The Cheremshanskaya No. 3 well located on the Cheremshanskaya Prospect in Licence 67 was spudded on 28 August and has been drilled to its planned total depth of 3,100 m MD. The well was drilled adjacent to the Cheremshanksaya No. 1 well, which was drilled in 1962 and was targeting potential “missed pay” in the Upper, Middle and Lower Jurassic intervals.
Preliminary analysis of the core, log and open hole test data indicates that two new hydrocarbon pools have been discovered by the well, one in the Upper Jurassic J1 interval and another in the Lower Jurassic J14 interval. There were no hydrocarbon indicators encountered at the Middle Jurassic J13 interval. Additional testing is required to determine the commerciality of the hydrocarbon intervals including potential productive flow rates and fluid composition, which will each be key elements of development planning. Production casing is now being run and cemented in the well. Once this has been completed, the main drilling rig will be moved and a workover rig will then carry out an extensive step rate drill stem testing programme. This process will likely be completed in late 2011.
The Cheremshanskaya No. 3 well is located about 6 km south of the Lomovoye Field which has been developed by Tomskneft (Rosneft). The well is situated near to an all weather road and is accessible year round which would allow early commencement of year round production by trucking oil to market.
Upper Jurassic J1 interval
The primary objective Upper Jurassic J1 interval shows potential net oil saturation of 2.9 m in the J1-1 and J1-2 intervals. The J1-3 interval has 8.1 metres of net reservoir but the initial log interpretation indicates it is likely to be water saturated despite the presence of hydrocarbon indications in the core in the upper part of the interval. A short open hole test over the J1 interval produced an inflow of drilling mud filtrate and small amounts of oil at a rate of 72.5 bfpd. No formation water was produced during the test.
Lower Jurassic J14 interval
The Lower Jurassic J14 interval shows potential net gas/oil saturation of 8.6 m. A short open hole test over this interval confirmed gas and oil inflow but the gas rate could not be measured because of the nature of the test.
Once production casing has been run and cemented in the well, the main drilling rig will then be moved to the Ledovaya 2a location.
Dennis Francis, Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft Resources plc commented:
“We are pleased to announce another new discovery at Cheremshanskaya. Initial results are encouraging, however, the field will require further detailed testing and delineation to determine its ultimate size and productivity. The field is located in an area of well developed infrastructure so it may be possible to fast track pilot production once we complete the testing programme. It has been a year of substantial progress on the exploration front with the very significant oil discovery at Sibkrayevskaya and follow-up discoveries at North Varyakhskaya and Cheremshanskaya. We look forward to completion of the final well in our exploration/delineation programme at Ledovoye.”
