Gulfsands Petroleum, an oil and gas explorer, has abandoned its Zaman 1 exploration well in Syria, after discovering a small quantity of non-commerical oil.
News of the withdrawal has resulted in a tumble in the company’s share price by 4.5%. The firm said an open-hole test conducted at the site revealed the reservoir to be water-bearing and tight, with only traces of oil observed at the surface.
“The data from this drill stem test suggests that good quality reservoirs can be encountered to the south of the Khurbet East Field which is encouraging for future exploration in this area and something we were keen to establish with this well,” chief executive Richard Malcolm said in a statement reported by Reuters.
Gulfsands revently found oil at its Khurbet East-14 delineation well in Syria, and also has operations in Iraq and the US.
