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President Energy identifies third potentially giant system in Paraguay

Published: 17:25 16 Jun 2014 AEST

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As a hotly anticipated drill programme gets underway in Paraguay, President Energy (LON:PPC) has upped the ante for investors, revealing a third potentially giant oil system within its acreage.

An independent audit of the Lapacho prospect in Paraguay’s Chaco region showed it is a prospect within an independent petroleum system with gross mean unrisked prospective resources of 5.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and 157mln barrels of condensate.

After more analysis of seismic data acquired from the Pirity Basin last year, President said it became clear there were three independent systems all of which have the potential to yield a “giant” field discovery of more than 100mln barrels (MMbbls) of oil equivalent (boe).

Indeed, Lapacho could be the largest of the three fields in the basin, President said, with the Lower Devonian/Silurian Santa layers where it is located having potential to be a significant gas-condensate system.

Consultant RPS, which carried out the latest audit work, had already identified 1.1bn barrels at the Pirity and Demattei concessions.

In total, the three fields could net over 1bin boe net to President (3.3 Tcf and 99 MMbbls condensate) based on a 60% stake at Demattei and 64% at Pirity.

President’s hotly anticipated drill programme is now underway. The Jacaranda well, the first deep exploration well in this area for 30 years, is now expected to take 70 days to be drilled to a depth of 4,200 metres.

The company also said the forward drill programme will now be adjusted to assess the potential at Lapacho too; as such the three well programme will explore all three identified systems.

Jacaranda, and the subsequent Tapir well, will test the Cretaceous Yacoraite and a direct extension of the productive Palmar Largo oil field trend in Argentina.

President estimates 376 MMboe and 106 MMboe of gross mean unrisked prospective resources from these respective targets.

Jacaranda is also designed to test a second petroleum system, the Carboniferous/Upper Devonian Los Monos, which is believed to extend into Paraguay from the adjacent productive areas of Bolivia and NW Argentina.

Now Lapacho, the third system, in deeper Lower Devonian/Silurian Santa Rosa targets, is the largest single prospect.

The previously selected Yacare well will not now feature in the current programme.

It is now estimated that President has 36 potentially drillable features in the Pirity Basin, the company added.

Peter Levine, President’s executive chairman, said: "The newly identified petroleum system and the size of the Lapacho prospect underline the potential significance of President's interests in Paraguay. It is now all about the present drilling programme, which has commenced".

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