Oil and gas group Gulfsands Petroleum (LON:GPX) said this morning that it was disappointed with early drilling results from the first of its wells in Tunisia. Gulfsands entered the country in March this year after agreeing a farm-in deal with ADX Energy (ASX:ADX), the operator of the Kerkouane Exploration Licence offshore Tunisia and the adjacent Pantelleria Exploration Permit in Southern Italy. ADX began drilling the Lambouka-1 well in July on a prospect thought to contain 270m barrels oil equivalent, with the primary objectives being the Miocene aged Birsa Formation and the Cretaceous aged Abiod Formation.

In an update, ADX said the Lambouka-1 well had been drilled to a measured depth of approximately 1780 metres and that the Birsa Sand had been encountered. However, initial interpretation based on drilling logs is that those sands are water-bearing. Gulfsands said that while this represented a disappointing result, the presence of a seal and reservoir sand within the interval was a favourable indicator for the remaining prospects and leads in the block. Nevertheless, shares in the group dipped by 5.5% to 289p on the news. ADX is now planning to run casing in the well before drilling ahead into the primary target Abiod Formation.

Gulfsands is acquiring a 30% participating interest in the Kerkouane Licence and Pantelleria Permit. The company also expects to participate in the drilling of another exploration well before the end of 2010 in the onshore Chorbane permit, to earn a 40% participating interest. Click here to read a Stockopedia interview with Kenneth Judge from Gulfsands, which was published earlier this month.

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