Lundin says no oil yet after its second well drilling in Sudan
May 8, 2008 (LONDON) — Drilling operations conducted by the Swedish oil explorer, Lundin Petroleum AB in the well Wan Machar-1 didn’t record oil shows in part of Block B5 located in the Southern Muglad Basin.
The Wan Machar-1 “well entered basement at 1,360 metres. Minor gas shows were encountered from 675 metres to Total Depth, but no oil shows were recorded” during the drilling operations. Lundin AB said today.
Ashley Heppenstall, President and CEO of Lundin Petroleum said “the drilling results to date are disappointing. However, the wells provide important data that will allow us to develop our understanding of this part of the basin.”
Block 5B is very large area covering 20,000 km2, being in excess of 120 blocks in the UK North Sea.
The firm said the acquisition of logs has been delayed due to technical problems with the rig. However it is expected that the logs will confirm the well as a dry hole and if so it will be plugged and abandoned.
The well is the second of a four wells to be drilled in Block 5B during 2008. The next well locations are both closer to the central part of the basin where “it is anticipated that the source rock quality and maturity will improve.” Lundin underscored.
Last March, Following the announcement of its failure to find oil in the Sudanese well, Lundin dropped 3.2% to 75.5 Kronor (12,39 USD) in Stockholm trading.
The partners in Block 5B are Petronas Carigali White Nile (5B) Ltd (“Petronas”) (39%), Lundin Petroleum (24.5%), ONGC Videsh Ltd (23.5%) and Sudapet Ltd (13%).
Furthermore, the partnership has accepted the recommendation of the National Petroleum Commission to assign a 10 percent share to the National Oil Company of Southern Sudan to be allocated on a “pro rata” basis from each of the partners’ shares.
The operator of Block 5B is White Nile Petroleum Operating Company (WNPOC) a joint venture between Sudapet Ltd and Petronas.
(ST)