Mari Petroleum Co Ltd (MPCL) announced in late April 2020 that it has signed an agreement with Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) for the acquisition of a 32% interest in Block 8 (Zagros Foldbelt) in Eastern Iraq. The farm-in agreement, for which no value was reported, was executed in November 2019 but is subject to approvals by the State Bank of Pakistan and the Iraqi Government. Block 8 is located in the vicinity of giant fields like East Baghdad, Mansuriya and Al-Ahdab and covers an area of 6,000 sq km. The service contract for the acreage was awarded from Iraqâs Fourth Licensing Round in December 2012, with PPL bidding a remuneration fee of US$ 5.38 per barrel. <P />As part of its commitments on Block 8, PPL recently drilled the Madain 1 NFW and tested sub-commercial quantities of oil in the Cretaceous Nahr Umr Formation. Located in the Diyala province, the HPHT well was spudded by the Chinese Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group (ZPEC) on 14 April 2019 with a PTD of 5,000m. Drilling operations were concluded on 30 November 2019 after reaching a final TD of 5,050m and the NFW has been plugged & suspended. The Madain structure, believed to be an anticline, was initially identified by PPL on vintage seismic. The company subsequently acquired a 318 sq km 3D seismic survey in 2016 on the southern part of the block to mature the lead into a prospect. <P />MPCL stated that it farmed in to Block 8 with the objective to chase a high potential lead inventory, including Madain East, Diyala East/Qazania, Diyala-East-North, Mansuriya Subthrust and Saad North. Following the conclusion of the transaction PPL will operate Block 8 with a 68% interest, with MPCL holding the remaining 32%.
ari Petroleum Co Ltd (MPCL) announced in late April 2020 that it has signed an agreement with Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) for the acquisition of a 32% interest in Block 8 (Zagros Foldbelt) in Eastern Iraq.