PetroLatina Reveals New Exploration Discovery At Midas Block

Published: 08-Feb-2010

PetroLatina Energy (PetroLatina), an oil and gas exploration, development and production company, has revealed a new exploration discovery at Midas block. The Zoe-1 exploration well has been completed and its testing is underway. The Zoe-1 well is the ninth well drilled by PetroLatina in its current drilling campaign.

The Zoe-1 exploration well was drilled on the Midas block at a location approximately 12km to the east of the PetroLatina operated Santa Lucia field. The Zoe-1 well location was based on the interpretation of the Midas Sur 3D seismic programme acquired by PetroLatina in 2008. It was located updip and on the same structure as the San Alberto well drilled in 1985 by Texaco. The Lisama formation produces oil at the company's Los Angeles field located 30km to the north of the Zoe prospect.

The primary Lisama formation target, the Zoe-1 well targeted a shallower secondary reservoir known as the La Paz formation, which currently produces oil at the company operated Santa Lucia field. A third reservoir target, the Umir formation, which produces oil at PetroLatina's 2009 Colon discovery, was also mapped at the Zoe-1 location.

The Zoe-1 well was spudded on 2 December 2009 and reached total depth of 10,924ft on 28 December 2009. The well was then logged and the correlations between the Zoe-1 well logs and those of the earlier 1985 San Alberto log confirmed that, at the primary target, the well was about 60ft (true vertical depth subsea) structurally higher. Log analysis run by PetroLatina indicates that the Lisama section from 8,632ft to 8,701ft is oil bearing with approximately 47ft of net oil pay.

The flowing tubing head pressure was approximately 1,500 pounds per square inch and the flow was recorded on an 8/64th inch choke. The well currently continues on test and the water cut is down to approximately 5% and still declining. Testing of the Umir formation is expected to continue until around the end of February when a service rig will then be mobilised to the well to undertake the testing of the primary target Lisama formation and, if successful, the tying in of this production to the company's infrastructure in the area, the company said.

Juan Rodriguez, CEO of PetroLatina, said: "The Zoe 1 well is the ninth successive successful well drilled by PetroLatina in the current drilling campaign and we look forward to updating the market fully once the testing has been completed. In the meantime, the drilling programme continues apace as we seek to convert our probable and possible reserves into proved reserves and exploit the potential of our exploration assets."

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