Offshore staff
DUBLIN, Ireland – Providence Resources has achieved oil flow rates nearly double its pre-drill target on the Barryroe appraisal well off southern Ireland.
The48/24-10z well is being drilled in 100 m (328 ft) of water in the North Celtic Sea basin in Standard Exploration License (SEL) 1/11.
Under the first phase of well testing, a 24-ft (7.3-m) thick net pay interval was perforated in the oil-bearing basal Wealden sandstone section. This brought stabilized flow rates of 3,514 b/d and 2.93 MMf/d of gas through a 68/64-in. choke with a well head pressure of 517 psia.
The well was tested using vacuum-insulated tubing, but only over the upper 2,600 ft (792 m) of the 7,400-ft (2,255-m) test string length due to equipment constraints.
Reservoir fluid analysis confirms that the oil is light with a gravity of 42o API and a wax content of 20%. The oil is also mobile with an in-situ reservoir viscosity of 0.68 cP and a gas-oil ratio of 800 cf/bbl.
Theupper gas-bearing basal reservoir zone will also be tested. Providence plans to commingle flow from this section with the basal oil zone to assess any additional flow rate potential.
After completing these operations, the well will likely be suspended for side track drilling. All data will be integrated with 3D seismic acquired last year.
CEO Tony O’Reilly said the company’s pre-drill flow target had been 1,800 b/d. “The well has also confirmed that the basal sands are laterally continuous, highly productive, and that the oils are of a very high quality,” he added.
“Our comprehensive wire-line logging program has revealed the seismic signature of the basal sands and can therefore be used to map these intervals directly in the 3D seismic volume for field volumetric determinations and side track well planning. The most recent development planning carried out by RPS Energy cites the use of high angle oil production wells which should provide significant incremental production potential over this simple vertical well.”
3/15/2012
