried out to determine whether the potential of the Haima and Huqf intervals have been definitively evaluated by open hole testing given the poor hole conditions in this part of the section.

DST #1 had been conducted over the interval 1626 - 1676 metres incorporating the Haima Sandstone and the upper part of the Huqf Formation, interpreted to be a heavily fractured carbonate interval over which a marked resistivity anomaly was recorded along with oil shows. A large volume of drilling mud was lost to the formation and no cuttings or formation fluid was recovered during drilling of the Huqf carbonate section.

The fracture system is likely to extend from the top of the formation to the base of the drilled section and the fractures provide conduits for preferential flow possibly from zones deeper than the total depth of the well (1890 metres). In the event that the formation fluid corresponding to the resistive interval is oil of gravity 200-280API, it is likely that water from deeper aquifers would preferentially flow through the fracture system on test.

Tests will be conducted at shallower depths in the well. The test intervals will have additional cement placed above and below the levels of interest to mitigate the effects of poor cement bonding that is the result of poor hole conditions and partial loss of fluids during drilling of the well.

"We anticipate that following the cementing operations, the series of production tests in the Sarha-1 well will continue with the objective of determining whether moveable hydrocarbons are present in the Al Khlata Formation and the Lower Gharif sandstone," a statement said.

Tags: Oilex