The Drilling Rig, Gulf Drilling 109 is a 1,000 hp kelly rig and is currently located in Adam, Oman. The rig will now be prepared for the campaign and expected mobilization is in October, 2022.  The drilling program will consist of a minimum of six wells on the Mafraq structure. 

Immediate plans for the Mafraq oilfield include obtaining important reservoir information to assist in developing a full Field Development Plan. Information that will be acquired from two appraisal wells includes, but is not limited to, the Oil Water Contact (OWC), petrophysical and structurall properties, and the identification of possible water disposal zones. Four horizontal pilot production test wells will also be drilled on the structure to ascertain oil productivity. These four wells will be completed with state-of-the-art PCP pumps from Canada and then placed on an extended flow test.

About the Mafraq field
Maha was successful in securing Block 70, which contains the Mafraq heavy oil discovery, in a 2019 – 2020 bid round. The Mafraq structure is a delineated heavy oil field that was extensively tested by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in 1988 and 1991. The field tested 15,700 barrels of 13° API oil over a period of 24 days using a Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP) from a single well. The test well, MF-5, tested 100% oil for less than a day after which water encroachment stabilized at a 25 - 28% watercut. It is unknown why PDO did not develop the field at the time, but it is likely that prevailing commodity prices (US$ 18 – US$ 20 per bbl) and access to other lower cost opportunities precluded Mafraq as a development option at the time.  

According to the independent reserve auditor, Chapman Petroleum Engineering Ltd. of Calgary, Canada, the Mafraq field may hold approximately 35 million barrels of recoverable oil (2C + 2P as at 31 December 2021).  The OWC has not been penetrated yet which renders possible further upside to these volumes. The Mafraq structure is an East-West fault bounded anticline with the productive interval being at +/- 430 meters below the ground level.  The oil flows freely in the reservoir at 51° C and is expected to cold flow to surface in commercial quantities.