News

Mazarine Energy B.V., a private international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Mazarine Energy Tunisia B.V., and partner ETAP (Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières) have commenced a two-well drilling campaign in the Zaafrane permit in central Tunisia. The first well, Cat-1, was spudded on 10 February 2015 in the presence of Mr. Amara Thlijani, Governor of Kebili, and Mr. Ridha Bouzouada, Director General of DGE, the Tunisian Department of Energy. CTF (Compagnie Tunisienne de Forage) has been contracted for the drilling campaign. The wells, targeting the Ordovician, will be drilled to a depth of 3,900m. The campaign is expected to last up to six months.

If the well encounters commercial hydrocarbons, Mazarine Energy plans to develop the field within two years. The Zaafrane permit spans an area of 5,168 km2 within a historically prolific oil and gas producing region. Mazarine Energy is the operator of the Zaafrane permit with ETAP and MEDEX as partners.

“Spudding the Cat-1 well within 12 months of acquiring the new 3D seismic is a major achievement,” said Mazarine Energy Executive Chairman Edward van Kersbergen. “This milestone is a tribute to the hard work of Mazarine Energy’s Tunisian team and would not have been possible without the dedicated support of our partner ETAP.”