The Ocean Guardian rig is not equipped with facilities to analyze the fluid samples, so analysis of the fluid samples will take place after the sample containers are shipped to a dedicated laboratory, the company said.
However, the fluid sampling process indicated all samples to be oil. The company said that the sample chambers filled rapidly, indicating a good quality reservoir with no evidence of any free water as the sample chambers filled. The filling characteristics suggest a mobile crude oil.
The company claims that pressure readings indicate the possibility of two separate oil columns; and no oil water contacts or water sands have been recognized in the well. Wireline sidewall cores have also been collected and the samples will be evaluated for reservoir characteristics in a laboratory.
The company intends to run a liner and apply to suspend the well for future testing. It is anticipated that operations will take a further week to ten days.
Samuel Moody, managing director of Rockhopper Exploration, said: “All current indications are that the oil recovered from the Sea Lion well is moveable which, if confirmed, would be further positive news.
“We will now wait for confirmation of the quality of the fluid as a result of the laboratory analysis, and continue our review of the data gathered from the well.”
