Ophir Energy’s G4/50-11 wildcat exploration well in the South Western Graben of the Gulf of Thailand failed to encounter a commercial discovery and will be plugged and abandoned.
The well targeted the Parichat Southwest prospect. The G4/50-11 well reached a total depth of 2830m (true vertical depth subsea) and encountered oil in both the primary Oligocene and secondary Miocene reservoir targets.
Overall the well encountered an aggregate 5.5m of net oil pay, but the discovery is considered to be below the economic threshold for a commercial discovery. Importantly this discovery has confirmed for the first time the existence of an active hydrocarbon system in this previously undrilled South Western Graben. The well also encountered a greater thickness of reservoir sands than expected pre-drilling, which is an encouraging result for the future exploration of this basin.
A comprehensive wireline logging process was completed, including the recovery of oil samples from both reservoir intervals.
The G4/50-11 well will now be plugged and abandoned and a detailed analysis of the well data will be conducted. This analysis will determine whether the multiple analogous prospects nearby have been sufficiently de-risked to warrant exploration drilling in 2016.
The well was the second in Ophir’s 2015 exploration drilling program in the G4/50 license.
The rig will now move to the Bualuang Alpha platform to drill a water disposal well. This is part of the project to increase the water handling capacity at Bualuang, thus alleviating a potential production bottleneck.