Melrose Resources plc, the oil and gas exploration, development and production company, today announces an update of recent drilling offshore Bulgaria.
As announced on 3 April, the Izgrev No.1 exploration well had reached a total depth of 1,800m and had reported high gas shows while drilling. An interval between 1,150m and 1,195m showed high porosities and gas saturation from petrophysical evaluation. This zone was perforated and a drill stem test conducted on 9 April. Unfortunately, there were no indications of flow during the test period most likely due to the low permeability of the reservoir. Down hole reservoir data has been recovered and well stimulation methods may be incorporated in future plans. The well is now being plugged and abandoned.
The semi-submersible drilling rig, the Atwood Southern Cross, is now moving on to the Ropotamo No.1 location in Block Rezovska, approximately 45 km east of the Bulgarian coast in water depths of around 160m. The main target in Ropotamo No.1 is of Eocene age within a large structural closure. P50 gas in-place potential is estimated at 1.4 Tcf.
Commenting on the current exploration programme, Robert Adair, Executive Chairman, said: 'The test result of the Izgrev No.1 is disappointing but we will be doing further work to evaluate whether or not chemical fracturing treatments may be effective in the gas-bearing horizon identified. The next wells in our exploration programme are some distance from Izgrev and are geologically independent but we are encouraged by the presence of hydrocarbons in the Izgrev well. We look forward to drilling the Ropotamo No.1 and then the Obzor No.1 wells.'