Amerisur Resources (LSE:AMER) bounced 11.8pc to 17.2p this morning after revealing ‘very encouraging’ results from its latest drill in Colombia. Its Indico-1 well is currently producing at a rate of 2,680bopd under short-term testing (STT) conditions.
The firm will now make an application to Colombia’s national hydrocarbon body to begin long-term testing (LTT) on the well, based on its 30pc-owned CPO-5 block.
The success has also led the firm to begin work on a fully-funded four-well directional drilling programme from the Indico well pad at CPO-5. This will determine the prospectivity of the lower sands formation encountered at Indico-1 last month.
The formation, called LS3, holds the 120ft oil column discovered at another well called Mariposa. Mariposa lies c.6.5km to the north-west of Indico-1 and has produced at a stable rate of around 3,200 bopd for more than a year. This production comes from 10ft of perforations near the top of a 120ft oil column.
Initial analysis by Amerisur suggested that a 283ft gross, 209ft net, oil column is present within LS3. Furthermore, the company detected no oil-water-contact.
The first well in the upcoming CPO-5 programme will be called Calao-1 and will spud this month. The well will target a structure to the southwest of Indico containing estimated potential resources of 2-7MMbo. A well called Pavo Real-1 will follow Calao-1. This will target a similar structure adjoining Indico to the northeast expected to hold between 2-23MMbo. Amerisur said both wells could offer more upside due to the potential for combination trapping.
Once the two prospects have completed, Amerisur will drill a further two appraisal wells on the Indico structure. These will refine resources and reserves estimates.
One well called Sol-1 is drill-ready. Alongside its partner at CPO-5, Amersiur is looking at whether to drill this in line with its schedule or hire a second drilling rig.
Amerisur’s chief executive John Wardle described the results at Indico-1 as ‘very encouraging’. He added:
‘The initial flow data also support our view of the importance of this play, not just at Indico but also in the surrounding area, extending down to Mariposa and up to the Aguila and then Sol structures. We have no doubt that further flow improvements may be achieved during LTT, as well as improvements to surface facilities in order to optimise production from the well. We are now evaluating the resource potential within the Indico structure, with the help of the data acquired to date and of course utilising additional data that will be acquired under the continuing STT and subsequent LTT.’
Wardle also said the firm has acquired all the necessary environmental permits for its planned wells at CPO-5. This means they are drill-ready.
‘These latest data from the well further indicate that we are developing an important play fairway within the LS3 unit of our large CPO-5 block, with significant upside both in the Indico accumulation, other structures to be drilled in the immediate future, as well as a long programme of exploitation within this sizeable block which is five times the size of our Platanillo block,’ he added.