Eureka Energy Limited said on Monday the Koyunlu-1 well, located onshore Southeastern Turkey, was tripping out of the well with drill pipe, after drilling to a depth of 1,220 meters.
Oil shows were obtained in fractured carbonates of the target Garzan Formation, over 9 meters to the present depth of 1,220 meters. The shows were represented by bright yellow streaming cut fluorescence in drill cuttings, the company said.
While the shows are encouraging their commercial significance will not be known until the well has reached total depth, wire-line logs are interpreted and flow testing, if warranted, has been carried out. Drilling has halted so that casing can be run and cemented just above the show zone. This casing configuration will allow the remaining un-drilled portion of the target Garzan and the underlying Mardin Formations to be drilled with a drilling fluid designed to minimize formation damage.
Drilling operations are expected to resume on or around the 1st of December. Proposed total depth is 1,380 meters (4,530 feet). Eureka recently acquired farm-in rights to earn a 20% interest together with an option to increase its interest to 45%, in two exploration licenses in South Eastern Turkey. The Koyunlu-1 well is the first of two farm-in wells planned to be drilled in the licenses which are located in the major oil producing region of Turkey, approximately 17 kilometers south of the West Raman oil field (original oil in place 1.5 billion barrels).
The Koyunlu-1 will test the eastern portion of a structure with similarities to the Raman field structures. The target reservoirs are Cretaceous age carbonates of the Mardin Group, the same reservoirs which host oil in the Raman fields and numerous other oil fields in the region.
The structure has the potential to host recoverable reserves of 31 million barrels (P50) or 204 million barrels (P90), if oil is present and commercially extractable. The well is expected to reach target depth in December 2006 The Koyunlu-1 well is being drilled on a turnkey basis and as such the company is not exposed to any time based or other increases in costs associated with the drilling of the well.