The company, which is the operator of the Dempsey gas project with a 50% stake, said that flow-testing of the well from the field level Kione Zone had yielded a commercial gas flow rate of 1 million cubic feet of gas.
Sacgasco called the flow rate to be very encouraging as it is water free natural gas. The company revealed that the gas flowing through a 12/64” choke had a flowing tubing pressure of 1140PSI, and surface shut-in pressure of more than 1300PSI.
Sacgasco said that Zone 4 testing preparations are currently going on and following its testing, it plans to combine production from all flowing tested zones in the Dempsey 1-15 well.
Sacgasco managing director Gary Jeffery said: “The commercial flow rate from the Kione sand is as expected and most pleasing. It doubles Sacgasco’s operated gross natural gas production deliverability in the Sacramento Basin without factoring in production from Zones 2 and 3, and potentially Zone 4.
“Increasing production and therefore cash generation is consistent with Sacgasco’s dual focus of growing production from our 27-well portfolio, and also drilling high impact development and appraisal, and exploration wells such as Alvares, Dempsey and other ‘lookalike’ prospects, that exist across our seven gas fields and leased acreage in the Sacramento Basin.”
According to Jeffery, the Dempsey 1-15 well has a large column of gas saturated rocks and there are still various options to develop the well further and the nearby gas reservoirs.
Sacgasco’s partners in the Dempsey gas project are Empyrean Energy (30%), Pancontinental Oil and Gas (10%) and Xstate Resources (10%).
Pancontinental CEO John Begg said: “This is a good, natural gas flow rate and a pleasing result for the Dempsey Joint Venture. What’s more, as Operator Sacgasco outlines in today’s release, there are still more zones to test in the well.
“Additionally there are opportunities for production from the currently testing levels within other wells the Joint Venture owns within the Dempsey Gas Project leases”.
