PetroNeft, an oil and gas exploration and production company operating in the Tomsk Oblast, Russian Federation, and 50% owner and operator of Licences 61 and 67 has commenced drilling of the C-4 well at Cheremshanskoye.

Licence 67

Drilling of the Cheremshanskoye No. 4 (C-4) well has commenced in recent days. The C-4 well is designed to further delineate and de-risk the Cheremshanskoye field in advance of field development. Three prior wells have been drilled on the field, most recently in 2011 by PetroNeft and oil has been identified and tested in 4 different intervals in the field: the Lower Jurassic J-14 and J-13 intervals and the Upper Jurassic J1-1 and J1-3 intervals.

The initial Cheremshanskoye wells were drilled without the benefit of modern 3D seismic data which was acquired in 2014. The C-4 well is designed to test a large portion of the field which is structurally higher than the previous wells based on this recently acquired 3D seismic data and thus has the potential to significantly increase the potential recoverable reserves.

The primary reservoir target is the J1-3 interval which is approximately 10 m in thickness throughout the region and is the primary reservoir at the adjacent producing Lomovoye field operated by TomskNeft. The J1-3 interval tested 240 bopd of light oil (40°API) on natural flow in the adjacent Lomovoye No. 208 well.

The secondary reservoir target is the J14 interval which had a natural flow of 33 bopd of light oil (49°API) from 6.5 m of net pay in the 2011 Cheremshanskoye No. 3 well.

With a number of horizons targeted by this well, Cheremshanskoye has the potential to be larger than the Sibkraeyevskoye oil field at Licence 61 and therefore add significant value.

The well is being drilled under the joint venture agreement with our partner for Licence 67, Arawak Energy on a 50:50 basis. It is expected to be completed in about two months.

Dennis Francis, Chief Executive Officer of PetroNeft Resources plc, commented:
“We are pleased to have commenced drilling the C-4 well which we feel has great potential as it will test multiple targets up-dip from nearby wells that have already tested oil in the same intervals. This is the first well to be drilled by the Company based on the modern 3D seismic data acquired in 2014.”