Update on adjacent wells30 Dec 2024 08:24
The first well, HSO 8-4 (API 4304757202),located in the Uinta Basin, Utah, was spudded on May 10, 2024, and drilled to a total depth of 1,020 feet. The Rimrock tar-sand pay zone was identified as being 100 feet thick, exhibiting good saturation and porosity. A 30-foot core sample was collected, and a small portion of the core was tested by heating it in water on a stove. Within minutes of boiling, the sand separated, and liquid bitumen floated to the surface. This demonstrated that the bitumen transitions to a liquid state at relatively low temperatures.
A second well, HSO 2-4 (API 430475201),also located in the Uinta Basin, Utah, was spudded on May 19, 2024, and drilled to a total depth of 1,390 feet. This well intersected both the Rimrock tar-sand zone (135 feet thick) and the Asphalt Ridge tar-sand zone (59 feet thick). A down-hole heater was installed, and heating of the Rimrock tar-sand zone began in mid-August 2024. Approximately 80 barrels of bitumen were successfully produced before the heater failed.
Following repairs, the heater manufacturer advised injecting approximately 1,800 barrels of water into the well to assist during the warm-up phase. Despite this, the heater failed again. The heater was pulled out of the well and sent to the manufacturer for repair and after its repair was subsequently installed in the HSO 8-4 well and failed again (see below). A new heater from a different manufacturer was subsequently installed in the HSO 2-4 well in September 2024 and has been functioning effectively since. Since September 2024,the Company has been extracting water mixed with bitumen and diesel oil. The water must first be pumped from the well as it absorbs the heat and does not allow the bitumen to rise to a temperature to flow freely. Some bitumen has been extracted with the water and the bitumen to water ratio has been increasing. To date, approximately 140 barrels of bitumen have been produced. The Company expects to pump out the remaining water and transition to full bitumen production by the end of December 2024.
In October 2024, the Company installed a repaired down-hole heater in HSO 8-4 that had previously been used in the HSO 2-4 well before failing and being repaired by the manufacturer. However, shortly after production began, the heater failed again. A replacement heater from a different manufacturer has been ordered and scheduled to arrive at the port of Oakland on January 8, 2025. The Company anticipates receiving it by the middle of January 2025, installing it and resuming production in the HSO 8-4 well by the end of January 2025.