Positive Miocene results from Bua Ban well

Offshore staff

HOUSTON -- Coastal Energy has made further progress on its Bua Ban field appraisal/development program in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Bua Ban A-11 well was drilled to 4,500 ft (1,371 m) TVD, encountering 50 ft (15 m) of net pay across two intervals in the Miocene reservoir with average porosity of 25%.

This was designed as an exploration well to establish productivity and potential trapping mechanisms in the Miocene. It is currently producing roughly 300 b/d of oil with zero water cut.

Coastal also drilled Bua Ban A-08 as an exploratory well to test the northern limit of the field. It encountered good quality sands with oil shows, but the sands were wet, suggesting that the well is at the down dip limit on the structure’s northern part. It has since been completed as a water injector.

Bua Ban A-09, another water injector, was drilled and completed before the rig left the Bua Ban location for the nearby Songkhla A development. During drilling, 135 ft (41 m) of the main source rock in the Lacustrine shale was cored to assist evaluation of this unconventional play. Initial core results look promising, with final results expected in eight to 10 weeks.

At Songkhla A, Coastal plans to drill two appraisal wells into the Songkhla Oligocene Wedge and two more into the Eocene reservoir. Upgrading of the processing equipment at Songkhla A should start in mid-November.

CEO Randy Bartley said: “We are pleased with the results of the A-11 well. Although the size of the Miocene closure at Bua Ban is small, establishing production from a three-way closure in the Miocene is encouraging because we have nine other similar Miocene structures, several of which are lower risk four-way traps, identified in the basin with combined recoverability estimates of over 50 MMbbl.

“We are currently rigging up at Songkhla A and expect to spud the first Oligocene Wedge well early next week. Upgrades to facilities at Songkhla A should begin in November, and should stabilize production at Songkhla. Production at Songkhla A continues to perform better than currently modeled. Following development drilling at Songkhla A, we plan to mobilize to Bua Ban North and begin exploration drilling in early December.”

10/12/2010