TAG is using the Parker Drilling Rig 188 to drill the sidetrack well in licence PMP 38157, in an operation scheduled to take about four weeks.
TAG president Drew Cadenhead said the company and sidetrack partner Bridge Petroleum had defined a crestal drilling location up-dip from the original Radnor-1 and older Stratford-1 wells, both of which produced natural gas and condensate before watering out.
“So we’re optimistic that these positive indicators will yield results. With an idle gas production facility onsite, any newly discovered gas and condensate will flow immediately to market.”
Newly acquired 3D seismic data had been used to target the up-dip location from Stratford-1, which in the early 1990s flowed at rates of about million cubic feet per day of gas and 140 barrels of oil per day of condensate before water influx occurred.
Almost two years ago, Radnor-1 flowed at average rates of 6MMcf/d of gas and 350bopd of condensate before watering out.
Cadenhead said a whipstock plug would be set in the original wellbore at a depth of 3129m and the sidetrack directionally drilled to a total measured depth of 4373m, about 487m southwest of the Radnor-1 downhole location.
While the original well had targeted the Eocene-aged Kapuni 1A and C formations, the sidetrack would focus on the slightly higher McKee sands.
“Depending on what we find, we could either deepen the sidetrack or plan more follow-up wells,” TAG exploration manager Mark Webster told EnergyReview.net today.
“And as we already have an operational pipeline and a contract in place with Methanex, we might be selling them some more gas in the near future,” he added.
Methanex paid for the first Radnor well to be drilled in exchange for first rights to gas discovered. It still has first rights to gas from any subsequent wells to fuel its Waitara Valley methanol plant, which closed recently for another maintenance shutdown.
Denver-based petroleum consultants Malkewicz Hueni Associates last year assigned the Radnor field proved plus probable reserves of 1.42 million bbl of condensate and 53.3 petajoules of gas.
Participants in the sidetrack operation are operator TAG (33.33%) and Bridge Petroleum (33.33%), with TAG assuming another 33.33% interest on a sole-risk basis. TAG is entitled to recover 15 times the cost of the sole-risk venture before any revenue reverts back to the partner that did not participate in the operation, Westech Energy New Zealand.
The Canadian-listed company bought into Radnor and took over as operator in April when Bridge sold half its 66.66% stake in PMP 38157 to TAG, leaving Bridge, TAG and Westech with equal shares in the licence and the small Radnor production station, just north of Stratford.
