Predator Oil & Gas Holdings the Jersey based Oil and Gas Company with near-term gas operations focused on Morocco has announced an interim drilling update for the MOU-3 well appraising the Moulouya Fan primary reservoir target for which contingent gas resources have been previously announced.

Operations update

Prior to setting 95/8″ casing an inflow of gas into the well was experienced. A substantial drilling break from 339 to 350 metres TVD KB was identified as the source of the gas. This correlated with an 11 metre-thick, unconsolidated, good quality sand with elevated background gas readings.

Mud weight was gradually increased to 1.25 S.G., above that required to balance hydrostatic pressure. to reduce the inflow of gas into the well. This gas zone is therefore significantly overpressured (122 psi overpressured) and likely to be supported by connectivity to gas volume to provide pressure support. 

A second thin sand with a 2.42% formation gas show was encountered at 750 metres TVD MD.

The Company’s experienced management team safely set 95/8″ casing at 764 metres TVD MD to protect the two new gas horizons, including the overpressured interval, that were not anticipated pre-drill based on offset wells MOU-1 and MOU-2. This was a difficult and challenging exercise for the drilling team but was achieved safely and without incident.

Drilling costs

Despite the challenges posed by unexpected overpressured shallow gas the pre-drill time-depth curve remains as planned and costs to date are within pre-drill working capital forecast estimates.

Technical update

The unexpected overpressured shallow gas occurs within a structural closure of up to 6 km² mapped for the next drilling targets the Ma and TGB-6 horizons below the 95/8″ casing depth of 778.5 metres TVD MD. The 11 metre-thick overpressured gas interval is thicker than the sand thickness used for these intervals to estimate gas-in-place in a success case. 19 metres of net sand is the P50 thickness used to estimate gas-in-place for the Moulouya Fan primary objective in a success case.

The presence of overpressured gas trapped at shallow depths in a common structural closure above the next Ma and TGB-6 targets has de-risked vertical thermogenic gas charge from deeply buried source rocks generating dry gas.

Migration pathways can now be identified on seismic based on the early MOU-3 drilling results.

Six targets, including the Moulouya Fan primary objective, below the 95/8″ casing depth at 778.5 metres TVD MD are potentially in contact with the gas migration pathway to the shallow overpressured gas.

The potential gas migration pathway into the primary target in the MOU-4 structure  could be proportionately de-risked.

Forward drilling plans

The Company is drilling ahead cautiously in 81/2″ hole to evaluate six targets, in addition to the newly identified two shallow zones.

A further drilling update will be given after the completion of logging operations within the timeframe guidance previously announced.

Testing programme

The positive initial shallow results to date from MOU-3 will need to be evaluated in the context of the sequence for rigless well testing and the intervals to be prioritised for potential gas flow in a success case. This exercise will only be completed once the MOU-3 well has been logged and the logs analysed to determine zones with the best gas deliverability characteristics. The priority will be to focus on potential for high deliverability gas rates if supported by wireline logging results.

Paul Griffiths, Executive Chairman of Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc commented:
“Unforeseen overpressured gas at shallow depths is always a potential hazard in a new poorly explored sedimentary basin. I would like to thank our experienced drilling management team, Lonny Baumgardner and Moyra Scott, for overcoming successfully; using their extensive drilling experience, what could have developed into a very serious operational challenge.

The presence of shallow overpressured gas with an effective sealing caprock has added to the identification of two new potential gas reservoirs that were not known about pre-drill.

Of even greater significance is that the overpressured gas has validated shallow trap integrity and identified a clear path for the migration of deep gas into the next six targets to be evaluated by MOU-3.

We are very encouraged by what we have found to date, which we believe at this early stage is material in the context of our CNG development plans but remain cautious as we drill ahead through a section that may or may not contain more overpressured gas.

However this is already an exciting beginning for our shareholders to our planned drilling and testing programme.”