Ecopetrol SA will drill the Orca Norte-1 delimiting well to verify hydrocarbons in an early discovery in the Orca-1 well on the Tayrona block at Guajira basin in the deepwater Caribbean Sea, 40 km offshore La Guajira, Colombia.
The well will be drilled by the Noble Discover semi-submersible mobile drilling rig in fourth-quarter 2023. It will be the first deepwater well operated directly by the company.
Development will occur only if the reservoir is confirmed. Due to high investment and long lead times for development, Eni has started planning for a gas pipeline from Orca to the Chuchupa B platform and further on to land. The company is currently finalizing details of the processes required to support these works, such as the onshore operating base, support vessels, and drilling services.
In 2014, a gas accumulation was confirmed at 3,600 m in Orca-1, marking the first discovery in the history of exploratory research in the Colombian Caribbean deep waters. Drilling concluded in September 2014, reaching a total depth of 4,240 m in 674 m of water (OGJ Online, Dec. 3, 2014).
Petrobras operates the Tayrona block, which is expected to deliver Colombia’s first gas production from deep water fields in 2026.
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).