Genel Energy has plugged and abandoned an exploratory oil will it had been drilling south of Malta after finding no indication of hydocarbons.

"The Hagar Qim-1 well on the Area 4 licence offshore Malta has been drilled to the Eocene (rock level) and plugged and abandoned with no indication of hydrocarbons," the company announced.

The Noble Paul Romano rig will now move to drill the Nour prospect on the Sidi Moussa (Genel 60% working interest) block offshore Morocco.

The company started drilling the well, called Hagar Qim, in May some 120km south of Malta.

It was the 11th well to be drilled offshore Malta and the first exploration well since 2002.

But the chances of striking oil were never high. 

Last month, Times of Malta quoted geologist Peter Gatt saying he was not holding his breath.

With Genel Energy, the majority partner in the drilling company, reporting a 20 per cent probability of finding oil, Dr Gatt, an expert on the geology of the Maltese continental shelf, is not hopeful.

“This is not a very high probability given that 3D seismic surveys were also used to analyse the rock formations in the area,” he said.

He also noted that Mediterranean Oil and Gas, the minority partner in the venture, reported on its website a 12 per cent probability of success.

But what baffles him more is that MOG agreed to sell its shares to Rockhopper Exploration, a UK-based company, just days before the actual drilling started.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.