Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LON:GKP) revealed that the Shaikan-3 well is now producing oil at an increased rate of almost 10,000 barrels per day.
The well was initially completed last month and after acid treatment - to remove formation plugging around the well bore - it is now producing oil at an improved rate.
The treatment increased the flow rate to 9,800 barrels of oil a day, a 30 percent improvement from the 7,480 barrels of oil per day for the corresponding reservoirs in Shaikan-1.
"The productivity increase achieved as a result of this acid treatment once again demonstrates the robust nature of these reservoirs and bodes well for our current oil sales and future field development,” chief operating officer John Gerstenlauer said.
Gulf Keystone intends to perform a similar acid treatment on Shaikan-1.
The extended well test facilities, which both Shaikan-1 and Shaikan-3 are tied into, can hold more than 20,000 barrels. The produced oil is trucked from the facilities to consumers in Kurdistan’s domestic market.
Shaikan-3 was designed to test the shallow reservoirs that could not be tested properly in Shaikan-1. This latest well encountered a number of reservoirs - Jurassic and Cretaceous - and it was completed as a producer from the Jurassic reservoirs in the Sargelu formation, just like the nearby Shaikan-1 discovery well.
Meanwhile Gulf Keystone is already drilling what may be the most important well on Shaikan to date.
The Shaikan-2 deep appraisal well is being drilled to a total target depth of 5,000 metres but it will test a number of targets along the way. It is the first deep appraisal well on the new oilfield.
Shaikan-1 tested five levels from 1,450 metres through to 2,850 metres but drilling had to stop at the lowest levels because of a very high pressure zone that was above the tolerance of the well design. The Shaikan-2 deep appraisal well has been designed to overcome this challenge.
If the well is successful, Shaikan-2 is expected to increase the field’s oil-in-place substantially.