Zeta Petroleum encounters no gas at Musenita-1 well in Romania

The drilling operator, Romania-based company Raffles Energy, is now plugging and abandoning the well, Zeta Petroleum said in a statement.

Raffles Energy and Zeta Petroleum hold stakes of 50% each in the producing Suceava concession.

Musenita-1 well was drilled to a depth of some 600 metres on November 22. Reservoir sections were encountered as expected and three tests were subsequently performed on the well.

Musenita was assigned a one in three chance of success and was just one of a number of step out exploration targets from the nearby Climauti gas field which continues to produce gas at 16,000 cubic metres per day. Raffles Energy and Zeta Petroleum intend to drill further step out targets on the Suceava concession, the statement added.

“Suceava remains a highly prospective development project with the potential to hold unrisked resources of up to 80Bcf [billion cubic feet] gas," Zeta Petroleum plc managing director Stephen West said in the statement.

Zeta Petroleum added that NIS Gazprom Neft is on course to drill a well which is targeting oil on the Jimbolia concession in Romania in December. Zeta Petroleum retains a 39% interest in this concession.

Founded in 2005, Zeta is focussed on the exploration and development of oil and gas projects in Romania and Eastern Europe. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

In addition to the Suceava and Jimbolia fields Zeta Petroleum holds a 100% interest in the Bobocu field in Romania. It also has a 12.5% fully carried interest in the Padureni gas field in the country.

Zeta Petroleum holds in excess of 6,000 square kilometres of non-exclusive prospecting permits in the eastern Moldovian region of Romania, which is a known hydrocarbon prone area.