Byron to recomplete SM 71 well in last week of September

Oil and gas company Byron Energy will recomplete the F2 well on its Gulf of Mexico South Marsh Island Block 71 (SM 71) project in the last week of September.

Byron, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Byron Energy Inc., is the operator of SM 71, located in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and holds a 50% working interest in SM 71. Otto Energy holds the remaining interest in SM 71.

Otto said on Wednesday that a lift boat was scheduled to arrive at the SM 71 production facility in the last week of September to undertake the recompletion work, subject to final permit approval and weather.

The well will be recompleted from the B65 Sand to the B55 Sand and, according to the company, the estimated cost for the recompletion is approximately $1.1 million and will take three weeks.

SM 71 field development “an outstanding” success

Otto said that 641,773 barrels of oil and 556 million cubic feet of gas, on a gross basis, and zero formation water have been produced from the three wells on the SM 71 F Platform since oil and gas production began in March 2018.

“The SM 71 field development has been an outstanding success and represents the cornerstone of Otto’s interests in the Gulf of Mexico,” the company added.

The company added that, after SM 71 has produced a significant volume of oil and gas from the D5 reservoir and consequently a large volume of associated data collected, the joint venture was starting to understand some of the more subtle characteristics of the reservoir.

As of September 19, the current field sales rate has stabilized at approximately 3,600 bopd and 6.0 mmcfgpd on a gross basis after shrinkage at the sales meter.

Over the last couple of weeks, the gas has slowly increased due to preferential flow and the oil has decreased to the stabilised rates report above. Daily hydrocarbon production has lowered the reservoir pressure below the bubble point which is consistent with the original assumption that the D5 reservoir is a combination gas expansion/water drive reservoir.

F1 well shut-in

Last week the operator shut in the SM 71 F1 well due to platform maintenance. According to Otto, this is the first time either well has been shut in since mid-May.

During the shut-in of the F1 well there was an almost immediate increase in the calculated reservoir pressure at the F3 well which provided further evidence that the two wells were connected.

Otto said that the routine reservoir management includes further downhole pressure work on both the F1 and F3 wells in November 2018. The goal of the maintenance work is to maximize the ultimate recovery from the reservoir and to optimize the production optimization process.