Irish exploration company Tullow Oil said all three zones in the Suri well in Pakistan have tested gas at commercial rates and the well has been suspended as a future gas production well.
Tullow has just completed testing of the third and final zone in the Suri-1 gas discovery, located in Block B, onshore Pakistan. The Sui Upper Limestone, flowed at 10.6 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The first zone, the Ranikot Sand, flowed gas at 12.2 million while the second zone, the Sui Main Limestone, flowed at a maximum rate of 18.1 million standard cubic feet per day.
Tullow, which has a 38.18 per cent interest in the well, said it would now evaluate options for the development of this discovery with its partners.
"The economics of this discovery are expected to be significantly enhanced as a result of it being located only 10 kilometres from the Sara field which is currently being developed for production," Tullow said.
Mr Aidan Heavey, managing director, said the next stage for Tullow was to apply to the Pakistani government to develop the field as part of the Sara development.
The Sara field is due to start production in the first quarter of 1998 and a pipeline from the Sara field to the Guddu power station runs less than a kilometre away from the Suri field.
Mr Heavey said Tullow planned to sell the Suri gas to the Guddu power station, using it as a buffer to the Sara supply.
Tullow's share price slipped by 0.5p on the Irish Stock Exchange to close at 156.5p. In London, it was down 1p after gaining 6p to 139p sterling yesterday following reports from Bangladesh suggesting Tullow is the frontrunner to win the rights to develop blocks 9 and 11 offshore Bangladesh. Mr Heavey said that Tullow had applied for a number of blocks, including those two which were the most sought after.
"If we win the blocks, we will operate them but we are happy to take in partners. We would like to keep 50 per cent and operate," he said, adding that Tullow was in discussion with two companies at the moment.
Bangladeshi officials have said they hope the awards will be made by the end of December.
