Touchstone Exploration Inc (AIM:TXP, TSX:TXP, OTC:PBEGF) said it will put its Royston-1X well in Trinidad on pump to improve flow rates following the completion of production tests at five intervals.
Paul Baay, chief executive, commented: “The fact that we have recovered light oil and significant pressures on each test is encouraging.
“We now need to evaluate the mechanics of how to produce the well at economically sustainable rates.
“By putting the well to pump for an extended period, we will be able to determine both the economics and viability of future operations, which could include artificial stimulation of the reservoir.”
Touchstone said high reservoir pressures were observed during each of the production tests, but minimal natural flow to surface was observed, indicating low permeability
By using a pump, hydrostatic pressure on the reservoir will be reduced, it said, allowing the formation fluid to produce at increased rates.
Elsewhere, at Cascadura, Touchtone expects initial sales by the end of this week as the facility is currently undergoing final commissioning with natural gas from the Cascadura-1ST1 well used for the initial systems start-up and equipment testing.
Cascadura has a current gross production capacity of 90 million cubic feet daily and 2,250 barrels a day of associated liquids (17,250 boe/d) but has scope to double that.
At Coho, since coming onstream, the Coho-1 well has produced a total of approximately 2 billion cubic feet of gross natural gas and generated over US$4 million in gross natural gas sales with a 99.9% uptime performance.
Touchstone has also been approved to drill two additional wells from the existing Coho location to take the facility to its maximum gross operating capacity of approximately 24 MMcf/d of natural gas (4,000 boe/d).
Baay added: “Looking forward to the commencement of commercial production from the Cascadura facility, we now have in place the infrastructure to process and monetise all future potential drilling successes on the Ortoire block.
“This has been a long process, but we have now put in place the building blocks for a fully funded, full-cycle exploration and production strategy."