TORONTO (miningweekly.com) –  Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas (FM O&G), the subsidiary of NYSE-listed Freeport-McMoRan, will immediately establish commercial production from its Highlander discovery, onshore South Louisiana, after “highly favourable reservoir characteristics” were obtained from a production test.

The test, which was performed in the Cretaceous/Tuscaloosa section of the Inboard Lower Tertiary/Cretaceous trend, used expanded testing equipment and indicated a flow rate of about 75-million cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas a day, about 37 Mcf/d net to FM O&G, on a 42/64th choke with flowing tubing pressure of 10 300 pounds per square inch (psi).

FM O&G on Friday said it expected to immediately start production using its facilities in the immediate area. The company planned to install more amine processing facilities to accommodate the higher rates.

The Highlander discovery well was drilled to about 29 400 feet in the first quarter last year. Wireline log and core data obtained from the Wilcox and Cretaceous sand packages indicated favourable reservoir characteristics with about 150 feet of net pay.

In December 2014, FM O&G tested the well at a rate of about 43.5 Mcf/d on a 22/64th choke, with flowing tubing pressure of 11 880 psi. A second well had been identified and future plans were being evaluated in this high-potential area.

FM O&G had identified multiple prospects in the Highlander area, where it controlled rights to more than 50 000 gross acres. The company was the operator of the Highlander well and held a 72% working interest and a net revenue interest of about 49%.

Freeport-McMoRan, a premier US-based natural resources company, currently has a global portfolio of mineral assets, significant oil and gas resources and a growing production profile.

The company is the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, underpinned by the Grasberg minerals district, in Indonesia, which is one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits; significant mining operations in the Americas, including the large-scale Morenci minerals district in North America and the Cerro Verde operation, in South America; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Freeport-McMoRan also has significant oil and natural gas assets in North America, including reserves in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico (GOM), onshore and offshore California and in the Haynesville natural gas shale play, and a significant position in the emerging shallow water Inboard Lower Tertiary/Cretaceous natural gas trend on the shelf of the GOM and onshore in South Louisiana.