Harken to speed up drilling pace in Colombia

Where Harken will press drilling in Colombia [122,239 bytes] Harken Energy Corp., Irving, Tex., plans to accelerate its drilling schedule in several basins in Colombia. The plans are outgrowths of new field discoveries, signing of a third long-term drilling rig contract, and successful efforts to raise capital for additional exploration efforts.

June 29, 1998

3 min read

Where Harken will press drilling in Colombia [122,239 bytes]

Harken Energy Corp., Irving, Tex., plans to accelerate its drilling schedule in several basins in Colombia.

The plans are outgrowths of new field discoveries, signing of a third long-term drilling rig contract, and successful efforts to raise capital for additional exploration efforts.

"We are very excited about our recent discoveries, particularly in the Bolivar and Alcaravan areas," said Mikel D. Faulkner, Harken's Chairman. "Due to the recent successful capital raising transaction, coupled with the addition of the third drilling rig, we have both funding and equipment to allow us to confidently accelerate our total Colombian program."

Harken will drill four more horizontal wells this year on its Bolivar acreage in the Middle Magdalena basin. Two wells, Palenque 1 and Arquilla 2, will test the Lower Cretaceous Rosa Blanca formation that was confirmed earlier by the Catalina 1 well. The well flowed at the rate of more than 7,000 b/d of oil with appreciable volumes of gas.

Additionally, Palenque 2 and Arquilla 3 will test the Upper Cretaceous La Luna formation. The formation was confirmed by the Olivo 1 well, which flowed at the rate of more than 10,800 b/d of oil.

The company also plans to spud four wells before year-end on its Cambulos acreage in Middle Magdalena. The Isolero 1, Frailejon 1, Guadual 1, and Sumapaz 1 will test four prospective zones on the northern portion of its acreage. Harken was to move its drilling rig to the Isolero 1 site beginning in mid-June and spud in early July. This well is expected to take 60 days to drill to TD and 30 days more for production tests.

The Isolero 1 location is on the Emerald Mountain feature 19 km south of and on trend with the El Segundo 6E well drilled by GHK Co. Colombia, a subsidiary of Seven Seas Petroleum Inc., Houston (OGJ, June 23, 1997, p. 28). Harken said the interpretation of surface geology and seismic data indicates that the Emerald Mountain feature extends for 70 km, 45 km of which are on Harken's Cambulos acreage.

Harken will also continue its drilling plans for Palo Blanco field beginning in late fall as soon as the dry season returns to the Llanos basin. The company plans to establish facilities that will allow year-round, all weather development drilling at Palo Blanco. Specific plans and further well locations will be finalized following analysis of 3D seismic acquired earlier.

Harken is mobilizing a rig to the Rio Negro area to drill the Torcaz 5 step-out well from the earlier Rio Negro field discovery on the northern part of the Bocachico block in Middle Magdalena. Rio Negro development wells will be drilled on a lower priority as rigs are available or until a fourth rig can be contracted, the company said.