Niko says Ratnadewi drilling short of planned depth

By Romel S. Gurky

Calgary-based oil and gas firm Niko Resources Ltd said its drilling in Ratnadewi-1 well of the Lhokseumawe Block, offshore Aceh, had reached up to 1,323 meters but was short of the planned total depth of 1,800 meters because of deteriorating hole conditions exasperated by rig engine problems.

But the company said in a press statement on Friday that its cased hole testing has been completed in the well. Three potential reservoir sections were encountered at 862‐877 meters, 990‐1015 meters and 1,230‐1,250 meters.

However the 9 5/8 casing was not able to be run past a depth of 1,084 meters. As a result the 1,230‐1,250 meters sand interval could not be evaluated even though the interval recorded the highest gas readings in the well and appears to have the best reservoir potential as determined from LWD log indications.

The upper sand interval of 862‐877m was wet. The 990‐1015m sand tested gas with no water production at non commercial rates as a zone by itself.

The offset ONSF‐1 well located approximately 300m from Ratnadewi‐1 tested approximately 10 mmcf/d from an interval between 1,668‐1,694 meters.

Niko intends to drill a follow up well using a different rig and a synthetic based mud system to properly evaluate this zone including the previously identified deeper targets.

Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb