16th Oct 2006 07:00
16 October 2006 WEEKLY OPERATIONS UPDATE - CAMBAY FIELD DRILLING and 3D SEISMIC ACQUISITION PROGRAM GUJARAT, INDIAOilex Ltd is pleased to advise progress on drilling and seismic acquisitionprogrammes in Cambay Field, Gujarat, India.Cambay-71 intersected a sectionsimilar to that of Cambay-72 as predicted in the geological prognoses and welook forward to completing the test programme in November as planned.Cambay 71: At 06:00 hrs (Indian Standard Time) on 16 October 2006 the Cambay-71appraisal /development well had been suspended for future testing at a totaldepth (TD) of 1600 metres. The rig was released at 15:30hrs on 15 October 2006.This marks the end of the first phase drilling programme.As with Cambay-72, indications of hydrocarbons were recorded while drilling themain potential reservoir intervals in Cambay-71 and detailed formationevaluation is under way. The total depth of the well was revised to a shallowerlevel to avoid significant overpressure at the Eocene objective, as wasencountered in Cambay 72 (see below). Attempts to gather reliable pressure andfluid information from the shallower objectives were unsuccessful due, in part,to apparent plugging of the tools by very friable sand and mechanical failures.Sand incursion is an indicator of high porosity reservoir and is a knownproblem in other wells in the area. Investigation of the best means ofpreventing the sand inflow will be a significant part of the design of theforthcoming test programme for both wells.Unlike Cambay-72 the casing was not run in Cambay-71. The intention is toreturn to the well to run larger diameter casing than was available to us forthe current programme. The advantages of this approach in Cambay-71 are: 1) wehave the option to drill a larger diameter hole through the deeper Eoceneobjective; and 2) flow rates are likely to be improved in the potentiallyproductive intervals in the Miocene and Oligocene.The testing programme for both Cambay-71 and Cambay-72 is being planned forNovember, as soon as equipment and materials for the revised well test designare procured.Cambay-72: The well was drilled to a TD of 1767 m and 51/2" casing was run. Thesection below about 1730 m is significantly over-pressured and gas and oil wererecovered at surface during drilling. Further evaluation of the data from theEocene is required to determine the optimal testing programme.Cambay 3D Seismic Program: A contract has been signed with Geofysika Torun forthe acquisition of a 3D seismic programme over the Cambay Contract Area.Surveyors are in the field mapping the detail of the survey. Acquisition isexpected to be completed in late November. Participants in the Cambay Production Sharing Contract are: Current Post-approval Interest Interest 3 Oilex Ltd (Operator) 30.00% 1 45% Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd 46.67% 2 55% (GSPC) Niko Resources Ltd 23.33% - 1. Oilex is acquiring an additional 23.33% equity interest in the PSC from Niko, 2. GSPC is acquiring an additional 8.33% equity interest in the PSC from Oilex. 3. Approval is pending for 1. and 2. from the Government of India. Yours sincerely,Bruce McCarthyManaging DirectorFor further information, please contact:Ray Barnes, Technical Director, Oilex Ltd Tel. +61 8 9226 5577 (WesternAustralia)Archie Berens, Director Pelham Public Relations Tel. +44 20 7743 6679 (UnitedKingdom)The information on drilling results in this report has been compiled by theManaging Director of Oilex NL, Bruce McCarthy B.Sc. (Hons), PhD (Geology) whohas over 27years experience in the oil and gas exploration and productionindustryandwasreviewed by Ray Barnes, the Technical Director of Oilex NL whohas over 35 years experience in oil and gas exploration and production industryand is a member of the AAPG. ENDOILEX LTDRelated Shares:
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