Exploration company Falkland Oil and Gas has discovered gas at the Loligo well, located offshore of the Falkland Islands.
The company stated that initial well results prove that the main hydrocarbon phase within the T1 to T5 aged reservoir objectives is gas. However, the extent of liquid content has not been proved.
Drilled to a depth of 4,043m, the 42/07-01 Loligo well penetrated six Tertiary aged reservoir objectives, comprised of the T1, T1 deep, T2 (Trigg), T2 deep (Trigg deep), T3 (Three Bears) and T5 targets, on the basis of their seismic amplitude responses.
Falkland Oil and Gas is the operator of the well with a 75% stake, while the remaining stake is held by Edison International.
All six targets comprise of fine grained sandstones, siltstones and clay stones according to wireline log data, while strong gas shows from (C1 to C5) were encountered. The company encountered gas bearing zones over a 1,300m vertical interval from 2,420m to 3,720m.
Hydrocarbon saturations range from 40% to 60% and the net hydrocarbon bearing reservoir is between ten metres and 20m, according to preliminary estimates. Two main hydrocarbon bearing zones were encountered (3,462 to 3,558m and 3,608 to 3,705m) within the T5 target.
The company said that porosities ranged between 23% and 30%, averaging 24%, with hydrocarbon saturations between 40% and 75%.
Tim Bushell, Falkland Oil and Gas chief executive, said initial results prove that hydrocarbons have migrated into the Tertiary Channel Play.
"A work programme will be undertaken to achieve this, assess the resource potential and commercial viability of this discovery," Bushell said.
"We now have a positive result from one of our major exploration prospects. This, together with the results from our next well, will help determine the priorities for our future exploration efforts. With our partners Noble Energy and Edison, we have the technical resources and funding in place to carry out substantial 3D surveys, followed by further drilling in 2014."
Falkland Oil and Gas said it now plans to plug and abandon the well, which is expected to take approximately ten days.
