Guatemala: Atzam oil project advances

March 7, 2014
Latin American Resources Ltd. (LAR) has drilled to 1,250 ft and successfully set and cemented the first intermediate 13.375-in. casing string in the Atzam No. 5 well at the company’s Atzam oil project in Guatemala.

Latin American Resources Ltd. (LAR) has drilled to 1,250 ft and successfully set and cemented the first intermediate 13.375-in. casing string in the Atzam No. 5 well at the company’s Atzam oil project in Guatemala.

The well is now in the carbonate sections and will be drill tested within days of the recommencement of drilling operations.

With the intermediate casing cemented in place, the rig underwent maintenance and is expected to recommence drilling. LAR plans to run a second intermediary casing string once the well is drilled down to 3,200 ft, setting the second casing string above the primary C18 and C19 carbonate reservoirs.

The Atzam No. 5 well is 1 km southeast of the Atzam No. 4 production well. The No. 5 well is located and designed to test the same carbonate reservoir intervals that were intersected and produced oil shows in Atzam No. 4, as well as quickly tie into production.

LAR as operator is managing the drilling program with Schlumberger providing specialist services on the well including the logging and cementing programs. The Atzam No. 4 well has a 2P reserve of 2.3 million bbl.

The Atzam No. 5 well will be drilled to a target depth of 4,100 ft and will target the C18 and C19 carbonate reservoirs as the primary objectives, in addition to the producing C17 carbonate reservoir in the Atzam No. 4 well.

The C18 and 19 carbonates were intersected in Atzam No. 4 and produced strong oil shows at surface during the drilling of the well but were unable to be flow tested. The drilling and flow testing of the C18 and C19 carbonates are a major objective for the Atzam No. 5 appraisal program as they could not be flow tested and commercially evaluated as the primary objective in Atzam No. 4.

Participants in the project include Australian independents Citation Resources Ltd. and Range Resources Ltd. Range Resources in January 2013 acquired 19.9% interest in Citation, which holds a farm-in right to buy 70% interest in LAR (OGJ Online, Feb. 12, 2013).