- Melbana Energy (MAY) restarts drilling at the Alameda-1 well in Block 9 located on the north coast of Cuba
- Drilling was paused at the start of November following a delay of drilling supplies, but Melbana used this time to carry out maintenance work
- Executive Chair Andrew Purcell is pleased to be drilling ahead again now armed with an “enhanced capability and deeper understanding of the operating environment”
- The Alameda-1 has surpassed a measured depth of 2093 metres
- Company shares are trading steady at 2.1 cents
Melbana Energy (MAY) has recommenced drilling at the Alameda-1 well in onshore Cuba.
The Alameda-1 well is located within the Block 9 Production Sharing Contract which is an onshore area covered 2344 square kilometres on the north coast of Cuba. Block 9 lies within a proven hydrocarbon system and is along trend with the multi-billion barrel Varadero oil field.
Drilling at the well was paused at the start of November after reaching an 1892-metre depth. The company said there was a delay in the delivery of drilling supplies and used the time to carry out maintenance work.
During the standby period, the company cleaned the rig mud system and conditioned the fluids inventory to requisite density to safely drill ahead. The 5000 psi blowout preventer (BOP) system was successfully pressure tested and will remain in place to extend the 12-1/4-inch diameter hole section.
Executive Chair Andrew Purcell commented.
“We have used the standby system productively to conduct necessary maintenance, increase our stockpiles of required drilling supplies and conduct analysis of the drilling environment we have encountered to date,” he said.
“It is good to be drilling ahead again now armed with this enhanced capability and deeper understanding of the operating environment we find ourselves in”.
The well is currently within limestones of the upper sheet, between the shallower secondary objective, already drilled, which successfully confirmed the presence of oil, and the deeper primary N and Alameda structure targets still to be penetrated.
The Alameda-1 well has surpassed a measured depth of 2093 metres.
Company shares were trading steady at 2.1 cents at 10:58 am AEDT.