Winchester Energy to bring Permian Basin oil wells online, lines up next Mustang spud
Winchester Energy anticipates drilling to start on the next well in its Mustang development plan, White Hat 20#4, in mid-October.
Onshore oil producer Winchester Energy (ASX: WEL) is preparing to spud the next well in its Mustang oilfield development plan as testing operations wrap up at its other Permian Basin wells.
The Texas-focused company is currently gearing up to bring its Arledge 16#2 and White Hat 20#5 oil wells into production following successful flow testing.
In an operations update released today, it also announced well preparations for White 20#4 are “well advanced” with spudding anticipated in mid-October.
Furthermore, Winchester is planning to re-enter an old well early this month on the Lightning prospect to test the oil potential of a shallow sand unit.
Mustang oilfield development
In today’s update, Winchester said flow testing at the White Hat 20#5 well on the Mustang oilfield has concluded and a pump jack is currently being installed for production.
According to the company, the load water has now mostly been recovered from the well with oil cuts averaging 80% in final swabbing runs.
Bottom-hole pressure testing confirmed similar reservoir pressure to the successful White 20#3 well, which produced well at an initial rate of 306 barrels of oil per day. This well is now currently producing more than 220bopd, Winchester reported.
The next well in Winchester’s Mustang development plan, White Hat 20#4, is expected to spud in mid-October. This well is located about 1,200 feet (366m) south-west of White Hat 20#3.
Presenting at the Good Oil Conference in Perth last month, Winchester managing director Neville Henry outlined an active development program for the Mustang oilfield, which includes the drilling and production testing of multiple wells over the next six months.
Winchester holds a 75% working interest in the Mustang wells, located within the White Hat Ranch oil lease. Private company Carl E Gungoll holds the remaining 25% stake.
Lightning prospect
At Winchester’s 100% owned Arledge lease, its Arledge 16#2 well on the Lightning prospect has been intermittently free flowing at rates between 200-300bopd through a 32/64th inch choke.
The company said the continuing flow, albeit on an intermittent basis, is considered to be “highly encouraging”.
About 1,700bbls of oil have been recovered to date, with 540bbls already sold, Winchester reported.
The company is planning to place the well on pump to established stabilised flow rates from the test interval.
Winchester has also identified a total of about 75ft (23m) of additional interpreted net pay in the well, which remains untested.
Meanwhile, the company is planning to re-enter the Arledge 16#1 well “in the next 10 days” to re-log and test a shallow sand unit.
This well, located about 990ft (302m) to the south of Arledge 16#2, is an old well that was re-entered in 2018 but was abandoned after junk was encountered in the borehole at about 2,000ft (609m).
During the previous re-entry attempt, Winchester reportedly observed “potentially significant oil and gas shows” in the shallow sand unit.