Touchstone Exploration positive on completion of Royston-1

(Sharecast News) - Touchstone Exploration has completed drilling the Royston-1 exploration well, it said on Friday, announcing that it encountered "substantial" hydrocarbon accumulations based on drilling and wireline log data.
The AIM-traded firm has an 80% operating working interest in the well, located on the Ortoire block onshore in Trinidad and Tobago, with Heritage Petroleum Company holding the remaining 20% working interest.

It said Royston-1 was drilled to a total depth of 10,700 feet, being the deepest exploration well drilled by Touchstone to date.

Mud logging and wireline logs indicated hydrocarbon accumulations in the Lower Cruse, Karamat and Herrera sections.

The company said the well encountered a total Herrera turbidite thickness of 1,014 feet, or 609 feet net sand, in two stacked thrust sheets.

An aggregate 393 gross feet of hydrocarbon pay was identified in two unique thrust sheets in the Herrera sands from 9,700 feet to total depth, with wireline logs indicating that the well was in hydrocarbon pay at total depth.

The well was currently being cased, and prepared for production testing of the Herrera Formation.

"The Royston-1 well was the fifth and final well of the first phase of our exploration drilling program on the Ortoire block, with logging data indicating better than expected results," said company president and chief executive officer Paul Baay.

"The amount of identified hydrocarbon pay further verifies the opportunity in the block for our future phase two exploration program. Prior to drilling, we targeted 200 feet of gross sand pay, with results almost doubling our expectations."

Baay said the company had started planning production testing operations in the Herrera Formation using the same equipment that verified the Cascadura discovery.

"With the assistance of the new seismic and upcoming production testing data, we anticipate this to be the largest geological structure identified on the block in the Herrera Formation."

At 1213 BST, shares in Touchstone Exploration were up 27.71% at 107.28p.