Jupiter to acquire extension 3D seismic

JETT RINK: Australian oil & gas exploration play Jupiter Energy has announced that it the acquisition of 3D seismic has commenced for the recent extension to its Block 31 acreage, located in the Mangistau Basin in Kazakhstan.

The Block 31 permit has a 10 year exploration licence (initial 6 years + two possible extensions of 2 years each) as well as a 25 year production licence.

The company announced in July that the Kazakh Ministry of Oil & Gas had given its approval to its application to extend the existing Block 31 acreage of 63.39 square kilometres by an additional 59.29sqkm to a new total of 122.68sqkm.

As part of its application, Jupiter was obliged to shoot 3D seismic over the new area on or before 31 December 2012.

According to the company, current interpretations using the existing wide-spaced 2D data suggests the fault trend that traps oil in the Mid Triassic at J-50 and J-52 continues to the south east setting up similar traps in this new extension area.

A number of existing wells drilled within the new area during the 1960’s and 1970’s are thought to have encountered hydrocarbons.

All this has led Jupiter Energy to now be in the planning stages to include a well location in the extension area as part of its 2012 drilling program.

“Our early focus on the Block 31 extension area demonstrates our interest in the prospectivity of this new acreage and we look forward to determining whether there are suitable drilling targets in the area over the coming months,” Jupiter Energy chairman and chief executive officer Geoff Gander said in the company’s ASX announcement.

The company said it expects the acquisition of the 3D seismic to take four weeks and the data will then require six months for processing and interpretation.

The results of this work will enable Jupiter to determine whether a suitable well location for an exploration well can be established on its newly extended acreage.