Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (Pacific Rubiales Energy) has discovered oil at Quifa-9 well on Prospect D at Quifa block, located in the Llanos basin of Colombia. The well was drilled as an appraisal well. The Quifa-9 well found the top of the reservoir, the Carbonera basal sands at 2,970 feet measured depth (MD), or 2,304 feet true vertical depth at sub-sea level (TVDSS) and the oil-water contact (OWC) at 2,999 feet MD, or 2,333 feet TVDSS.
The petrophysical evaluation of the well indicates a net pay zone of 17 feet with porosities over 32%. The Quifa-9 was drilled as an appraisal well on Prospect D, at 10 kilometers from the discovery well Rub-147 drilled during the last quarter of 2008). This well extends the discovery of Prospect D to the west and confirms approximately 10,000 acres (more than 40 square kilometers) for the whole prospect as well as an hydrocarbon column of more than 100 feet measured from the crest of the structure to the average OWC, with net pays ranging from 17 to 35 feet. The company is now planning to test the well and complete it as a vertical hole producer.
This is the fifth consecutive successful well that the company has drilled in the Quifa block in its attempt to confirm the extension of the Rubiales field to the southwest. The discovery in Quifa 9, along with the other four wells, Quifa-5 and Quifa-8 on prospect E, Quifa-I-9 on prospect I; and Quifa-7 on prospect H, will allow for the incorporation of more than 15,000 acres of new reserves with the same characteristics of the Rubiales field.
Pacific Rubiales Energy is now preparing the necessary documentation to request the commerciality for the whole southwestern Quifa area. Also, the company is well advanced in designing an aggressive drilling campaign to develop these discoveries in the short term. It is important to note that the production at Quifa will benefit from the sliding royalties scale instituted in Colombia which is dependent on production levels and crude quality, and will result in a lower level of royalties as compared with the Rubiales block.
The Quifa block is an exploratory block in which Meta Petroleum (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Rubiales Energy) holds a 60% working interest and Ecopetrol S.A. holds a 40% working interest.