The Belli Concession is located in the Cap Bon Peninsula of northern Tunisia approximately 60 kilometres from the city of Tunis and immediately adjacent to the Al Manzah Concession. Oil was discovered in 1991 in well Belli 1 which tested 6,800 bopd of 48o API. The field began production in 1992 and reached a peak of 10,000 bopd. Seven wells were drilled on the Belli Concession. Oil was produced largely from well Belli 1 and prior to the shut-in of the field in 1999 it had produced 8.6 mmbbls. Oil was trucked to the Bizerte oil refinery in northern Tunisia. All wells have been plugged and abandoned apart from Belli 1, Belli 3 and Belli WSW. The field watered out and was shut–in in July 1999.
A study of the existing data coupled with a review of analogus fields and the literature by Petroleum Insights SÀRL has indicated that the matrix STOIIP which is unlikely to have contributed to the production could be in the order of 50 mmbbls. It is conceivable, that in the timeframe of the shut-in (12+ years), that spontaneous imbibition has occurred and that some of this oil may have migrated into the vugs/fractures. It is virtually impossible with the existing data to estimate the probability of this occurring, but from the literature Petroleum Insights suggests that there is a 10% probability of this having occurred.
The Belli permit also has several promising exploration leads. Candax is investigating a forward program for the Belli field.