Touchstone confirms 'significant' oil, gas finds

Touchstone Exploration confirmed on Thursday that its Cascadura-1TST1 well in Ortoire is a “significant liquids rich natural gas discovery.”

Cascadura is a joint project of Touchstone, which has an 80 per cent working interest and Heritage Petroleum, which has 20 per cent. It was first drilled on October 4. The well was then drilled to a total measured depth of 6,350 feet on December 9.

A week later the company announced the find was significant, but did not give details of estimates then because it needed to confirm the find with tests.

Cascadura production testing started on February 4, the Calgary, Canada-based company said, with the first stage testing the lower-most 162 feet of a total of 777 feet of identified pay (potentially commercial deposits) in the Herrera formation.

Average flowback rate during the final 14-hour test period was 5,180 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), including 26.9 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and 694 barrels per day of natural gas liquids. Peak flowback rate of 5,736 boe/d, including 30.2 million standard cubic feet of natural gas and 710 barrels per day of natural gas liquids.

A total of 28.6 million cubic feet of gas (4,770 boe equivalent) and 680 barrels of natural gas liquids were produced during the testing period. Field analysis indicated liquids-rich gas with no hydrogen sulphide and no produced water.

The well is expected to be shut-in for a two-week pressure build-up test, after which the company anticipates completing and testing an additional 450 feet of identified pay.

Paul Baay, Touchstone president and CEO, said in the release that the production tests in Cascadura represent a dramatic change for Touchstone, as it confirms the monumental resource potential of the Ortoire exploration block following the earlier success of the company’s Coho-1 well, the first drilled in the Ortoire block.

Coho-1 was drilled in August 2019 and tests in November suggested an average rate of 17 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Baay noted that the initial test results for Cascadura are only attributable to the lower-most portion of the well, with 450 feet of contiguous sand to be tested, so the full potential of the structure is yet to be defined.

“To put these results in context, our average daily oil production for the three months ended September 30, 2019 was 1,729 barrels per day of natural gas liquids. The modelling from the final test results at Coho-1 supports initial gross production rates between ten to 12 million cubic feet per day (approximately 1,667 to 2,000 boe/d), with Cascadura now set to provide a further step change,” he added.

Given these results, the company will focus on multiple tie-in scenarios in order to maximise economic value.

“The Ortoire exploration block continues to consistently and dramatically outperform expectations and presents an exciting new opportunity for both Touchstone and the onshore oil and gas industry in Trinidad."