Australian company Petro Australis Energy plans to drill a new exploration well in Cuba in early 2024 to search for oil reserves following recent discoveries.
This well in Block 21A-P is estimated to cost the Australian company $12 million and will be drilled to a final depth of 4,200 meters, trade media reported. Upstream Online.
In addition, Petro Australis is exploring the possibility of drilling three additional wells in the adjacent Block 14, with drilling expected in 2025.
Recently, CUPET President Juan Ballestero said that 41 land and shallow water blocks are being exploited in Cuba, including eight areas under contract, five under evaluation and two under negotiation.
The Sherritt Company has completed interpretation of 3D seismic in Block 6A and identified a drillable project.
Not as successful as the Australians, Sherritt drilled a well in Block 10 that produced small amounts of oil and gas, but water failures soon increased significantly.
At the end of August it emerged that it was an independent Australian company He found oil of better quality in a well in the municipality of Martí, in the province of Matanzas.
The exploration well, called Alameda-2, was a tremendous success, producing 1,903 barrels of oil per day at its peak, with an average stabilized flow of 1,235 barrels per day.
Andrew Purcell, CEO of Melbana, stated that the oil recovered was “significantly lighter”, with an API value of 19 degrees and a lower viscosity than the oil recovered from other Matanzas units.
Block 9, where the discovery was made, covers an extensive land area of more than 2,300 square kilometers on the northern coast of Cuba, in a hydrocarbon system with proven potency and in the same direction as the Varadero oil field, with a production of billions of barrels.
The Australian company operates the production sharing agreement for Block 9 with a 30% interest. The Angolan state-owned company Sonangol fully finances its share of the evaluation costs and contributes to 70% of the measures.
Melbana has been exploring oil wells on the Cuban coast for several years. In 2017, they found two totaling 200 million barrels, belonging to Block 9 PSC, located in the areas between Cárdenas, Matanzas and Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara.
These are the Alameda and Zapato wells, whose exploitation campaign has been underway for several years.
Melbana Energy is one of the few foreign companies operating in Cuba. In 2018, he announced that the island’s authorities had given him their approval to move forward with oil drilling plans, taking into account local and municipal regulations on land use and possible environmental impacts.
