Circle Oil reports good reservoir sands found at Al Amir SE Field

Shares in AIM-listed oil and gas exploration company Circle Oil rose as the group reported an update on its Al Amir SE Field (AASE) and the Geyad field in Egypt.

The group said that AASE-16 was drilled on March 1st 2013 and encountered 26 ft of water-bearing net reservoir in the Kareem Shagar sand and, in addition, encountered 31 ft in the underlying Rahmi sand.

Following the completion of the AASE-16 well, the group said that it planned to mobilise the rig to drill the infill Shagar producer well AASE-17, located centrally in the AASE field adjacent to the Rahmi producer AASE-14ST, which encountered 16 ft of net oil-bearing pay in the Shagar sands.

Gross production from the AASE and Geyad fields is currently 9,721 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 10m standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) equivalent to 11,541 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The group additionally reported that cumulative production from the NW Gemsa Concession had exceeded 10.9m barrels of 42 degree API Crude.

Professor Chris Green, Chief Executive Officer, said: "The success of the AASE-16 well in finding good Shagar reservoir sands below the oil-water contact is an excellent result. This well should provide excellent pressure support to the central area of the field to increase sweep efficiency and ultimate recovery."

He added: "The rig is planned to be moved next to drill well AASE-17, which is intended as a producer for the Shagar sands nearby the AASE-14ST Rahmi sands producer well in the AASE field as part of the overall plan to improve the productivity of the NW Gemsa accumulations."

Circle Oil's share price was up 1.56% to 16.25p at 12:08 on Tuesday.

MF