Canada’s Atrim and Australia’s Horizon Oil plan to restart drilling at their Tunisian well, the Chott Feraj No. 3. Originally drilled to a depth of 3,532 meters in 1998, the companies now plan to deepen it by another 700 meters, to reach the primary Paleozoic reservoir objectives.
Antrim holds a 34.286 percent working interest in the consortium that imported the drilling rig into Tunisia. Horizon Oil, which operated under the name Bligh Oil and Minerals NL up until November 2002, is the well operator.
Horizon is reportedly interested in raising its stake in the project from 14.29 percent to 21.70 percent. An Antrim press release stated that “The Company has negotiated an option with a third party to farm out a portion of Antrim's interest in this prospect and, in this regard, has received a $175,000 non-refundable deposit.”
The well is located in the Melhir basin of central Tunisia, approximately 12 kilometers from the gas and oil pipelines which carry gas to Europe, and oil from fields in southern Tunisia to ports on the Mediterranean coast. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
