The company has successfully drilled a 1,000-foot, proof-of-concept lateral and completed with a six-stage fracture stimulation in the Pennsylvania formation.
The well produced a ~1.8MMCFPD peak daily production rate based on hourly gas measurements.
The well has produced mostly gas to date with limited quantities of 41 gravity oil from this complex reservoir of carbonates and silty shales.
Sustained gas production rates have ranged from 1.0 to 1.4 MMCFPD depending on choke size.
This is confirmation of a petroleum system in the Orogrande Basin with source rock necessary to produce hydrocarbons.
The Company believes it is still very early on in the well clean-up process and expects increases of oil from this lateral as indicated by logs and oil-saturated cores.
Rotary cores show that the Ro (a measurement of thermal maturity) is well within the oil window and additionally indicates the likelihood of increased oil volumes.
The upper most completion stages in the heel of the well show to be predominately gas by the core analysis, whereas the lower 4 stages show significant oil potential. Management believes the gas from the heal stages are potentially over-riding liquid removal from the lower four stages and creating a liquid obstruction issue in the lateral portion of the well.
Currently, the well is shut in awaiting delivery and installation of specialized gas lift equipment that should remedy the liquids obstruction by unloading the wellbore and increasing oil production recovery.
Torchlight CEO John Brda said: “This is a very exciting day for Torchlight and its shareholders,” stated John Brda, CEO of Torchlight.
“The confirmation of production in the Orogrande Basin is major milestone for the company. To produce at a peak rate of ~1.8 MMCFPD out of a 1,000-foot lateral, with evidence of high quality oil behind it, confirms our thesis that the Orogrande can be a long lateral production play supporting 10,000-foot lateral wells.
“Torchlight is now the first company to effectively produce hydrocarbons in the Orogrande Basin and is attributed with this New Field Discovery. We will continue to test the University Founders A25 #1 well and are preparing to drill the next two Project wells which are required this year under our Drilling & Development Agreement with University Lands.
“Additionally, we have begun discussions with industry majors who would be appropriate development partners or acquisition suitors for the Orogrande Project. This New Field Discovery provides Torchlight with tremendous flexibility in how we move forward.
“The Company may continue to delineate the Orogrande Project itself, negotiate a development agreement with an industry partner or sell outright. In any event we remain committed to value creation for Torchlight and its Shareholders.”
Torchlight’s originating consultant on the Project and geological expert Rich Masterson said: “While experiencing multiple obstacles, Torchlight and its partners did an excellent job of sticking with the program we originally outlined for this play to prove our thesis.
“We have now validated a brand-new shale play in West Texas with potential across the basin to deliver large volumes of petroleum reserves from the Pennsylvania formation alone.
“Going forward we plan to validate deeper and shallower conventional zones, delineate the acreage to the south and verify pay zone properties including thickness, depth and quality of rock that appear in those sections.”
Source: Company Press Release
