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Petroneft complete 5th Russian well

Friday, February 08 10:24:21

Irish oil and gas prospector, Petroneft, this morning said that they have completed their fifth well in their Russian drilling campaign.

Arbuzovskoye well 112 has been successfully tested at an initial rate of 140 bopd with no visible water cut. The well is currently shut-in for long term pressure build up testing before it is put into long-term production. Arbuzovskoye well 105, the next well in the drilling sequence, is currently drilling ahead, it said.

Well 112 is the fifth new production well in the Arbuzovskoye oil field and to date each well has displayed little or no visible water cut. Overall, the average initial production rates from the first five wells in the programme have exceeded targets of 150-200 bopd per well.

This winter, the Company has faced unusually extreme temperatures at Licence 61, reaching as low as -49 degrees Celsius, which has slowed operations significantly.

In recent weeks, the Company has encountered mechanical production issues at Arbuzovskoye which have impacted on production rates in two wells. The reduced output may be due to migration of fine grained materials that are gradually plugging the well bore which can be rectified with a simple workover. We are also investigating possible pressure depletion in the reservoir, which can be addressed with a planned pressure maintenance programme. The net impact is a reduction of overall production by 300 bopd. The pressure build up test of the 112 well should assist in determining which is the more likely cause of the reduced rates and we will factor the results of this into future workover and water injection plans.

"The initial flow rate on well 112 is encouraging and the fact that there is no water production bodes well. We continue to delineate the field and hope to alleviate the issues with the two Arbuzovskoye wells in the coming weeks. We also look forward to completing further wells in Arbuzovskoye and implementing the planned pressure maintenance programme over the coming months," said Dennis Francis, Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft Resources plc.

By Joe Downes