Eni and Sonatrach announced Sunday that they had discovered significant oil and associated gas in the Zemlet el Arbi concession, located in the Berkine North Basin in the Algerian desert.
The two companies have been operating the concession together as a joint venture owned 49% by Eni and 51% by Sonatrach.
According to a statement from Eni, preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery are around 140 million barrels of oil in place.
“With this discovery, Eni and Sonatrach continue to successfully pursue their near field and infrastructure-led exploration strategy allowing a rapid valorisation of these new resources,” Eni said in the statement.
The firm said that the well that led to the discovery had been drilled on the HDLE exploration prospect, around 15 kilometres from the processing facilities of Bir Rebaa North field.
“HDLE-1 discovered light oil in the Triassic sandstones of Tagi Formation, confirming 26 m of net pay with excellent petrophysical characteristics. During the production test, the well delivered, 7000 barrels of oil per day and 5 mmscfd of associated gas. The HDLE-1 well is the first well of the new exploration campaign which will include the drilling of 5 wells in the Berkine North Basin,” the firm said.
Now that the discovery has been made, a second well, HDLE-2, will be drilled next month to confirm the additional potential structure extending in the adjacent Sif Fatima 2 concession.
