Touchstone adds wells in Ortoire and CO-1 blocks

Touchstone Exploration Inc. has drilled wells into Ortoire and CO-1 blocks onshore Trinidad and Tobago and expects to test wells in Cascadura field later in the year.

Cascadura-3ST1 delineation well was spudded on Mar. 4, 2024, from the Cascadura C surface location. It reached a total depth of 8,252 ft on Mar. 29, 2024. A high-pressure gas kick was encountered at a depth of about 7,500 ft which resulted in wellbore instability issues and a portion of the wellbore was redrilled via a sidetrack.

Drilling samples and openhole wireline logs indicated over 900 ft of sand in the targeted Herrera formation with over 230 ft of net hydrocarbon pay. The top of the key Herrera formation was detected at a measured depth of 6,852 ft, with sand and shows observed throughout the section to the total depth of the well. The well has been cased for future production.

Touchstone will test recently drilled Cascadura wells directly into Cascadura natural gas infrastructure in third-quarter 2024. Since Cascadura natural gas operations commenced in September 2023, choke adjustments have been made to the Cascadura-1ST1 and Cascadura Deep-1 wells, resulting in moderate success in increasing natural gas production rates. Further, additional perforations were added to the Cascadura Deep-1 well with limited success. The company continues to monitor production rates from the wells and will optimize production where possible.

The company is progressing with the 1.6-km road and flowline project, spanning from the Cascadura C surface location to the Cascadura natural gas infrastructure. Presently, the flowline right-of-way has been fully cleared and graded, road construction is about 65% complete, and the watercourse culvert crossings are about 50% complete. Additionally, flowline procurement has been finalized and Touchstone has issued a tender to local contractors for the installation of the flowline and bridge construction.

Progress has also been made on the Cascadura infrastructure expansion project. The engineering designs and HAZOP have been completed and a new natural gas separator has been procured. This separator is expected to increase the facility's gross natural gas production capacity to 140 MMcfd from about 90 MMcfd. The Cascadura flowline and infrastructure upgrades remain on track for completion in third-quarter 2024.

In CO-1 block, the CO-374 development well spudded on Mar. 1, 2024, and reached a total depth of 5,684 ft on Mar. 22, 2024. The targeted Lower Forest formation was encountered at a depth of 3,491 ft and the Upper Cruse formation at a depth of 4,578 ft. Drilling samples and openhole wireline logs indicated the presence of sands in both Forest and Cruse formations. The Forest formation indicated 400 ft of sand, with about 250 ft of net hydrocarbon pay. Similarly, the Cruse formation indicated 300 ft of sand, with 150 ft of net hydrocarbon pay.

The well has been cased in preparation for oil production and will be perforated when CO-375 is drilled and the rig relocated. The CO-375 development well, on the same surface location as the CO-374, was spudded on Apr. 3, 2024, and is targeting oil sands in the Forest and Cruse formations with a planned total depth of 6,500 ft. Operations are underway with surface casing set and cemented at a depth of 1,495 ft.

Touchstone is operator at Cascadura field (80%) with partner Heritage Petroleum Co. Ltd. (20%). Touchstone has a 100% working interest in CO-1 block via a sublicense agreement with Heritage.