Irish oil and gas company Petroceltic International has spudded the Shakrok-1 well, the first in its drilling campaign of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The well targets Jurassic and Triassic fractured carbonate reservoirs, which have yielded major discoveries such as Shaikan, Swara Tika, Atrush and Bina Bawi in recent years.
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Shakrok-1 comprises multiple stacked reservoir targets, which include Jurassic and Triassic limestones and dolomites that are sealed by interbedded evaporites and shales.
The prospect is expected to hold a P50 resource potential of around 650 million barrels of recoverable oil and a geological chance of success (Pg) of 24.5%.
The Shakrok well is estimated to take around 150 days to drill to the target total depth (TD), which includes a proposed TD of around 3,000m.
Petroceltic International chief executive Brian O’Cathain said that the company has identified large exploration targets in the multi-well campaign of Kurdistan, where Shakrok-1 is the first well.
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By GlobalData"Shakrok has multiple Jurassic and Triassic oil reservoir targets, each with substantial resource potential. Recent regional drilling results also suggest that there could be substantial upside resource potential beyond the currently mapped structural closure," Cathain added.
In July 2011, Petroceltic Kurdistan signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for the Shakrok and Dinarta exploration blocks in the central northern area of Kurdistan.
Hess Middle East New Ventures and KRG hold 20% carried interest in each PSC of the blocks, while Petroceltic Kurdistan owns a 16% participating interest and Hess holds the remaining 64% participating interest.
