UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG) said it had encountered oil shows in drill cuttings from 300 to 400 metres depth in the Pinarova-1 exploration well within the target Eocene Hoya limestone in Turkey.
SWAB TESTING
The company’s joint venture aims to discover whether the Pinarova structure is connected to an underlying 9km2 light oil accumulation lying between 300 to 645 metres below surface.
UKOG added that the oil shows corresponded with observed drilling fluid losses, “potentially indicating permeability development within the Hoya reservoir”.
“Given these encouraging observations, it has been decided to conduct open hole swabbed flow testing over the zone between 293 and 400 metres drilled depth.
Swabbing uses a range of rubber swabbing cups attached to heavy wireline within production tubing.
Moving the swabbing cups repeatedly upwards creates a suction or basic pumping effect in the tubing.
This can reduce or unload the head of fluids adjacent to the reservoir which can induce inflow from the formation into the well.
ANOMALY
The company expects testing to run over the coming weekend, subject to the end of Ramadan, before drilling through the underlying zone “coincident with the uppermost and strongest seismic amplitude anomaly observed within Pinarova’s core”.
UKOG said that the anomaly may indicate the presence of moveable hydrocarbons and or good Hoya reservoir development.
The company owns a 50% non-operated interest in Pinarova-1 and the surrounding 305 km² Resan licence and operator Aladdin Middle East holds 50%.