Touchstone Exploration Inc (AIM:TXP, TSX:TXP, OTC:PBEGF) said its Royston-1X well in Trinidad has reached total depth after encountering ‘expectation exceeding’ intervals in the targeted Herrera formation.
The well measured some 1,664 feet of thickness in the Herrera including an estimated 765 feet of net sand, Touchstone said in a statement. Data from mud-logging and wireline logs indicate hydrocarbon accumulations are present within the formation, it added.
Royston-1X is now being cased and prepared for production testing.
Paul Baay, Touchstone president and chief executive officer, commented: "We are encouraged by the Royston-1X drilling results yet remain cautiously optimistic until production testing is completed. Testing is expected to start in April.
“Not only is this the deepest well we have drilled to date but it also is the deepest well drilled onshore Trinidad in the last 15 years. The fact that the well was drilled ahead of schedule and within our budget can be attributed to the best-in-class industry standards that Touchstone is driving within Trinidad, both through the introduction of new equipment, as well as additional expertise that we have added to our technical team.”
Baay added: “We are encouraged by the hydrocarbon indications internally interpreted from openhole wireline logs, which show that the well successfully intersected the Herrera Formation through the subthrust level in one of the thickest turbidite sections observed in any of our previous wells.”
Touchstone noted that the well was completed ahead of schedule and on budget.
Royston-1X was the company’s sixth exploration well drilled within the Ortoire licence which has yielded ‘transformational’ discoveries and development projects for Touchstone.
Notable, Royston could become the first oil discovery for Touchstone in the block following the significant gas finds at Coho and Cascadura.
Work is currently underway to bring the Cascadura field’s production online, with Touchstone highlighting in a recent statement that Trinidad’s national gas company will be ready to receive Cascadura’s gas by the end of June.
Touchstone is on track to have the Cascadura facilities sooner than that and it is continuing through its final phase of work to minimize costs and optimize services.
Once online and up to speed, the Cascadura operation is expected to yield some 9,200 barrels oil equivalent per day of net production to Touchstone.
In October, the Coho-1 well became Touchstone’s first producer in the Ortoire licence and the gas well made good progress in its ramp-up, reaching a rate of 1,515 barrels oil equivalent per day in the first few weeks of operation.
The AIM-quoted firm owns an 80% interest in the Ortoire acreage with state-backed Heritage Petroleum Company Limited carried for its 20% stake.