Victoria Provides Drilling Update at Kazakhstan's Project

Victoria Oil & Gas Plc announces that it has completed drilling of exploration Well 66, commenced operation of pumping at Wells 20 and 73 and commissioned a full geological and geotechnical review of its wholly-owned Kemerkol oil project in the Atyrau Oblast of Kazakhstan.

Well 66 was drilled to a total depth of 1,102 metres to explore the eastern section of the licence block. Although oil saturations were found in the drill cuttings, the logs indicated that these saturations were not sufficient for commercial production.

Following discussions with the Company’s technical management, the Board has decided to delay the spudding of the next well of this campaign until the seismic data is re-evaluated using the subsurface information obtained from the new drilling.

The main objective of this review is to improve the understanding of the trap and seal mechanisms in the field, especially the sealing capacity of the faults. Both a seismic re-interpretation and a detailed comparison of the geological parameters from all wells will be carried out. The new exploration prospects will then be grouped according to different geological concepts based on the results of the review and those with the highest probability of penetrating oil-bearing strata will be recommended for further exploration. The Company expects this review to be completed during the first quarter of next year.

Production from Well 20 has doubled to 50 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) whilst still running on the original progressive cavity pump ("PCP"). Total production from Wells 20 and 73 currently stands at approximately 300 bbl/d due to recent installation of a PCP at Well 73 to optimise output and there is scope to increase this rate significantly by increasing speed and capacity of the pumping equipment and water shut-off operations.

Tony Porter, CEO of Victoria Oil & Gas, said today, "We have found oil in all the wells we have drilled, which shows that the source rock for hydrocarbon generation is present throughout the field. The challenge now is to concentrate further evaluations on trap and seal. The licence block covers a large area of 65 square kilometres and still has significant potential for future discoveries."

Porter added, "Activity to maximise production from Wells 73 and 20 is ongoing and both have responded well to pumping. With the right equipment we would expect to see a material increase in production from the current levels".

Source: Victoria Oil and Gas Plc  

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