Parex nurses Colombia Llanos oil discovery

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 22 – Parex Resources Inc., Calgary, has a multipay oil discovery in Colombia’s Llanos basin that it has been unable to precisely evaluate because of mechanical difficulties.

Kona-1 on Block LLA-16, in which Parex has 50% working interest, went to 13,250 ft and encountered hydrocarbon shows in the Upper C7, Mirador, and Gacheta formations at 11,090-13,000 ft. Well logs indicate 35 ft of potential net pay in Upper C7 and 47 ft in Mirador.

Due to wellbore deviation required to drill through multiple horizons, Kona-1 could only be cased to 12,765 ft, above the top of Gacheta. C7 is to be tested in later wells. Cement bond logs indicated no cement across the pay zone, and therefore the 47 ft of prospective oil pay was not isolated from the 280 ft of underlying wet reservoirs.

Parex perforated 11,552-560 ft at the top of Mirador to determine oil gravity and reservoir quality while preparing for a remedial cement treatment. The well flowed naturally at a rate of up to 500 b/d of 35° gravity oil and 750 b/d of water.

Bottomhole pressure measurements during the test indicated a reservoir pressure of 4,750 psi and measured bottomhole flowing pressure of 4,550 psi, indicating a 5% drawdown. Testing was terminated after 14 hr as water cut had stabilized at 60% of total fluid rates.

Internal analysis of the well test indicated that with successful cement remediation, Kona-1 could flow as much as 2,500 b/d of oil or pump as much as 3,500 b/d from Mirador. Parex will install a pump.

The rig is being skidded to drill the Kona-2 exploration prospect from the same pad. It will drill through the C7 and Mirador formations to the deeper Gacheta and Une formations 600 m subsurface from Kona-1 to add structural and reservoir information.

After drilling Kona-2, the rig is expected to move to the Goroka exploration prospect on Block LLA-16.

Parex is contracting a service rig for August to move onto the Kona location and is evaluating proposals to add a second rig for drilling on blocks LLA-16 and LLA-20 in 2010. It expects to defer a Block LLA-29 exploration well into 2011 with the addition of the Kona-2 well into the 2010 program.

Parex commissioned a study to evaluate the construction a 7-km oil pipeline from the Kona location to a terminal on the main paved all-season road.

Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency notified Parex that it was deemed to be the successful bidder for Block LLA-57 in the Llanos basin. The block covers 104,532 acres just north of Parex-operated Block LLA-20. Parex has identified several leads in the southern half of Block LLA-57 along trend to the two drillsites being built on Block LLA-20.

Granting of LLA-57 brings Parex’s Llanos basin acreage to 595,000 acres.