Located at the company’s 40%-held Wichian Buri oil field, POE-9 was drilled on a structural high about 150m updip of the previous well, Na Sanun-1, which briefly produced 1400 barrels of oil per day (bopd) before watering out.

After being drilled to a depth of 1275m on December 31, the well encountered four potential fractured volcanic reservoir zones at depths of 794m, 853m, 1007m and 1142m.

Carnarvon said on testing, POE-9 immediately began to flow oil to surface, with flow rates climbing to 560bopd with an initial pre-clean up water cut of 15% before being choked back during the clean-up process.

The choke has now been opened up and POE-9 has been put on production at between 380 and 390bopd.

The company said the well is free flowing, with a beam pump operating to keep the production tubing clear of wax. Porosity of this test zone has been interpreted from log data to be between 6% and 9%.

But it said the other potential fractured reservoir zones encountered in the well will not be flow tested at this time.

“This has allowed the well to be put on production immediately without being potentially compromised by further operations,” it said.

The joint venture is now applying to the Thai Government for a production licence to cover this large structural closure. Once the application is approved, the JV will begin further appraisal and development of the field throughout this year.

Carnarvon said the results of POE-9 will now be applied to the seismic data to facilitate updating of structural mapping.