London-listed Ophir Energy has noticed elevated gas readings during drilling operations on the Paus Biru-1 exploration well in the Sampang PSC offshore Indonesia.
The Sampang PSC is operated by Ophir Energy’s subsidiary Santos Sampang Pty Ltd with a 45% interest with Singapore Petroleum Company (40%) and Cue Energy (15%) as its partners.
Cue Energy’s said on Monday that the Paus Biru-1 exploration well reached a TD at measured depth 710 meters on Saturday, November 2018, on 22:30 local time. The planned total depth was extended during drilling due to formation observations. Operations on the well using the COSL HYSY 937 jack-up drilling rig began in October .
The company added that elevated gas readings were encountered through the primary target Mundu Formation.
Paus Biru-1, located 27km east from the producing Oyong gas field, tested a four-way dip structural closure targeting the formation analogous to the hydrocarbon producing zone in Oyong and Wortel gas fields.
Following preliminary interpretation of the logging while drilling, a full suite of wireline logs including formation wireline testing, which obtains formation pressures and fluid samples, will be run to further assess the interval.
“Data obtained will help establish the fluid content, hydrocarbon columns, and hydrocarbon saturation of possible reservoir intervals encountered, and to an extent, the permeability and producibility of these zones,” Cue added.
In a previous statement from December 2017 , Cue said that the Paus Biru prospect, if successful, would not only directly add reserves to the Sampang PSC but also further extend the life of the Oyong and Wortel fields by supporting the field economics.