• Commencement of Alameda-3 appraisal well projected for week of 11 December
• Primary objectives are the appraisal of the deep Alameda and Marti reservoirs discovered by Alameda-1
• independently assessed at 179 million barrels of Prospective Resource (Unrisked Gross Best Estimate) 1*
• Secondary objective is to test Amistad Unit-3
• Analysis of results of Alameda-2 appraisal well indicating potential significant increase in recoverable volumes

Melbana Energy’s Executive Chairman, Andrew Purcell, commented: 
“We are in the closing stages of preparations for the imminent spud of the Alameda-3 appraisal well. We are going back down to test the deeper Alameda and Marti reservoirs that gave such tantalising results in Alameda-1. We are hoping to confirm higher quality crude that can produce at good rates, thereby giving us two additional productive reservoirs to what has already been established by Alameda-2 in Unit 1B in the Amistad reservoir.

Given the time of year for spud, we will make sure that our field personnel have an Oz-style (albeit, dry) lunch to celebrate the festive season. 

Finally, our technical team have been pulling out the stops to complete their review of the test results of Alameda-2. We are seeing a marked increase in key reservoir parameters which we expect will support an upgrade to the resource assessment of these intervals and expect to deliver these data and the analysis conducted thereon to the independent certifier shortly for their assessment.”

* Prospective Resources Cautionary Statement - The estimated quantities of petroleum that may potentially be recovered by the application of a future development project(s) related to undiscovered accumulations. These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development. Future exploration appraisal and evaluation is required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons.

Melbana Energy, a 30% interest holder in and Operator of Block 9 PSC onshore Cuba, today provides the following operational update.

Alameda-3 close to execution state 

Preparations for the commencement of drilling of the Alameda-3 Appraisal Well (the primary objectives of which are the appraisal of the two lower geologically independent oil-bearing reservoirs intercepted by Alameda-1 - designated Alameda and Marti, respectively) are nearing completion, with site preparation complete and rig and ancillary equipment establishment underway Planned as a twin of the original Alameda-1 well, Alameda -3 will be drilled parallel to Alameda1 from the same drilling pad with a modest offset to the surface location. The well is planned to reach total depth of 3835mMD, ~40mTVD above high pressure zone seen in Alameda-1.

The Alameda-3 well is planned to take 95 days to reach total depth, following which flow testing will commence of the Marti then Alameda reservoirs.

The testing plan is to run an open hole drill stem test (DST) in the Amistad Unit-3 reservoir whilst drilling through the relevant part of the Upper Sheet (about thirty five days following the commencement of drilling), then a slotted liner DST in the deepest Marti reservoir before finally perforating up to three zones in the Alameda Reservoir zones for either separate or comingled flow tests, depending on well results. Whichever DST zone performs best will be completed for production.

Alameda-3 drill stem testing programme

The Alameda-3 well is aiming to prove up the results of the Alameda-1 well which, although having considerable oil shows sometimes accompanied by significant formation pressure in both the Alameda and Marti intervals, was unable to conduct flow tests or collect oil samples for analysis. The Alameda-3 well has been designed to accommodate the subsurface conditions encountered by Alameda-1 and is therefore hoped to lead to an increase in the recoverable resource estimate as well as confirm the presence of a lighter, more valuable oil.

KeyFacts Energy: Melbana Energy Cuba country profile