Oil and gas company Conrad Petroleum started drilling an appraisal well on the Mako prospect in the Duyung Production Sharing Contract, offshore Indonesia, on Friday night, June 16.
Conrad is the opearator of the Natuna Sea PSC with 90% interest and Empyrean Energy is its partner with the remaining 10% interest.
Empyrean said in a statement on Monday that drilling operations on the Mako South-1 well had started on Friday and that over the weekend drilling had reached the planned depth of 927 feet where 13 3/8 inch casing was successfully run, set and cemented.
Drilling has now reached the planned depth of 1,330 feet where the second string of casing is to be run, set and cemented, the company added.
As at the time of this announcement 9 5/8 inch casing was in the process of being run and set in place for cementing, Empyrean further said.
The forward plan is to set the 9 5/8 inch casing before drilling towards the top of the objective zone. A conventional core will then be taken over the primary section of interest as the well is drilled to its target depth of 1,707 feet. Logs will be run before a flow test operation is undertaken.
The well is being drilled with the 2008-built jack-up rig COSL Seeker, which arrived on site last week.
The Mako shallow gas discovery is estimated to contain 400 Bcf to 1.3 Tcf of gas in place. The objective of the well is to flow test the gas sands and provide key data on the permeability and gas saturation properties of the reservoir.
Duyung PSC is set water depths of 60-100 meters and associated shallow drilling depths of up to 2,000 feet. This license is surrounded by the West Natuna Transport System, with both gas export and oil production facilities located nearby.
Offshore Energy Today Staff