Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Max Petroleum, a British oil and gas exploration and production company, announced on September 9 positive drilling results in both Sagiz West and Uytas fields of Kazakhstan.

"The SAGW-5 appraisal well in the Sagiz West Field has reached a total vertical depth of 1,395 meters, with electric logs indicating 16 meters of net oil pay over a 19 meter interval at depths ranging from 1,269 to 1,288 meters. Reservoir quality appears very good with porosities ranging from 15 percent to 25 percent," the company said.

The company will run production casing in the well, which will be completed and placed on test production after obtaining the requisite governmental approvals.

The ZJ-30 drilling rig will next move on to drill the SAGW-6 appraisal well in the Sagiz West Field.

Moreover, in the Uytas field, the UTS-13 appraisal well successfully reached a total depth of 208 meters, with electric logs indicating eight meters of net oil pay in Cretaceous reservoirs over a 53 meter interval ranging in depths from 106 to 159 meters in line with expectations. Reservoir quality is excellent.

"The shallow Albian was also encountered in this well with visual shows and oil saturation from 46 to 50 meters," the company said.

The Company plans to complete the well and place it on test production as soon as practicable.

The Company has also successfully reached the target depth at the UTS-14 appraisal well in the Uytas Field which is currently being logged. The logging results will be announced as part of the next drilling update.

Max Petroleum is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Kazakhstan. The company holds a 100 percent interest in the Blocks A and E license area covering over 12,455 square kilometers in the highly prolific Pre-Caspian Basin in Western Kazakhstan.

The Pre-Caspian Basin has produced some of the world's largest oil and gas discoveries, including the giant Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak and Astrakhan fields, which range in size from seven to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable reserves.

Max Petroleum has acquired and interpreted approximately 5,000 km² of exploratory 3D seismic data over Blocks A and E to generate its portfolio of both shallow, post-salt and deeper, pre-salt prospects and leads.

Since September 2006, Max Petroleum has drilled 76 wells in its Blocks A and E license area including 26 exploration wells generating eight commercial discoveries at the Zhana Makat, Borkyldakty, Uytas, Asanketken, East Kyzylzhar I, Sagiz West, Baichonas West and Eskene North fields.

Kazakhstan's largest hydrocarbon fields are Kashagan, Tengiz and Karachaganak.

Recoverable oil reserves of Kashagan field are estimated at 11 billion barrels, whereas total geological raw material reserves stand at 35 billion barrels. It is believed to be the largest oil field in the world after Prudo Bay in Alaska. Besides, natural gas reserves are estimated at over 1 trillion cubic meters.

The commencement of commercial production at Kashagan is expected by mid-2013. The first phase of the project envisions the volume of production at around 370,000 barrels of oil per day with a possible increase to 450,000 barrels. The second phase envisages increasing production to 375,000 bpd within at least three years.

The Tengiz oil field was discovered in 1979 and is one of the deepest and largest oil fields in the world. Reserves of the deposit are estimated at 750 million to 1.1 billion tons (6-9 billion barrels) of recoverable oil.

Karachaganak is one of the world's largest fields. Its oil reserves amount to 1.2 billion tons, while those of natural gas are 1.35 trillion cubic meters. 49 percent of Kazakhstan's gas production and 18 percent of oil production comes from this field.