Corcel has provided an update on the drilling results of the Tobias-14 (“TO-14”) well in the onshore Block KON-11, in Angola where it has a 20% working interest (18% net). The Operator is Sonangol, one of the largest national hydrocarbon producers in Angola.

Tobias-14 Initial Results

The TO-14 well penetrated the entire Binga reservoir section (~80m column) with potential pay zones seen in multiple intervals. TO-14, with a total depth of 781m, was drilled in close proximity to TO-4 as an offset well from the best historic producer in the original Tobias field; a well which produced at its historic peak 12,580 bbls/d despite only penetrating the first 8m of the reservoir. 

The location of the well is at the top of the field’s anticlinal structure, set over the larger of the two compartments that constitute the reservoir.   

TO-14 drilling encountered high fractured Oolitic Limestones in the reservoir with good porosity values.  Initial pressure readings support Corcel’s predrill thesis that the reservoir has returned to its original pressure levels through active recharge of the system. 

The TO-14 well found no presence of water during drilling, despite the fact that the offset TO-4 well had been reported to have watered out by the end of its production life, further indicating that the field has fully re-equilibrated. 

Overall, the drilling results for the TO-14 well were positive, with oil shows found throughout the Binga reservoir in alignment with the distribution seen in historic production wells in the Tobias field, confirming both moveable fluids and the ability to reactivate production in the field.

Therefore, the consortium is proceeding to testing of the TO-14 and then the TO-13 wells, with the objective of flowing the wells and then moving on to the next phase focused on designing the early production system. 

About KON-11 and the Kwanza Basin

As previously announced, KON-11 is considered a brownfield development and includes the historically producing Tobias field, drilled, and developed by Petrofina in the 1960s and 1970s, and inactive since the late 1990s.  The Tobias field constituted 12 historic vertical wells, and Corcel and the operator believe that a revised interpretation of the existing structures along with the application of modern drilling and completion technology, including potentially adding sidetracks or horizontal drilling to the Field Development Plan (“FDP”) will lead to a higher Original Oil in Place (“OOIP”) figure recognized in the reactivated field and subsequently more producible field resource potential.

The traditional Tobias field reservoir is in the Binga limestone, located at a depth of approximately 700m along the crest of the structure, with 4-14% primary rock porosity which is enhanced by an extensive, naturally fractured carbonate system.  Historic peak production at Tobias was 17,500 bbls/d with 29 MMbbls produced over the life of the field. 

Corcel’s estimated unproduced prospective oil resources are 65 MMbls with 11.7 MMbls net to CRCL.  The field will qualify for marginal field fiscal terms, as outlined by the Angolan government, resulting in advantageous royalty, tax and depreciation regimes.

“The encouraging results of the TO-14 well constitute a significant milestone toward development of an EPS and providing line of sight to near-term revenue generation for Corcel. 

At a macro level, we’ve confirmed that the same formations are contiguous between both wells, and data indicate that these zones contain movable oil throughout the reservoir.  Given the historically wide well spacing of the field, there appears to remain substantial areas both undrained and now potentially re-charged since the original field was shuttered.

The next steps will focus on the testing of the TO-14 well so we can determine formation pressures and ultimately flowrates, and we look forward to further announcements as Sonangol, the operator, moves to well testing,” Antoine Karam, Executive Chairman of Corcel, commented.