OVL makes oil discovery in Colombia

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Saturday said it has made a second oil discovery in Colombia that has increased prospects of its onland block in the South American nation.

The well Indico-1 in onshore block CPO-5 found an oil-bearing play, the company said in a statement.

OVL is the operator of the block with 70 per cent stake while Petrodorado South America S A Sucursal (PDSA) of Colombia holds the remaining 30 per cent.

The well was spudded on November 7, 2018, and the company completed drilling on December 15, 2018.

"The well Indico-1 encountered Lower Sands (LS-3) of Une Formation (Cretaceous) at a depth of 9,833 feet found to be oil bearing, before terminating the drilling at 10,602 feet (MD) in Paleozoic. The well was successfully logged and found to have 284 feet of gross thickness and 241 feet net pay," it said.

During tests, the well flowed at a self-flow rate of about 4,000 barrels of oil per day.

"Currently, the well is under Short-Term Testing with multi-bean study for further evaluation," it said.

OVL had earlier discovered commercial oil of 40-degree API in LS-3 sands in the well Mariposa-1 in the block in 2017, which is located 6.5 km from Indico-1, and the continuation of same play is confirmed in the recent well.

The company now plans to drill more exploratory wells to chase this important Cretaceous clastic corridor in immediate future.

OVL is also embarking on acquiring additional 3D Seismic data to map more drillable prospects in other sectors of the block.

OVL, which has a stake in 41 projects in 20 countries, has a significant presence in Colombian oil and gas sector and holds a stake in 6 exploratory blocks in addition to a producing 50:50 joint venture, Mansarovar Energy Colombia Ltd (MECL).

Under its portfolio, OVL has reserves of 711 million tonne of oil and oil equivalent natural gas.