LONDON (Alliance News) - Andes Energia PLC Friday said it has discovered 125 metres of gross pay in the Vaca Muerta formation of the El Manzano West Block, Argentina.
The unconventional and conventional oil and gas exploration and development company said it found persistent presence of oil during drilling at the Las Varillas x-1 well at the site.
The company said the well was drilled to a total depth of 7,851 metres, and it has sent two 18 metre core samples from the Vaca Muerta formation for analysis over the next few months.
Andes Energia said it will use the results to design a fracking plan and production testing for the site.
Hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, involves extracting gas trapped in shale by pumping in pressurised water and chemicals.
The company said that with regards to secondary conventional targets, it also took core samples from the Agrio formation, where they also encountered hydrocarbons, and further analysis of this discovery will be completed in the months ahead.
Andes has a 100% working interest in all production from the Agrio formation and a 40% carried interest in the Vaca Muerta and other formations.
"This well, which proved the existence of the Vaca Muerta formation in the El Manzano West block with excellent petrophysical conditions is located in an area where Andes has 170,000 net acres nearby, out of an overall total of 213,000 net acres covering the Vaca Muerta formation," Andes Chief Executive Officer Alejandro Jotayan said in a statement.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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