Ellis-3 reached total depth of 11,300 feet on 21 May, 23 days after spudding. Wireline logging has been completed and casing operations are underway.
The wireline log indicated gas pay in the Morrow B and Morrow C zones, according to Antares, which has a 92% stake in Ellis and is operator.
Early indication is that there may be as much as 90 feet of total net gas pay, the company said. The well is now being cased and a testing program prepared. The Morrow C will be tested first and depending on the flow rate, may be fractured, said executive director James Cruickshank.
“Ellis-3 is coming in high to prognosis – it looks as if we are moving into better ground,” he told EnergyReview.net.
Ellis-3 is located 1.6km from Ellis-1 and 2.4km from Ellis-2. Ellis-4 will in turn be sited 3.2km from Ellis-3 and 4km friom Ellis-1.
All wells are accessing or will access the lower C zone, but the B zone has been a strong producer in surrounding fields, Cruickshank said.
“We will perforate the C zone in each well first, because starting with the higher B zone could prevent proper perforation of the B zone,” he said.
“But we believe our B zone production, when it comes, will be as good or better than B zones in surrounding areas, because we are using modern drilling and completion methods that minimise reservoir damage.
“We know there is a lot of gas in the B zone because when we perforated the B zone in Ellis-1 the pressure was so strong that it pushed the perforation tool back up the drill hole. That was when we decided to produce gas from the C zones first.”
With two good producing zones and more than 20 potential drilling locations, the Ellis field could eventually produce $250m worth of gas at today’s US gas prices, according to Cruickshank.
“And that is a reasonably conservative estimate,” he said.
Since Antares has already established commercial production from Ellis-1 and 2, Ellis-3 could be quickly put into production, the company said.
Antares Energy has contracted a drilling rig to drill Ellis-3 and Ellis-4 back to back, with an option to drill two additional wells. The Ellis-4 location is already prepared and the rig will move there as soon as maintenance is completed following release from Ellis-3.
The company plans to drill several more Ellis wells in relatively quick succession with Ellis-8 due to be completed before the end of the year.
