Nido told the market yesterday that once the tropical typhoon Peipah had passed, the Galoc-4 pilot hole would be plugged back and sidetracked for the drilling of a horizontal production well.
While Galoc-4 is being drilled, the JV will undertake a full petrophysical analysis – combining the log data with the recovered core from the pilot hole – to fine-tune the placement of the Galoc-3 production well.
As well as drilling activities being halted, Nido said personnel levels had also been reduced on the Energy Search drill ship as a safety precaution against the typhoon which yesterday afternoon was 300 nautical miles north.
“In addition, repairs were required to the line guides on the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP),” Nido said.
“Some delay in the drilling program will result from the pause in activity and the LMRP repairs.”
The Galoc-3 and Galoc-4 development wells are targeting 23.5 million barrels of proved and probable (2P) reserves as certified by Gaffney, Cline and Associates.
These deviated horizontal wells are aimed at penetrating 1600m of the oil-bearing sandstone reservoir at depths of around 2000m.
Production will be coursed through a floating storage and offloading facility.
Nido, which has a 23% stake in Galoc, will be entitled to about 4000 barrels of oil per day once production starts in the first quarter of 2008.
Other members of the consortium are Alcorn Gold Resources, Forum Energy, Oriental Petroleum, PetroEnergy Resources and Philodrill, with Galoc Production as operator.
