Turner Pope7 May 2025 07:51
Zephyr has reported quite exceptional initial results from its flagship State
36-2 LNW-CC-R well (the ‘Well’) in the under-explored Paradox Basin, Utah.
The single well produced a peak rate of 2,848 barrels of oil equivalent per day
(‘boepd’), in the form of 11.9 million standard cubic feet per day (‘mmscfd’)
and 856 barrels of oil per day (‘bopd). Achieved on a 18/64-inch choke setting
with no material drop in bottom hole pressure, this suggests Zephyr has
potentially delivered one of the more productive one-mile lateral wells that
the onshore US has seen in recent years. Moreover, well test data gathered
from the 5,000-foot lateral suggests occurrence of hydrocarbon inflows
across its length, indicating potential for a much larger reservoir volume to
be drained compared with the initial completed interval of 130 feet in the
previous production test which peaked at 2,100 boepd (as announced back
on 6 September 2024). Significantly, no fracture stimulation was performed
to achieve this excellent well deliverability result, although future
stimulation could offer additional upside potential for both this well and for
the broader Paradox project development. The early data suggests
significant commercial opportunity for Zephyr, which is expected to be
confirmed in due course through further interpretation and analysis,
including the generation of updated estimated ultimate recovery forecasts.
Given such highly positive observations, the Group’s ongoing discussions
with US-based industry and asset-level financial partners with respect of the
larger, long-term development of the wider Paradox project is also expected
to accelerate.