Touchstone Exploration Inc. found hydrocarbons in the Royston-1X exploration well on Ortoire block, onshore in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The well is being cased, and completion and testing operations—expected to include multiple test intervals—will begin in April.
The well was drilled using Star Valley Drilling Rig #205 and is a sidetrack from the original Royston-1 exploration well drilled by Touchstone in 2021. The sidetrack well was designed to further explore the thick sequence of Herrera sandstones encountered at Royston-1.
Royston-1X kicked off from the Royston-1 at a depth of about 7,150 ft and reached total measured depth of 11,316 ft on February 24, 2023. Drilling samples and openhole wireline logs indicated that the well encountered a significant Herrera turbidite package at a measured depth of 9,558 ft, about 330 ft structurally higher than in the original Royston-1 well and penetrated about 310 ft of Herrera section below what was observed in Royston-1.
The Herrera turbidite had aggregate estimated thickness greater than 1,660 ft with about 765 net ft of sand. The accumulation contained hydrocarbons.
Touchstone is operator at Ortoire block (80%) with the remaining 20% held by Heritage Petroleum Co. Ltd.
