Winchester Energy spuds Arledge 16#2 at Lightning prospect in search of more oil
Winchester Energy will drill Arledge 16#2 to a 5,500ft depth and is targeting 300ft of untested potential gross oil pay interpreted from offset wells.
Following production success from White Hat 20#3 at the Mustang prospect, Winchester Energy (ASX: WEL) has now spudded the Arledge 16#2 well within the Lightning prospect at the company’s Permian Basin acreage in Texas.
The new Arledge 16#2 well will twin Arledge 16#1 that was drilled in 1982 and targeted the Ellenburger Formation.
When drilled in 1982, Arledge 16#1 encountered 300 feet of laminated sands, with wireline logs and oil shows revealing potential gross oil pay.
According to Winchester, historic oil production in the area supports its theory that oil may be present in the Lightning prospect.
Winchester will drill Arledge 16#2 to a depth of 5,500ft and is targeting the Cisco Sands in the Lightning prospect and 300ft of untested potential gross oil pay interpreted from offset wells.
The company firmed up gross prospective resources for Lightning of 1.95 million barrels of oil (best estimate P50), with a high estimate P10 of 6.392MMbo and a low estimate P90 of 0.602MMbo.
Mustang prospect
Today’s spudding follows Winchester’s recent success at Mustang, with the White Hat 20#3 well continuing with “outstanding” production rates at the end of last month.
The well has achieved initial gross production over 30 days (IP30) of 259bopd.
Additionally, with the well also recording gas flows of 100,000-140,000 cubic feet per day, Winchester revealed it was preparing to sell the gas.
Drilling schedule
Spudding of Arledge 16#2 is part of Winchester’s busy drilling schedule in 2019 and 2020, with drilling of White Hat 20#4 also scheduled to begin this month, while White Hat 20#5 is pencilled in for spudding in July.
In addition to Mustang and Lightning prospects, Winchester’s exploration program will also target Thomas Ranch, Spitfire, El Dorado and Bridgford 40 prospects across its acreage.
At midday, Winchester’s share price remained steady at $0.03.