AIM-listed President Petroleum (LSE:PPC) released a statement today estimating 50 million barrels of oil that was not previously accounted for has been discovered at the Pozo Escondido Field in Argentina.
Previous figures at PE field indicated that there were only 20 million barrels of cretaceous stacked oil in place.
The PEE-1001 well in the Pozo Escondido Field encountered 32 metres gross oil column with 28 metres of net oil pay drilled at a depth of 3,420 meters.
Following this success, a second well will be spudded at the nearby Dos Puntitas Field, known as DP-1001 well.
Both the Pozo Escondido Field and the Dos Puntitas Field are part of the Puesto Guardian Concession located in the Noroeste Basin of the Salta Province.
President Petroleum holds 50% interest in the 622 squared kilometre concession which has been producing light, sweet crude at 450 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”).
The concession was acquired in June 2011 from Tripetrol Petroleum S.A., at US$3.5 million in a cash farm-in agreement. Oil was originally discovered in 1937 but further explorations had been stalled due to several factors, including low oil prices.
The licence to this concession, which was originally going to expire in 2016, has been extended further.
Ongoing Programmes and Further Expansion
They are planning to commence a fraccing programme to old shut-in wells in the spring of 2012 and will employ a more powerful rig to undertake horizontal drilling deeper into the fields.
The company also plans to utilise electric submersible pumps on the shut-in wells, which when successful, will replace the beam pumps currently being used.
With the developments in the mechanical process, the company targets an increase in the production line, where they hope to produce a minimum of 1200 – 1500 bopd by the summer of 2012.
CEO Comments
President Petroleum Chairman Peter Levine commenting on the announcement
“…The newly identified potential for greater reserves and production, including re-entry of existing wells on Pozo Escondido, is a great bonus to what is already turning out to be a very promising acquisition indeed. We look forward to the implementation of all our future programmes with confidence.”
Company Spotlight
President Petroleum is an independent oil and gas exploration company with current holdings in the United States, Australia, and more recently in Argentina.
References
↑ Puesto Guardian Concession
↑ Company Operations