Ithaca Energy delighted with third Stella development well results

Ithaca Energy Inc. has announced completion of flow test operations on the third development well on the Stella field in je UK North Sea, with the well achieving a flow rate of 12,492 barrels of oil equivalent per day (“boepd”).

Well 30/6a-B1Z (“B1”) is the third development well drilled on the Stella field. The well was drilled to a total measured depth subsea of 16,185 feet, with a 2,147 foot gross horizontal reservoir section completed in the Palaeocene Andrew sandstone reservoir. The well intersected high quality sands across a net reservoir interval of 2,034 feet, equating to 95% net pay. This compares to 1,312 feet and 2,514 feet in Stella wells A1 and A2, respectively.

As with the previous two Stella development wells, a clean-up flow test has been performed on the B1 well in order to effectively remove the drilling fluids used to complete the well and gain additional reservoir data and fluid samples. The well flowed at a maximum rate of 12,492 boepd on a 48/64-inch choke, with the full production potential of the well limited by the capacity of the well test equipment on the drilling rig. Fluid samples show that the oil is of high quality, approximately 45° API.

The maximum flow rate of 12,492 boepd comprised 7,565 barrels of oil per day and 29.6 million standard cubic feet per day (“MMscf/d”) of gas. This compares to the results of the A1 and A2 wells that achieved maximum flow rates of 10,835 boepd and 10,442 boepd, respectively.

The test results achieved on the first three Stella development wells have served to de-risk the initial annualised production forecast for the Greater Stella Area hub of approximately 30,000 boepd (100%), 16,000 boepd net to Ithaca.

The B1 well is in the process of being suspended. The suspension configuration is such that the well can be brought on to production without the requirement for any further well intervention activity once the FPF-1 is on location and hooked up. Following completion of the well suspension operations the ENSCO 100 will move on to drilling of the fourth Stella development well from the same drilling centre location. It is anticipated that the well will be completed around the end of the third quarter of 2014.

Les Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are delighted with the results of the flow test on the third Stella development well, which underline the high quality and deliverability of the reservoir. Combined with the results of the first two wells, we have now de-risked our initial production forecasts for the start-up of the Greater Stella Area production hub.”