Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd. has spudded the Scotia exploratory well in the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic 315 km east-northeast of Stanley.
Scotia, a prospect in the mid-Cretaceous fan play, lies 114 km northeast of Loligo, at which FOGL announced a gas discovery earlier this month. Water depths in the East Falklands basin are 1,500-5,000 ft.
FOGL operates Scotia with 75% interest, and Edison International SPA has 25%. Under a farmout agreement announced Aug. 6, Noble Energy Inc. will also participate in the well for a 35% interest, reducing FOGL’s interest to 40%. The Falkland Islands government has approved the farmout.
Scotia is projected to 5,000 m. Loligo went to 4,043 m and found gas-bearing zones over a 1,300-m vertical interval from 2,420 to 3,720 m. Petrophysical analysis of the T1 to T3 intervals inclusive, at 2,420 to 2,885 m, indicates porosities ranging from 18% to 35% in the gas-bearing zones.
Due to the thin-bedded nature of the sediments it is difficult to assess precisely both hydrocarbon saturation and the total net hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir, FOGL said. Preliminary estimates, however, suggest hydrocarbon saturations ranging from 40% to 60% and net hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir of between 10 and 20 m.
Within the T5 target two main hydrocarbon-bearing zones were encountered, at 3,462-3,558 m and 3,608-3,705 m. The net hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir in these two zones was 46 and 59 m, respectively. Porosities ranged between 23% and 30% and averaged 24%, and hydrocarbon saturations ranged between 40% and 75%.
