Eland Oil & Gas has announced that through its joint-venture subsidiary, Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria, it has completed drilling phase of the Gbetiokun-4 development well.
The OES Teamwork rig has successfully completed drilling operations on the Gbetiokun-4 well; the first well to be drilled on the Gbetiokun field following approval of the Field Development Plan (‘FDP’) on 3rd July by Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources.
Analysis of log data indicates that the well has exceeded pre-drill expectations, encountering high-quality oil-bearing reservoirs close to prognosed depths. In all, approx. 345 net feet true vertical depth (‘TVD’) of oil-bearing sand was encountered across multiple reservoirs. During the drilling phase, a 60ft core was cut in the E5000 reservoir, with 100% recovery, which will facilitate further detailed reservoir characterisation, reservoir management and optimise life of field.
The well will now be completed as a dual oil producer on the E5000 and E7000 reservoirs, which have total net pay thicknesses of approximately 63 feet and 49 feet TVD respectively. The secondary target reservoir, E3000, which encountered 48 feet TVD of net pay will also be perforated and placed behind a sliding sleeve ready for production at a later time.
Completion of the Gbetiokun-4 well is expected at the end of September with production commencing through the recently commissioned Early Production Facility (“EPF”) immediately thereafter. The EPF is already online and handling production from previous wells Gbetiokun-1 and -3. Gbetiokun-4 should increase throughput from the current 11-12,000 bopd (gross) to approximately 16-17,000 bopd (gross).
Following completion of the Gbetiokun-4 well the OES Teamwork rig will commence operations on the Gbetiokun-5 development well which is scheduled to provide additional drainage points on the D9000 and E2000 reservoir zones.
CEO of Eland, George Maxwell, said: ‘Following approval of the FDP and start-up of the EPF, both in July, we are pleased to have successfully drilled and logged the Gbetiokun-4 well. Log firmly indicates the pay zone came in well above expectations and therefore should significantly increase throughput on the Gbetiokun EPF. We look forward to updating all shareholders as we bring the well on stream in October.’
