Heritage Commences Drilling in Kurdistan

- Heritage Commences Drilling in Kurdistan

Monday, August 08, 2011
Heritage Oil plc

Heritage Oil has commenced drilling the Miran West-3 well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ("Kurdistan").

Highlights

• The Miran West-3 well has commenced drilling with the primary objective of appraising the Miran West structure
• The well is targeting both the Jurassic and Cretaceous reservoir formations encountered in the Miran West-1 and Miran West-2 discovery wells
• The deviated well path, determined from the recent 3D seismic survey, targets the flanks of the structure to optimally intercept networks of open fractures
• It is intended that multiple reservoir intervals will be tested and evaluated as the well is drilled to a target depth of c.4,400 meters
• The well is expected to take approximately seven months to drill and test
• The commencement of drilling of the Miran West-3 well represents the beginning of a multi-well appraisal and exploration program, using the first of two rigs scheduled for back to back drilling on the Miran Field

Miran West-3 Well

Drilling of the Miran West-3 appraisal well has commenced. The well is targeting reservoir sections encountered in discovery wells with the primary objective of appraising the Jurassic and Cretaceous reservoir formations in the Miran West structure. Management estimates gross in-place volumes for the Miran West structure to have a P90-P50 range of 6.8-9.1 TCF of gas, with an upside P10 gas potential of 12.3 TCF. This is in addition to the estimated P50-P90 range of 42-71 MMbbls of condensate and 53-75 MMbbls of oil.

The Miran West-3 location and well trajectory provides a c.4.3 kilometer appraisal step out from the Miran West-2 Jurassic reservoir penetration. The planned well path targets the flanks of the structure. The well bore will be orientated and inclined to optimally intercept open fracture networks associated with multiple faults identified on recently acquired 3D seismic data. This well will also appraise the Cretaceous oil and gas reservoirs discovered in the Miran West-1 and Miran West-2 wells, further enhancing knowledge of the Miran structures.

Drilling of the Miran West-3 well is expected to take approximately seven months with key reservoir intervals being tested as the well is drilled.

After drilling and testing, it is intended that this rig will move to drill the Miran West-4 appraisal well. A second rig is being sourced to drill the planned Miran East-1 exploration well, with drilling expected to commence before year end, at which time there will be two rigs operating in the Miran Field.

3D Seismic Program

The Miran 3D seismic program is now approximately 90% complete. The significant improvement in seismic data quality over the Miran Field is encouraging and assists greatly with the selection of well locations. Initial interpretation of the first tranche of data acquired has highlighted increased resource potential, in particular for the Miran East structure. This potential will be targeted by the Miran East-1 exploration well to be drilled before year end.

Tony Buckingham, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The spudding of Miran West-3 begins our active multi-well exploration and appraisal drilling program in Kurdistan. This first well is principally appraising the Cretaceous and Jurassic discoveries made in the Miran West-1 and Miran West-2 wells. We plan to provide regular announcements during the drilling of this well as the key reservoir intervals will be tested as the well is drilled."

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DNO Boosts Production in Kurdistan

- DNO Boosts Production in Kurdistan

Tuesday, June 07, 2011
DNO


DNO reported the status of its activities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Summail-1 exploration well update

The Summail-1 exploration well was spudded on April 19, 2011. The well has now been drilled ca. 25 meters into the Cretaceous interval and hydrocarbon shows were detected while drilling. An open hole test (DST) was undertaken of this top interval, and the well flowed 4 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (scf/d) through a restricted choke size (24/64 inches).

The drilling will now continue through the total Cretaceous section, which has an estimated total thickness of 800 meters, and testing will be undertaken as required. Thereafter the plan is to set casing and drill into the Jurassic and Triassic intervals.

