Mongolian oil company Petro Matad has struck water in the Velociraptor-1 exploration well in the Taats Basin of Block V located in central Mongolia. The well that was spudded on June 14 reached a total depth of 1,500 meters (4,921.26 feet) and wireline logging has been completed, but all reservoirs found were water, the company said in a statement.
The well was close to forecast at all levels. The main target of the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous Undur Formation was found at 1,170 meters (3,840 ft) and had good-quality reservoir sands interbedded with shales along a c. Range 200 meters (656 feet).
The company added that in the early Cretaceous Shinehudag Formation secondary target, three coarse sand units with an average porosity of 18 percent were drilled. Good quality electrical wire logs confirmed that both targets were wet with water.
The company initially expected the prospect, in which it has a 100 percent working interest, to have about 200 million barrels of average potential recoverable resources. Management believed that the prospect, located 4.3 miles south of the Snow Leopard-1 well, which had good oil samples and demonstrated the presence of an operating oil system within the basin, has a 20 percent chance of success. It was a relatively high chance of success for a frontier exploration well.
The well will now be capped and abandoned and the platform will be demobilized, according to the statement.
The operations were carried out on time and on budget with the full support and cooperation of the local community. Results from the well will now be incorporated into the company’s interpretation of Block V before any further operational activity takes place in the area, according to the release.
“The results of the Velociraptor 1 well are obviously disappointing, but such high-impact targets, drillable at a modest well cost, cannot be ignored when exploring frontier areas. The well provides a valuable new data point to help unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the southern Gobi. We will now incorporate the results of the well into our overall assessment of the area. Meanwhile, our operational focus returns to Block XX, where the Heron development offers near-term oil production and revenue generation and where low-risk, near-field exploration opportunities have already been identified that provide exciting upside potential,” said Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad.
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