Canadian Sterling Resources gives up drilling first well in Romania's Black Sea, wants re-try in 2015

Canadian oil and gas company Sterling Resources has abandoned drilling at the Muridava well in Romania's Black Sea. The company said it was disappointed by the operating conditions, which it did not allow it to reach its targeted depth, nor find any hydrocarbon accumulations. “We are disappointed with the Muridava 1 well and that operating conditions prohibited the reaching of the full targeted depth," said Jake Ulrich, Sterling's CEO. The company holds 40 percent in Muridava-1 well, which was spudded on April 11 this year, reaching a total depth of over 2,700 meters. “Although open hole logs were not obtained through the primary zones of interest due to severe deterioration of the open hole, drilling samples, cuttings and mud logs through the penetrated sections did not indicate any hydrocarbon accumulations,” reads a statement of the company. However, the company plans to return to drilling in 2015, as it has two more drilling locations on this concession. Sterling Resources is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, with assets in the United Kingdom, Romania, France and the Netherlands. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com