21 May 2013, News Wires – Noble Energy and partners, PA Resources, say they have successfully sidetracked the I-7 exploration well in Block 1 offshore Equatorial Guinea.
The well, drilled by the Atwood Hunter (mid-water semisub), encountered oil in good quality sandstones at a total measured depth of 11,352 feet. The operator will plug and abandon the well.
Accumulated data from drilling indicate that the sidetrack encountered an aggregate of about 30 to 36 feet of net oil pay in sandstones at several targeted levels.
The Carla discovery, situated in Block O, was also drilled by the Atwood Hunter in the fourth quarter of 2011. The well reached a depth of 11,500 feet and encountered 26 net feet of oil pay in upper Oligocene sands.
Once the field is deemed commercially viable, the consortium will likely tie it back to the Aseng field in Block I or develop it in conjunction with the Alen field.
“The initial Carla South discovery which was announced on 2nd May 2013 extended the proven Carla trend from Block O into Block I,” PA Resources CEO Dr. Phillipe Probst commented in a news release.
“This deliberate sidetrack to that discovery has proven additional oil pay at several levels on the Carla trend. It is encouraging to have encountered oil pay but further analysis of the data will be required to assess the implications of these results and the way forward,” he further said.
The consortium plans to further appraise Block I as part of its 2013 drilling program and will conduct a long-term test on the Diega field later in the year.
Noble Energy operates the block with 38 percent interest. Its partners include Glencore (23.75%), Atlas Petroleum (27.55%), PA Resources (5.7%) and GE Petrol (5%).
