VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Calgary-based oil and gas explorer International Frontier Resources (IFR) announced on Monday that its joint venture Tonalli Energia has reached the intended depth for its first evaluation well on its onshore Tecolutla block TEC-10 well.
In partnership with Mexican petrochemical leader Grupo IDESA, Tonalli has completed drilling of the first hole to a target depth of 2 453 m total vertical depth (TVD), and the production casing has now been successfully installed and the drilling rig was released on Friday, the company reported on Monday.
According to IFR, the TEC-10 well encountered the top of the El Abra reef at 2 315 m TVD and drilled 138 m of gross reef thickness. Wireline logs indicate 57 m of the penetrated El Abra reef has more than 3% porosity, with an average porosity of 5.7%.
There are multiple prospective intervals including a primary target interval in the upper El Abra with 13 m of net reservoir, with a porosity range of 6% to 18%, for average porosity of 10.7%.
IFR reported that Tonalli is encouraged by the high porosity identified in the TEC-10 wireline logs, and a visual inspection of the core taken from within this primary target interval has visible porosity and oil staining.
Three intervals in the lower El Abra had indications of oil while drilling and porosity values indicated on wireline logs of between 3% and 6%. The lowest identified interval is at 2 408 m TVD, which is 70 m below the lowest produced interval at Tecolutla. It is encouraging to encounter oil indications deeper than originally expected in the El Abra reef, the company stated.
IFR expects that the TEC-10 well will be completed and tested by mid-May, which will determine production rates and recovered fluid properties, IFR advised.