Business
Austin Chalk re-entry a success
Austin Chalk re-entry a success.
About this update from Buccaneer Energy Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n Nostra Terra Oil and Gas Company plc\n\n (\"Nostra Terra\" or the \"Company\")\n\n Austin Chalk re-entry a success\n\n16 June 2010\n\nNostra Terra Oil and Gas Company plc (AIM: NTOG) is pleased to announce the\nresults of the redevelopment work conducted on an Austin Chalk well located in\nthe Giddings Field in Lee County, Texas, in which the Company has a 2% interest;\nas announced on 7 June 2010.\n\nA new lateral section extending just over 1900 feet horizontally from the\noriginal wellbore has been drilled into the Lower Austin Chalk. In an initial 24-\nhour flow test the redeveloped well produced at a gross rate of 994 barrels of\noil per day (bopd) and 804,000 cubic feet of gas per day (mcfd). The well has\nsustained those production levels during the initial 3-day production period\nalthough we anticipate production levels to decrease in line with the relatively\nsteep decline curves typical of the area and so will provide an update at a\nlater date.\n\nThe re-entry included the prospect of two different laterals. The first lateral\nin the so-called upper \"B Zone\" and the second in the lower \"A Zone\". Within the\nfirst few days of drilling, indications of producibility in the B zone were so\nstrong that the decision was made to stop drilling and put the well into\nproduction sooner. The drilling of the second lateral into the lower \"A Zone\"\nhas been deferred as a target for a later date.\n\nThe Texas Austin Chalk formation produces high-grade light crude oil and natural\ngas from a fractured carbonate of relatively low permeability, with the natural\nfractures in the reservoir rock acting as conduits for hydrocarbon recovery. The\nformation has undergone several periods of exploitation as new techniques have\nbeen developed to overcome low permeability. Most recently, horizontal drilling\nhas proved to be highly effective in accessing more fractures from a single\nwellbore than is possible through traditional vertical drilling.\n\nHistorically, Austin Chalk producing wells have delivered at high initial rates\nbut with relatively steep decline curves, and this is also generally the case\nwhen modern horizontal drilling techniques are used. Nevertheless, the current\nwell is expected to remain in production for several years before its output\nfalls below commercial levels, and Nostra Terra intends to grow its pre...