In a statement yesterday, Nuenco described the results from the two wells as “better than expected”, before adding that the third well had been spudded on the weekend.
Currently under analysis, the oil column was encountered in the prolific Temblor Sands, the main producing sands in the nearby Kettlemen Hills and the Coalinga oil fields.
Nuenco said data from the Californian Department of Energy had shown production from the Temblor sands at Coalinga has totalled over 900 million barrels (MMbbl) of oil and 225 billion cubic feet of gas. Likewise, the Kettlemen Hills has produced 406MMbbl of oil and 1.8 trillion cubic feet of gas.
With a 5% stake, Perth-based Nuenco is being fully carried through the consecutive six-well drilling program by Nahabedian Exploration.
The Kreyenhagen oil field has the potential to contain 40MMbbl of recoverable oil at relatively shallow depths of 300-1000 feet (91.4-304.8m).
Nuenco said historical production in the oil field, discovered in the 1890s, was limited due to the shallow formation depth and consequent low reservoir energy.
The current Kreyenhagen project team believes the oil field could be developed using shallow vertical and long reach horizontal wells, combined with cyclic steam injection.
