ShaMaran Petroleum, a Canadian-listed independent oil firm, announced a major oil find in the Kurdish region of Iraq Thursday.
The company’s second appraisal well in the Atrush block found flow rates totaling 42,212 barrels of oil a day after drill stem testing, one of the most prolific initial flows ever discovered in the Kurdish region.
The discovery sent ShaMaran’s shares on the Toronto Ventures exchange rocking 30% to CAN$0.38 on Thursday and a further 12% to CAN$0.42 on Friday. The company is worth around $100 million more as a result of the discovery.
The Atrush-2 appraisal well (“AT-2”), which spudded on 23 May, drilled 3.1 kilometres to the east and downdip of the Atrush-1 discovery well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to ShaMaran, the drilling prodram for the well came in 30% under budget.
The Atrush block is operated by the joint-venture company General Exploration Partners (GEP), which holds an 80% interest. Marathon Oil holds a 20% stake. In turn, GEP is held by ShaMaran (33.5%) and a company controlled by American oil man Alex Cranberg.
“Separate cased hole drill stem tests were conducted over three of the formations in the “BSAM” reservoir. Rates totaling 42,212 bpd were achieved (approximately 27 degree API),” ShaMaran said in a statement Thursday. “The test rates were limited by surface testing equipment. None of the tests had measurable amounts of formation water.”
Meanwhile in the eastern part of the Atrush block, the second phase of the 3D seismic acquisition was completed in August 2012, providing GEP with 3D coverage of the entire Block.
Tendering is underway for the lease of an Extended Well Test Facility (“EWTF”) with an award expected shortly. Plans are for a recompleted AT-1 to be connected to the EWTF with first oil in early 2013.
Pradeep Kabra, President and CEO of ShaMaran, commented, “The results from the Atrush 2 well demonstrated the excellent production capability of the “BSAM” reservoir and the discovery of additional resource potential of the Butmah and Adaiyah. We commend the operator GEP on the outstanding job done by them during the drilling and testing of the well and look forward to continuing our work with the Kurdistan Regional Government to appraise and develop this world class discovery.”
