Torchlight Energy strikes oil and gas at Orogrande test well

Oil and gas exploration and production company Torchlight Energy Resources has struck oil and gas at one of its development wells in the Orogrande Basin in West Texas, US.

The company has measured the substantial initial potential oil and gas hydrocarbon recoveries from the recently drilled and completed Cactus A35 #1H well.

Torchlight Energy said it expects the new Upper Pennsylvanian Silt (WolfPenn) field to be an oil-rich reservoir also with significant volumes of gas. The geological properties are similar to the Wolfbone and Wolfberry plays in the Permian Basin.

Torchlight Energy’s peak 24-hour production rates to date stand at 15 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 110 million cubic feet per day (Mmcfpd). The company said that it can extrapolate the Cactus well to make 1,500bopd and 11Mmcfpd potentially, or combined 3,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), when equated to a 10,000ft lateral.

Torchlight Energy chairman Greg McCabe said that with the existing production system, the company cannot significantly reduce the fluid level without causing mechanical issues to the pump design.

McCabe said: “We are in the process of changing our production design to greatly reduce the hydrostatic pressure by reducing fluid level to as close to 90˚ true vertical depth (TVD) as possible. By doing so, we expect the rates of both oil and gas to increase on this well. We look forward to releasing the results of our additional testing in the very near future.”

The initial horizontal Founders A25 #1H well drilled into this zone encountered very high gas rates with almost zero liquid hydrocarbons.

Gas rates reached more than 2Mmcfd, with a stabilised rate of 1.2 Mmcfd, from a small 1,000ft frac interval. The company said extrapolated to a 10,000ft lateral, the well would be stronger than most Cotton Valley gas wells, and approaching several Haynesville gas wells.