Bastora-1A test production

The Bastora-1A well is a horizontal side-track drilled from the original Bastora-1 discovery well. A horizontal section of 660 m in length was drilled through one of the oil filled carbonate zones with the objectives of penetrating multiple fracture systems to enhance productivity and furthermore enable the well to be used in an early production concept. Testing of the well commenced by using artificial lift through installation of a down hole jet pump, and as previously reported, preliminary results indicated initial test rates of 2,000 to 2,300 bopd of crude oil of 18-19 API. The flow from the well has now stabilized at around 1,700 - 1,800 bopd and the crude oil produced is trucked to the DNO operated facilities at Tawke for export.

The forward plan is to continue flowing the Bastora-1A well in order to acquire more production and reservoir information, which will serve as an important input to the development plan to be prepared for the Bastora and Benenan oil discoveries. DNO as Operator will issue a declaration of Commercial Discovery for these two discoveries to the KRG by June 25, 2011.

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Gulf Keystone Charges Ahead in Kurdistan Exploration

- Gulf Keystone Charges Ahead in Kurdistan Exploration

Monday, May 23, 2011
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

Gulf Keystone provided an update on its activities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Shaikan-2

Further to the Company's announcement on March 22, 2011, the Shaikan-2 deep appraisal well has now drilled to a depth of 2,655 meters. The well is now in the top most section of the Triassic age formations and the Company is running casing.

Further to the announced testing of the Sargelu/Alan section, which achieved the stabilized flow rate of 8,064 bopd, logs and cores have now been obtained in the Mus and Butmah Jurassic sections.

Four cores totaling almost 30 meters have been recovered from the Mus formation, 23 meters of which had excellent oil shows. An open hole test resulted in a significant flow, although a reliable oil measurement could not be obtained due to technical limitations of the down hole tools. A similar zone on Shaikan-1 achieved 2,250 bopd.

Five cores totaling almost 47 meters have also been recovered from the Butmah formation, 26 meters of which had excellent oil shows. A similar zone on Shaikan-1 achieved 4,650 bopd on test.

This combination of core, log and flow test data indicates extensive oil columns and an impressive similarity between the Jurassic section in Shaikan-2 and the same formations in Shaikan-1 (which achieved a cumulative test rate of over 20,000 bopd from various geological horizons).

The forward plan is to drill through the Triassic section and possibly into the Permian.

After drilling of the well is complete cased hole flow tests in the Jurassic may be undertaken, a practice which worked well on Shaikan-1 during the summer of 2010. This would allow an optimized testing program to be designed which will benefit from all of the information gathered during drilling of the well and equipment to be sourced which will overcome the current technical limitations of the open hole test tools. A similar approach may also be undertaken in the deeper zones but does not preclude earlier open hole testing.

Sheikh Adi-1

The Sheikh Adi-1 exploration well has reached the Triassic and has cut a core in the Kurre Chine A at a depth of 3,293 meters. The core of the Kurre Chine A contains good oil shows and a flow test is to be undertaken shortly.

Prior to reaching the Triassic, logs and cores were obtained in the Jurassic sections, which show hydrocarbon saturations and where 45 meters of net pay have been calculated. Gulf Keystone obtained the following from the Jurassic net pay zones of interest:

• A core totaling almost 13 meters was recovered from the Barsarin/ Sargelu Jurassic section which had moderate oil shows. A test of this zone of interest recovered oil but no reliable flow rate measurement could be obtained due to limited permeability.
• A core of just over 12 meters was also obtained in the Butmah containing good oil shows.

In addition, log data indicates movable oil in the Sargelu/ Alan (obtained in sections deeper than the test zone), Mus and Butmah, all of which would be the target of a future potential test program.

This recent Sheikh Adi-1 well data, along with early results of the 3D seismic interpretation, indicates that the natural fracture system that makes the wells in the Jurassic intervals at Shaikan such prolific oil producers, is significantly less extensive on the footwall of the Sheikh Adi structure. The main significance of this is that the wells in this part of the structure, which are likely to flow oil at low rates, may benefit from acid treatment and artificial fracturing in order to improve well productivity. The Company has already demonstrated with Shaikan-1 and Shaikan-3 that small scale acid treatments can lead to significantly improved production rates.

