Gulf Keystone has spudded the Shaikan-6 appraisal well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The well is located on the Shaikan block and is the fourth deep appraisal well to be drilled on the company’s major oil discovery.
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The oil discovery has independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between eight billion barrels and 13.4 billion barrels, calculated on a P90 to P10 basis with a mean value of 10.5 billion barrels.
The well is being drilled 9km to the east of the Shaikan-2 appraisal well to an estimated total depth of 3,800m.
The drilling will target prospective intervals in the Jurassic and Triassic, and is subject to technical conditions, according to Gulf Keystone.
Shaikan-6 is the last appraisal well to be drilled as part of the Shaikan appraisal programme.
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By GlobalDataThe company intends to undertake the Shaikan-7 exploration well next year; drilling will target potential untapped resources in the lower Triassic and the Permian, the company’s deepest undrilled horizon to date.
Gulf Keystone COO John Gerstenlauer said that the Shaikan-6 is the tenth well to be drilled across the company’s four adjacent blocks, and the seventh well to be drilled on blocks that Gulf Keystone operates in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
"This number of completed and current exploration and appraisal wells comfortably places Gulf Keystone among top three operators in the region," said Gerstenlauer. "As part of our high-impact drilling campaign, planned and funded through 2012, the Shaikan-5 and Shaikan-6 appraisal wells will provide us with better understanding of the flanks of the massive Shaikan structure and its yet untapped resources."
As operator, Gulf Keystone has a 75% working interest in the Shaikan block.
Other partners are Kalegran with 20% and Texas Keystone with 5%.
Kalegran is a subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas.
