WesternZagros Resources has announced a fourfold increase in the Company’s contingent resource estimates at the giant oil discovery on the Kurdamir Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Shares closed up 2.7 percent on Monday, but have risen more than 21 percent since the start of last week.
The total mean estimate of gross unrisked contingent resources (“Mean Contingent Resources”) at Kurdamir has increased to 590 million barrels of oil (“MMbbl”) in the Oligocene and Eocene reservoirs. When gas and condensate are included the Mean Contingent Resources exceed 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent as shown in Table A below. These estimates were audited by independent reserves evaluator, Sproule International Limited (“Sproule”).
Simon Hatfield (pictured), WesternZagros’s Chief Executive Officer commented;
“There’s a saying in the oil industry: big fields get better with time, and Kurdamir is proof of that. The Kurdamir structure has the potential to be the largest light oil field discovered in Kurdistan, with the possibility that it extends on to our neighbouring Garmian Block. We’re therefore highly motivated to drill the Kurdamir-3 well on the Kurdamir Block and the Baram-1 well on the Garmian Block this year to further delineate this giant discovery.“
Table A: Mean estimates of the gross unrisked contingent and prospective oil and oil equivalent resources in the Kurdamir Block as of January 23, 2013. The resources presented are the gross volumes estimated for the indicated reservoirs without any adjustments for the Company’s working interest or encumbrances.
The Mean Contingent Resources in the Oligocene reservoir at Kurdamir have increased to 435 MMbbl of oil from the previously announced 147 MMbbl. When gas and condensate are included the Mean Contingent Resources in the Oligocene equal 786 million barrels of oil equivalent (“MMBOE”).
This assessment also recognizes contingent resources in the Eocene reservoir on the Kurdamir Block for the first time. Mean Contingent Resources for the Eocene are 155 MMbbl of oil. When gas and condensate are included, the Mean Contingent Resources equal 226 MMBOE.
The corresponding mean estimate of gross discovered petroleum initially-in-place (“Mean Discovered In-Place Resources”) increases to 2 billion barrels of oil. When gas and condensate are included, the Mean Discovered In-Place Resources equal 2.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The mean estimate of gross unrisked prospective resources (“Mean Prospective Resources”) for the Oligocene, Eocene and Cretaceous reservoirs combined is now 1.2 billion barrels of oil on the Kurdamir Block. When gas and condensate are included the Mean Prospective Resources equal 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent. As expected, these prospective resources have decreased from those previously announced primarily due to conversion from the prospective to the contingent category.
This is the fourth successive independently audited upward revision of contingent resources since the Kurdamir Discovery was announced in November 2009. The Company does not assess contingent resources for the Cretaceous reservoir due to insufficient confidence from test data.
Based on reservoir data obtained from the Kurdamir testing program and independent engineering assessments, the Company predicts that sustainable production rates of 7,000 to 11,000 barrels of oil per day are possible for individual wells in the Oligocene reservoir utilizing horizontal drilling and completions technology. These sustainable production rates would follow higher initial flow rates. Horizontal wells will also minimize gas production from the oil leg where it underlies the gas cap.
The operator, Talisman (Block K44) B.V. (“Talisman”), is currently preparing to drill the Kurdamir-3 appraisal well in order to continue delineating the field. The anticipated spud date is early February 2013. In addition, the Company is currently preparing to drill the Baram-1 exploration well on the Garmian Block (see Figure 1). The Baram-1 well has the potential to prove the extension of the Kurdamir Discovery onto the Garmian Block. A 3D seismic program on the Kurdamir Block is also underway. WesternZagros and Talisman each have a 40 percent working interest in the Kurdamir Block with the Kurdistan Regional Government (“KRG”) holding the remaining 20 percent.
WesternZagros will host a webcast on Tuesday, January 29, 2013, to discuss the Sproule audited resource estimates. The investment community is invited to participate in the webcast, which will begin at 9:00 A.M. Mountain Standard Time. A
Sproule carried out its independent audit in accordance with the current guidelines outlined in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (“COGE Handbook”) and in accordance with National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (“NI 51-101″). Pursuant to the COGE Handbook, an audit is the process whereby an independent qualified reserves auditor carries out procedures designed to allow the auditor to provide reasonable assurance that a reporting issuer’s reserves data (or specific parts thereof) have, in all material respects, been determined and presented in accordance with the COGE Handbook and are, therefore, free of material misstatement.
Tables 1(a) and 1(c), below, provide estimates of the gross unrisked recoverable contingent and prospective oil, and oil equivalent resources for the Oligocene, Eocene and Cretaceous reservoirs included in this latest Sproule audit.
Tables 1(b) and 1(d), below, provide estimates of the gross unrisked discovered (oil and gas) and undiscovered (oil) initially-in-place, included in this latest Sproule audit of the Oligocene, Eocene and Cretaceous reservoirs of the Kurdamir structure.
