Antrim Energy’s Chott Fejaj 3A exploratory well in Tunisia has been cased to a depth of 4,127 meters. The well location is situated approximately 12 kilometers from pipelines which carry oil and gas from fields in southern Tunisia to ports on the Mediterranean coast.
To date, the re-entry drilling operation has successfully penetrated approximately 650 meters of Triassic salt and claystone that is expected to comprise an effective seal for any underlying hydrocarbons. At a drilling depth of 4,156 meters a significant quantity of drilling fluid was lost when the well penetrated a highly permeable zone.
The setting of the new casing string is designed to allow the safe evaluation of this very permeable zone and any further zones of interest that may be encountered. Antrim anticipates that the well will be drilled to a depth of at least 4,250 meters.
The Chott Fejaj structure, of which Antrim holds a 34.3 percent interest, is one of a series of seismically-defined structures on the Antrim concession. Each structure is associated with the regional Gafsa fault system and similar to the large fault-bounded three way dip closures which are productive in the Berkine Basin in neighboring Algeria. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
