UK oil company Rockhopper Exploration said that its Falkland Islands 14/10-2 well in Sea Lion area could have produced twice the amount of oil if it had not run into problems during testing.
The company said that Sea Lion 1 well had produced sustained rates of over 2,000 barrels per day (bopd), in line with the results of previous tests, but could have produced about 4,000 barrels of oil a day if the company hadn’t encountered a variety of problems.
The test was carried out over four perforated intervals totaling 77m between 2,403m and 2,566m (below drill-floor).
Upon retrieving the perforating guns, a gun misfire was apparent and only the top two intervals were found to have been perforated, meaning the lower two intervals did not contribute to the flow.
After perforation, a small amount of oil was produced into the tubing to clean the perforations and enable downhole oil sampling.
The well was then shut in for approximately two hours to determine the initial reservoir pressure.
The final recorded pressure was 3,385psia at gauge depth (2,344.6m below drill-floor) and was still building.
The well was then opened to flow through the three and a half inch test string, initially on a 24/64th choke, opened to a 64/64th choke during the flow period and reduced to 44/64th towards the end of the flow period to allow samples to be taken.
The well was flowed for approximately 18 hours without incident and for sustained periods of over 2,000 barrels per day (bopd) with a maximum rate of 2,304bopd.
The final flowing wellhead pressure was approximately 120psia.