Matrix studies ways to re-open N. Sumatra oil well

Australian oil company Matrix Oil NL said on Tuesday it would conduct re-entry drilling at its L1 oil well in Langsa Offshore technical assistance contract (TAC) area in Malacca Strait, North Sumatra to repair the well.

L1 well had been temporarily shut down in December 2001 following the discovery of a leak of hydraulic fluid in the control line. The well was re-opened on January 2002 but was shut down once again due to continued leak.

Matrix said that its engineers and consultants had continued to evaluate whether the L1 well could be re-opened by methods other than by complete re-entry and repair of the sub-sea production system using a drilling rig.

According to Matrix, a further programme to re-open the well has recently been attempted by a group of sub-sea experts including engineers from the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) contractor, Matrix Oil and two other external consulting engineering companies.

?Agreements with previous financiers and contractors are being renegotiated, to allow for the short fall in cash flow caused by the shut down of the L1 well,? Matrix said in a statement.

The re-entry of the L1 well is expected to be completed within four to six months, Matrix added.

Meanwhile, the company said that another well, L2, is continuing to flow at a rate of approximately 2,200 barrels of oil per day (BPOD).

In addition, the company is also evaluating the feasibility of re-entering the H3 well using the available drilling rig at the same time, which will increase total production from the Langsa fields to approximately 9,000-9,500 BPOD.

Matrix, which has 90 percent working interest in Langsa TAC, started flowing oil in November 2001. (robert)