Zion Logs the Ma’anit Rehoboth #2

Last week, Zion Oil conducted logging operations (gathering data inside the wellbore) down to a depth of 17,040 feet. Results from the logging operations will help Zion geologists determine if and where potential hydrocarbons exist in the well and how to proceed with drilling or possible production.

Below is a synopsis of last week’s efforts by Zion CEO Richard Rinberg:

An important part of our geological work during drilling is to continually examine the rock cuttings from the well bore (brought up to the surface by the circulating drilling mud) and match that physical evidence against the ‘expected’ rock cuttings. In our database of scientific information, we maintain a computer model of the expected rock strata.

As more information is gathered, the computer model is amended and in the event of a material difference between the ‘actual’ and the ‘expected’, it may be highly desirable to obtain further information by ‘logging’.

You may remember (from our previous logging) that the definition of ‘logging’ is: ‘to test and evaluate the well, using electrical wireline well logs’.

The ‘sonde’ is lowered down the hole on a ‘wireline’ and various measurements are recorded.

The ‘sonde’ is a cylinder filled with instruments that can sense the electrical, radioactive and sonic properties of the rocks (and their fluids) and the diameter of the wellbore.

The ‘wireline’ is an armored cable with steel cables surrounding conductor cables in insulation. It is reeled out from a drum in the back of the logging truck.

The data from the sonde is transmitted up the cable to instruments in the logging truck and recorded.

Using state-of-the-art Baker Atlas logging equipment, we are able to obtain very high-quality data. This past week, we logged an interval of approximately 500 meters; from a depth of approximately 4,825 meters down to approximately 5,325 meters.

The logging will enable us to make decisions based on scientific evaluation rather than hunches and guesstimates.

So, this past week, we are still at a depth of approximately 17,470 feet (5,325 meters), close to our final target of approximately 18,040 feet (5,500 meters).

A Dead Sea Oil Discovery in Jordan?

Seems like we can’t get enough Dead Sea oil discovery news lately. Just today The Jordan Times ran an article apparently confirming the existence of a Dead Sea oil discovery on their side of the  salt lake.

According to The Jordan Times:

After years of disappointment, many came to accept that the Kingdom is home to little or no oil reserves.

But with recent claims of the possibility of Jordanian oil, and a parliamentary committee examining the issue, the subject has been elevated to a national discourse steeped in controversy and unanswered questions.

The issue dates back to 1996, when the Natural Resources Authority (NRA) signed a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with US company Trans-Global to explore for oil in the Dead Sea area….

Over the next few years, the firm dug four wells at Isaal and Wadi Mujib, some thousands of metres deep, in hope that the rift valley would yield any positive results.

According to the company, logging data and technical studies of the wells revealed huge oil traps of hydrocarbons with significant commercial potential and large oil pays, the solid technical indicators of a major oil discovery.

On August 15, 2005, as per the PSA, the company said it officially informed the NRA of its discovery, but the authority declined to review the studies, according to Trans-Global, which felt there was little interest on the part of the NRA administration to follow through.

“This is the exact opposite of how any petroleum ministry in the world would respond to the discovery of oil,” Trans-Global General Manager Nazeeh Abraham told The Jordan Times.

“We claimed a significant oil discovery, and instead of developing it they denied it. We then faced obstructions every step on the way, preventing us from starting a large accelerated drilling development programme,” he added.

Frustrated with the lack of interest from the authority, Trans-Global announced the discovery during the 9th International Geological Conference of the Jordanian Geologists Association in Amman in April last year.

The announcement created an uproar and came as a shock to the NRA.

“They went public without ever informing us, which is a breach of the PSA. We were only told of a technical discovery, which doesn’t mean much in the oil business,” NRA Director Maher Hijazin told The Jordan Times.

“We have all the documents to prove that there is no discovery,” he stressed.

Industry experts

Although the announcement was shocking to many, it came as no surprise to Jordanian Geologists Association (JGA) President Khaled Shawabkeh.

He claimed that the NRA drilled at least five wells in the area in the 1990s, and found oil in different quantities, although their commercial viability was not verified.

Lack of support and technical difficulties brought on by the area’s topography prevented the authority from any further exploration, and the subject was shelved, he said.

“In my view, Trans-Global has made an oil discovery. The quantity and commercial quality of this discovery should now be explored,” the JGA president stressed.

Weatherford, Reeves Logging Ltd., one of 14 third-party companies that performed assessment studies for Trans-Global on the Isaal and Wadi Mujib wells, said it could not confirm or deny the existence of oil in the area, as their only purpose was to log data, not analyse it.

Another industry source, however, told The Jordan Times that the independent third-party studies pointed to “a strong possibility” of commercially viable oil in the Dead Sea area.

You can read the full article by clicking here