Offshore staff
LONDON– Rockhopper Exploration has provided an upbeat update on its second appraisal well on the Sea Lion discovery offshore the Falkland Islands.
Well 14/10-5 was drilled 600 m (1,968 ft) north of the 14/10-2 discovery well to a TD of 2,726 m (8,943 ft). It was designed to appraise the Sea Lion main fan reservoir and investigate hydrocarbon column and reservoir distribution.
The well proved a very thick, high quality reservoir and a substantial oil column, with the geological prognosis coming in close to prediction.
It encountered the Sea Lion reservoir sands 22 m updip from the discovery well at a depth of 2,378 m. It intersected 110 m (360 ft) of reservoir, comprising one main sand and three thinner sands with a net to gross of 91% in the main sand and 25-80% in the lower sands.
Rockhopper says the gross oil column in the main Sea Lion fan is now 125 m (410 ft). MDT pressures confirm oil gradients throughout all sands.
Wireline logging indicates good reservoir quality, with average porosity above 20% and average permeabilities of 100-200mD.
The well encountered 79 m (259 ft) of net pay in the main fan complex with a net to gross of 91%, and 14.5 m (47 ft) of pay in the lower fan complex with a net to gross of 25-80%. The lower fan was not prognosed to be well developed at this location. Around 64 m (210 ft) of conventional core was cut and recovered through the main sand.
As a next step, Rockhopper plans mini DSTs on both the upper and lower fans and a fully engineered DST on the upper fan. These operations should last around one month.
Following completion, the company aims to drill a further appraisal well 4.2 km (2.6 mi) west of the discovery well. One aim is to penetrate the lower fan in what may prove to be a more optimal location.
06/01/2011
