Columbus Energy has announced an oil discovery at the Saffron well located in the South West Peninsula, onshore Trinidad.
According to a release from the company, the Saffron well has discovered oil in the Lower Cruse and Middle Cruse.
The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,634 feet, as planned and according to the Columbus, the well has 2363 ft of Gross sands with six reservoir intervals of interest with a 47% Net/Gross ratio.
Leo Koot, Executive Chairman of Columbus, said "We have found what we were looking for - the Saffron well has discovered oil in both the Lower Cruse and Middle Cruse formations in the South West Peninsula, onshore Trinidad. These discoveries are transformational for Columbus creating two valuable standalone field developments.”
He said, “Our main pre-drill goal of establishing the existence of hydrocarbons in the Lower Cruse has been achieved, significantly de-risking what we expect will be an imminent Saffron field development. We achieved light, high quality oil flow to surface (circa 40° API) from two test intervals in the Lower Cruse. For operational reasons (including prudent cost management), our testing was deliberately limited to a combined perforation of 16' even though the logging of the Lower Cruse showed over 300 feet of high-quality sands. As such, we believe that the appraisal of the Lower Cruse, expected in Q3 2020, will be stage 1 of a Lower Cruse development that we now calculate has an NPV of circa US$90m.“
I am particularly pleased to share with our investors and the market that, in order to fast track the appraisal/development of the Lower Cruse, we have signed a Term Sheet with a third party drilling contractor to drill a second well in the Lower Cruse, the same contractor who drilled the Saffron well. It is expected that the well will be drilled in Q3 2020, subject to a stabilised oil price (above US$35 for a sustained period) and operating environment. The well will be fully funded by that third party in return for a share of the production from Saffron 2, Koot said.
Whilst drilling the Saffron well, the Company encountered a total of 6 intervals in the Lower Cruse, Middle Cruse and Upper Cruse that merited testing and, to date, we have tested 3 intervals (2 in the Lower Cruse and 1 in the Middle Cruse).
In the Middle Cruse, we discovered medium quality crude (17° to 20° API) with a high water cut (circa 90%-95%). The Middle Cruse reservoir shows good pressure support, with the right completion design and field development plan, we can deliver a reliable oil and revenue stream from the multiple oil-bearing intervals we have identified. We have already sold our first oil produced from the Middle Cruse to Heritage (340 bbls).
“I am therefore confident that we will be able to produce commercial quantities of quality oil from both the Lower Cruse and the Middle Cruse’, the CEO said.