The Uruguay president, Tabare Vazquez, on 21 October 2017 declared that Australian operator, Petrel Energy, with a 51% controlling interest in Uruguay oil and gas explorer Schuepbach Energy, reported a log analysis confirmation of a 2m oil saturated sand on the Cerro Padilla-1 exploration well on the Piedra Sola Block. The well at a depth of 793m showed fluorescence (oil shows) across an expanded target interval. The company reached 845m in the well and it is currently on completion and preparing for testing. The well had a predrill P90 oil in place estimate of 21 MMbo. It could be the first oil discovery in Uruguay if confirmed. In August the well was suspended with 10m of basalt remaining to be drilled through. Before being suspended, it reached a depth of around 420m. Drilling was also suspended in July in the early stages of the well before setting surface casing and testing the BOP. The well was spud on 4 June 2017 and aims to confirm the reservoir potential of the Tres Islas Sand and the Permian source rock at a shallow depth. The expected total depth of the well was 815m. Cerro Padilla-1 is part of an ongoing four-well drilling program on the Piedra Sola and Salto concessions and also targets structures that could hold oil and gas within the same stratigraphic sequence, or updip of oil shows and/or weeping core samples. This well is northwest of Cuchilla de Pampa 1 and targets the Permian Tres Islas Sandstone updip from the previously drilled Cerro Padilla E-1 corehole which found a 3m possible reservoir with fluorescence confirming a potential oil charge. When operations on the well are finished, the rig will move to the Cerro de Chaga-1 and Panizza-1 wells in the Salto permit. The drilling program and its geological model were developed from the reinterpretation of a 597 km 2D seismic program completed in late 2014. Interpretation of additional seismic data, completed in early 2015, revealed an initial 20 conventional structural targets and others at shallow depths. It also confirmed the existence of a deeper sedimentary sequence in the Salto concession. Petrel said in the statement that one of the Salto wells will target a shallow AVO gas anomaly that has a certified prospective P50 resource estimate of 240 Bcfg. Schuepbach finalized and signed the drilling contract with New Force Energy Services in December 2016. US$ 5.25 million was raised in November 2016 to finance the program which seeks to analyze source rock maturity and conventional reservoir quality and extent. Schuepbach is currently seeking partners for the blocks.
Uruguay, Piedra Sola