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(Alliance News) - i3 Energy PLC said Monday the oil water contact at its Liberator well currently being drilled was "lower than anticipated".
Shares in i3 Energy closed 26% lower in London on Monday at 29.00 pence each.
The Liberator well 13/23c-11, in the company's 100%-owned Liberator field in the North Sea, was drilled to 220 feet, as planned.
"Initial evaluation of the measurement while drilling logs indicate that, at this location, about 20 feet of the Captain sand with oil indications has been found above the expected oil water contact of 5,270 ft total vertical depth subsea," the company said.
Chief Executive Majid Shafiq said: "We are pleased to have encountered a thick Captain sand at this location including oil indications in the upper captain sand above the oil water contact. Initial interpretation is that the sand thickness above the oil water contact is lower than anticipated. Definitive results will be determined and the market updated in due course."
Wireline logging will now be carried out as per the planned data evaluation programme, i3 added.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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