Harvest P&A Budong Budong well

US oil, gas company Harvest Natural Resources reported that it has plugged and abandoned the Lariang LG-1 exploration well in Budong Budong PSC, West Sulawesi on April 6, 2011 after encountering difficulty in controlling the well due to high pressures.

The well, the first of two planned exploration wells, was spud on January 6, 2011. the well has been drilled to a depth of 5,311 feet and has encountered multiple oil and gas shows within the secondary Miocene objective. Wireline logs and samples of reservoir fluids have confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons, trap and seal thus greatly de-risking the exploration potential of the license, the company reported on Friday.

The high formation pressures and control difficulties required the use of more casing strings at shallower depths than were originally planned. At a depth of 5,300 feet, losses of heavy drilling mud into the formation were encountered which, when coupled with the very high formation pressures, led to the decision to discontinue operations and plug and abandon the well for safety reasons.

The primary Eocene targets had not yet been reached, as the well was planned for a total measured depth of approximately 7,200 feet, the company reported.

The drilling rig is currently mobilizing to drill the second exploratory well on the block, the Karama KD-1 prospect, which is located approximately 50 miles south of the LG-1 well. The KD-1 well will be drilled to a total depth of about 8,100 feet.

Harvest has 64.4% working interest in the block. (alex)