Similar to Shaikan-2 an extensive cased hole testing program is currently being considered for the Jurassic section of Sheikh Adi-1 after drilling of the well is complete, which may include limited artificial fracturing, depending on equipment availability. This would allow an optimized testing program to be designed which will benefit from all of the information gathered during drilling of the well and equipment to be sourced which will overcome the current technical limitations of the open hole test tools. A similar approach may also be undertaken in the deeper zones but does not preclude earlier open hole testing (as currently being progressed in the Kurre Chine A).

Gulf Keystone analysis indicates that due to the intense flexure of the Sheikh Adi structure a more extensive natural fracture system is likely to be found on the other side of a major reverse fault, to the north of the current well location. A well into this area is being considered.

Shaikan-4

Shaikan-4, second deep appraisal well, 6 kilometers to the north-west of the Shaikan-1 discovery well, is targeted to drill to the top of the Permian. The drilling rig is currently 98% rigged up at the well site, and is expected to spud before the end of May.

Bekhme-1

Bekhme-1, second exploration well on the Akri-Bijeel block operated by Kalegran Ltd. (a 100% subsidiary of MOL), is drilling ahead with 12.25 inch hole at a depth of 1,776 meters, in the upper sections of the Jurassic.

Oil Export

Following a request from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government ("KRG"), the Company is preparing to export up to 5,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from its Extended Well Test ("EWT") facility at Shaikan. A number of operational, commercial and legal preparations are required in order to be able to implement this request which the Company is currently undertaking. Commencement of the export of oil is still subject to final approval of the KRG.

John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer commented, "We will soon have four exploration/appraisal wells underway in Kurdistan with further wells expected to spud before the end of the summer. The Company's steady progress in the Shaikan-2 and Sheikh Adi-1 drilling is highly encouraging and we look forward to obtaining more results from these two wells soon. The Company views the recent announcement by the Kurdistan Regional Government confirming release of the first oil export payment to the KRG as an extremely positive development for all the oil producers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This is especially good news for Gulf Keystone since we are preparing to meet the KRG's request to begin oil export at an initial volume of up to 5,000 bopd of crude."

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ShaMaran Kicks Offs Kurdistan Drilling Ops

ShaMaran Kicks Offs Kurdistan Drilling Ops

Tuesday, April 05, 2011
ShaMaran Petroleum Corp.

ShaMaran announced that drilling of the Pulkhana-9 appraisal/development well in the Pulkhana oilfield commenced on April 3, 2011.

The Company has contracted an alternative drilling rig (Sakson 101) to the originally agreed Sakson PR3 rig as there was a delay in the release of the Sakson PR3 rig by the previous operator. The Pulkhana-9 well is designed to appraise the proven Euphrates/Jaddala and Shiranish oil reservoirs as well as appraise possible upside in the Jeribe and Lower Jaddala formations. The well is planned to be drilled to a total depth ("TD") of 2700m and is estimated to take approximately 90 days.

ShaMaran is currently tendering for a workover rig for the planned third quarter workover of Pulkhana-8 and at the same time progressing with a feasibility study and design for the Pulkhana Early Production Facility ("EPF") which is planned to be installed by the end of the year. ShaMaran has also received Ministry of Natural Resources ("MNR") approval for an additional appraisal well, Pulkhana-10.

ShaMaran also provided the following operational updates.

Arbat: Following completion of seismic interpretation the Company has received MNR approval for the location of the first commitment exploration well (designated Arbat-A). Tendering and preparations are underway to enable drilling to commence in the fourth quarter of this year.

Atrush: The Atrush-1 well reached a revised extended TD of 3400m on January 21, 2011 and has entered into an extensive testing programme. Well test results will be reported shortly by General Exploration Partners, Inc ("GEP"), once testing operations are concluded. The well is being operated by GEP. ShaMaran, through its wholly owned subsidiary, ShaMaran Ventures BV, holds a one third interest in GEP.

Block K 42: The Company has completed its obligations under the "Block K 42 Option Agreement" with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq ("KRG") and intends to apply to the KRG to convert the Option Agreement into a Production Sharing Contract.