Providence Resources P.l.c., (‘Providence’) the London (AIM) and Dublin (ESM) quoted oil and gas exploration and production company provides an operational update on its ongoing well operations in the North Celtic Sea Basin, offshore southern Ireland .
The 48/24-10z Barryroe appraisal well is located in c. 100 metre water depth, c. 50 kilometres offshore Ireland in Standard Exploration Licence (SEL) 1/11 in the North Celtic Sea Basin. Providence (80%) operates SEL 1/11 on behalf of its partner Lansdowne Oil & Gas plc (20%).
A 24’ thick net pay interval in the oil bearing basal Wealden sandstone section was perforated as the first phase of the well testing programme. Stabilized flow rates of 3,514 BOPD & 2.93 MMSCFGD (4,000 BOEPD) were achieved through a 68/64” choke with a well head pressure of 517 psia without the use of artificial lift. The well was tested using vacuum insulated tubing over just the upper c. 2,600’ of the total c. 7,400’ test string length due to equipment availability constraints. As expected, laboratory reservoir fluid analysis confirms that the oil is light with a gravity of 42o API and a wax content of 20%. The oil is highly mobile with an in-situ reservoir viscosity of 0.68 centipoises and a gas-oil ratio of c. 800 SCF/STB.
The upper gas bearing basal reservoir zone is currently being prepared for testing and flow rates from this section are planned to be comingled with the basal oil zone to assess any additional flow rate potential. After these operations are completed, it is planned to suspend the well for potential sidetrack drilling. All data obtained from these operations will be integrated with the 3D seismic acquired in 2011.
Commenting on the announcement, Tony O’Reilly, CEO of Providence said:
“We are pleased to report flow rates of 3,514 BOPD which materially exceed our stated pre-drill target of 1,800 BOPD. The well has also confirmed that the basal sands are laterally continuous, highly productive and that the oils are of a very high quality. Our comprehensive wire-line logging programme 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 sidetrack 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.
“Given that we only assumed operatorship of Barryroe in late 2010, I would like to pay tribute to all of the team members who have helped to deliver such a successful outcome to this programme (site survey, 3D acquisition/processing, rig procurement, drilling & testing) within such a challenging 15 month timeline.”
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , March 15, 2012; Image: Providence Resources