Nido to drill sidetrack well on Galoc field

ASX-listed oil and gas company Nido Petroleum will drill a sidetrack well on the Galoc field, in the Palawan Basin offshore Philippines, following inconclusive results from the appraisal well Galoc-7. 

On behalf of the Galoc Joint Venture, Nido Petroleum informed on Tuesday that on April 13, 2017, the drillship Deepsea Metro I reached total depth of 2,373 meters measured depth RT (2,290 meters TVD RT) having drilled through the Galoc Clastic Unit reservoir of the Galoc Mid Area.

The Galoc-7 appraisal well, located in Block C1 of Service Contract 14, was spud in late March. The drillship has been hired for one firm well and one optional sidetrack well.

Nido said that the reservoir objective for the Galoc-7 well was encountered between 2,240 to 2,358 meters MD RT (2,160 to 2,275 meters TVD RT) with a gross pay of 115 meters and net sand thickness of 8 meters comprising primarily of poor quality sandstone and claystone. Preliminary Logging Whilst Drilling (LWD) and wireline log data recorded through this interval indicates the reservoir unit contains hydrocarbons and water.

‘Inconclusive’ results

According to the company, at this stage, the Galoc-7 well results are inconclusive in terms of the potential commerciality of the Galoc Mid Area of Block C1 of Service Contract 14. The company said it will therefore continue to evaluate the results of the Galoc-7 well over the coming weeks and will incorporate this information into the relevant sub-surface models along with the results of the Galoc-7ST-1 well when they are available.

The Deepsea Metro I is now in the process of plugging and abandoning the Galoc-7 well and preparing to drill out the Galoc-7ST-1 well in the Galoc Central Field Area as planned. The company will provide a further update on the progress of the Galoc-7ST-1 well at the next casing point.

Nido, as the operator, holds a combined 55.88% participating interest in Block C1 of Service Contract 14 through its wholly owned subsidiaries Nido Production (Galoc) Pty Ltd and Galoc Production Company WLL.