LONDON (Alliance News) - Range Resources Ltd on Thursday said it expects to finish drilling the latest well in Trinidad before the end of the year and said it has expanded its waterflood pilot programme on the Morne Diablo field which could yield over a 1.0 million extra barrels.
Range said the latest well being drilled in Trinidad will hit its 2,000 foot depth target in the next 21 days. The GY-161-S well is the third well to be drilled as part of the company's 22 well programme and the second well to be drilled on the Beach Marcelle field on the south coast of the country.
The 180SE well was the first to be drilled on the Beach Marcelle field in early November, with logs producing "encouraging results" after the company encountered a 72.0 foot net oil sand. Range is currently waiting for approval so it can perforate the 180SE well.
Range also has received regulatory approval to expand its waterflood pilot programme on the Morne Diablo field, situated down the coast from Beach Marcelle.
Waterflooding is when water is injected into a well to increase the pressure inside the reservoir, forcing more oil to surface.
Range decided to conduct an initial pilot test to see how effective a full programme would be and now believes an expanded waterflood programme could add 1.2 million barrels to production.
The original oil-in-place figure for the area that is undergoing the waterflood programme was 6.5 million barrels of oil, of which around 1.4 million barrels, or one fifth of the oil in place, has already been recovered by the company by primary depletion, which is when the natural energy in a reservoir is enough to push oil to surface on its own.
Range said the waterflood programme will begin before the end of 2015, potentially producing an additional 1.2 million barrels of oil. First production is expected sometime in the second half of 2016.
The latest well being drilled on the Beach Marcelle field may be part of a "waterflood pattern" in the future, Range said.
Range shares were down 0.3% to 0.398 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
