Economics improve at Ophir's Fortuna gas field after positive testing
Positive drill stem testing (DST) at Ophir Energy's Fortuna-2 well in Block R, Equatorial Guinea, means that the company will not need as many development wells to produce the gas field, the oil and gas group said.
Ophir Energy
57.50p
16:39 21/05/19
Ophir, which owns a 80% stake in Block R, conducted a DST after successfully drilling and coring the Fortuna-2 well to "prove the deliverability" of the field.
The DST achieved a sustained flow-rate of 60m standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) with a draw-down of less than 20 PSI (pressure unit) at the reservoir.
Ophir estimates that the well could deliver a production rate of around 180MMscfd.
"The excellent flow rate, at minimal draw-down, is a strong indication that the number of development wells required for the Fortuna reservoir will be reduced from the seven initially assumed in scoping work, thereby improving development economics," the company said.
Chief executive Nick Cooper said the results "confirm the deliverability" of the first phase of development at Fortuna and completes the subsurface de-risking prior to front-end engineering and design (FEED) work.
"We now turn to completing the negotiation of gas terms with the government and to the award of the contract for the mid-stream consortium; both of which are anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2014," he said.
The stock was 3.7% higher at 197.1p by 09:34 on Tuesday.