Indonesia: West Sulawesi Miocene find indicated

April 8, 2011
Tately Budong-Budong NV, a subsidiary of Pexco NV, is moving to drill the second exploratory well on the 1.4 million acre Budong Budong block on northern West Sulawesi, Indonesia.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 8
-- Tately Budong-Budong NV, a subsidiary of Pexco NV, is moving to drill the second exploratory well on the 1.4 million acre Budong Budong block on northern West Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Harvest Natural Resources Inc., Houston, which holds 47% interest in the block, said the first well, Lariang LG-1 in the Lariang subbasin, was spud Jan. 6, 2011, and encountered multiple oil and gas shows in the secondary Miocene objective. Total depth is 5,311 ft.

Wireline logs and samples of reservoir fluids confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons, trap, and seal thus greatly derisking the license’s exploration potential, Harvest added.

High formation pressures and control difficulties required the use of more casing strings than originally planned at shallower depths. At 5,300 ft, heavy drilling mud losses and the high formation pressures led to the decision to discontinue operations and plug and abandon the well for safety reasons. The primary Eocene targets, expected at 7,200 ft measured depth, were not reached.

The rig is moving to the Karama KD-1 prospect to 8,100 ft in the Karama subbasin 50 miles south of LG-1.