Frontera Energy Corp. discovered oil on the southern portion of the Perico block in Ecuador.
Tui-1, the company’s second well on the block—about 7 km from the Jandaya-1 exploration well—was drilled to a total depth of 10,975 ft (3,345 m) and encountered a total of 125 ft net pay across seven hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs including the Hollin, Basal Tena, T and U Sandstones, and Limestones B, A and M2. After 2 days of initial production tests, the Basal Tena formation was producing an average of 1,200 b/d of 27.2° API light crude oil with a water cut of 5.2%.
Frontera is preparing the permits to move forward with a long-term test at the site. Additional appraisal activities will be conducted to confirm size and mid- to long-term production levels for the multiple potential formations.
At Jandaya-1, production tests in the lower Hollin formation have produced 37,674 bbl, with daily production of 798 b/d of 27.9° API light crude oil and 1.7% water cut after 54 days of testing (OGJ Online, Jan. 19, 2022). Production from Jandaya-1 and Tui-1 is being transported by truck to PetroEcuador’s Lago Agrio infrastructure nearby and moved through the Transecuadorian Pipeline System (SOTE) to Balao terminal where the crude is exported.
Frontera holds about 16,700 net acres in the Perico and Espejo exploration blocks in Ecuador. The blocks lie near existing production and infrastructure in Sucumbíos Province.
Frontera is operator of the block with 50% interest. GeoPark Ltd. holds the remaining 50%.
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).
