Bahrain has reached an agreement with Halliburton to commence drilling two further appraisal wells this year, to further evaluate the potential of the reservoir, the kingdom’s largest ever discovery containing tight oil amounting to at least 80 billion barrels.

Halliburton will “evaluate reservoir potential, optimise completions and initiate long-term production”, Bahrain’s Minister of Oil Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa told a press conference today (April 4).

The minister said the amount of oil that can be extracted from the Khalij Al-Bahrain Basin is still being studied and commercial production could take about five years’ time.

The tight oil was discovered in the offshore Khalij Al-Bahrain Basin, which spans some 2,000 sq km in shallow waters off the country’s western coast, close to a fully operational oilfield with ready to connect facilities, according to Halliburton, who added that this unique factor provides potential for significant cost optimisation. The field also contains an estimated 14 trillion cu ft of associated gas.

Meanwhile, a separate discovery of significant gas reserves in two accumulations below Bahrain’s main gas reservoir has been confirmed.

Extensive work has already been carried out to evaluate in-place volumes. The first well in the drilling programme is planned to produce in August, and over the next two years focus will be given to maximise production and commercial efficiency.

Shaikh Mohammed said:" DeGoyler and MacNaughton’s (DeMac) and Halliburton’s independent appraisals have confirmed Noga’s find of highly significant quantities of oil in place for Khalij Al Bahrain, with tight oil amounting to at least 80 billion barrels, and deep gas reserves in the region of 10-20 trillion cubic feet.”

“Oil in place of 80 billion barrels is based on a P50 resource estimate,” said DeMac senior vice president Dr John Hornbrook. “The discovery breaks new ground for the Bahrain oil and gas industry using established technologies,” he said.

Positive well test results have successfully demonstrated the productivity of the significant resource, according to Schlumberger, who performed the first test well drilling.

Bapco has already succeeded in flowing high quality oil from the wells during the testing and flow back phases. “Based on the core analysis carried out on several wells the formation could be classified at the edge of the conventional-unconventional type of plays,” a Schlumberger spokesperson said.

Bapco chief exploration geologist in charge of the discovery, Yahya Alansari said: “The presence of a layer with moderate conventional reservoir properties on top of an organic-rich source rock creates a unique self-sourcing and trapping system, enhancing production and economic viability. The confirmation of this significant resource highlights the vast E&P potential and opportunities in Bahrain.”

The resource is expected to provide significant long-term positive benefits to Bahrain’s economy – both directly and indirectly through downstream activities in related industries.

The next stage of development will focus on ensuring robust frameworks, data and terms are in place to facilitate further activities and commercial opportunities with international partners.-TradeArabia News Service