Coastal Energy (LON:CEO, CVE: CEN) revealed the results of the Bua Ban North A-04 well in the Gulf of Thailand, which was drilled to follow up the discoveries in the nearby A-01 well.
The A-04 well hit its two targets, in the Miocene and Upper Oliocene, but it has not been able to take samples from either (due to the angle of the well).
The well was drilled to 6,417 feet (vertical depth). It encountered 22 feet of net pay in the Miocene. It said that the reservoir - which has average porosity of 29 percent – is in a separate fault block from A-01 and Coastal believes it contains 6 million barrels oil-in-place.
It also encountered 11 feet of net sand with shows in a deeper Miocene section, with 22 percent average porosity and 10 feet of net sand with shows in the Upper Oligocene with 25 percent porosity.
"We continue to encounter shallow Miocene pay zones with excellent porosity and reservoir characteristics. We plan to begin targeting the recently discovered zones with horizontal wells to maximize production from each well,” said chief executive Randy Bartley.
He added: “The original Miocene vertical test well, Bua Ban Main A-11, which was drilled in the third quarter and came online at 300 barrels oil per day, continues to produce over 225 barrels oil per day with less than 1 percent water cut.
The strong performance to date of the A-11 combined with the fact that the Miocene discoveries at Bua Ban North exhibit much better porosity and permeability than the A-11 well strongly supports our conclusion that the shallow Miocene is a viable target on the western side of the Songkhla basin.
"We believe that it could prove to be a very prolific play if exploited using horizontal wells."
The productivity of the deeper Miocene and Upper Oligocene zones can’t be determined until they can be flow tested, which is expected to start in mid-May.