WesternZagros Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:WZR) ("WesternZagros" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an update on the progress made at its Kurdamir-1 exploration well. The 8 1/2 inch hole has been successfully drilled to a depth of 4077m and has penetrated the Aaliji Seal and the Shiranish reservoir target and drilled into the Gulneri Seal where a high pressure zone was encountered. Currently, well control operations are underway to counter the high formation pressures encountered at the bottom of the hole.
Numerous oil and gas shows were encountered while drilling through the Aaliji and Shiranish Formations and following successful completion of well control operations, the plan is to run wireline logs in the open hole, install the 7 inch casing and then conduct a cased hole testing program.
The Company has recently received an independent geochemical evaluation of the condensate tested previously from the shallower Oligocene reservoir which indicates that the condensate is from an oil-prone source and is likely to be associated with an oil column deeper in the Kurdamir structure. A follow-up flank well is under consideration and will be decided on following the results of the cased hole testing program.
The Aaliji Seal encountered in the well was thicker than prognosed and, as a result, the Shiranish reservoir target and the Gulneri Seal were deeper than prognosed. Consequently, this has led to a revised depth and pressure prediction for the Qamchuqa reservoir target which is beyond the safety limit of the well and no deeper drilling will take place.
"The analysis of the condensate from the Oligocene reservoir and the oil and gas shows encountered while drilling through the Cretaceous interval make us very optimistic of testing oil from the Shiranish reservoir in this well and from the Oligocene reservoir on the flanks of the structure in a future well," said Simon Hatfield, WesternZagros' Chief Executive Officer.
Kurdamir-1 is a wildcat exploration well, located on the Kalar Bawanoor Block, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. WesternZagros is drilling the well with its co-venturers, the Kurdistan Regional Government and Talisman Energy Inc.
