ONGC Videsh pulls off Urraca oil discovery in Llanos Basin, Colombia

Urraca oil discovery : ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) has pulled off an oil discovery in the onshore CPO5 block in the Llanos Basin in Colombia through the drilling of the Urraca-IX well.

The fully-owned subsidiary and overseas arm of the Indian state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is the operator of the Colombian block with a 70% stake. It is partnered by Latin American oil and gas company Geopark, which holds the remaining 30% stake.

According to ONGC, the Urraca-1X well was spudded on 20 April 2022. It was drilled to a target depth of 10,956ft, and had intersected 17ft thick oil bearing sands at a depth from 10,201ft-10,218 ft.

ONGC revealed that during initial testing of the well with electrical submersible pump (ESP), fluid flowed at nearly 600 bbl/day with approximately 40-50% W/C and oil of 16o API.

ONGC Videsh pulls off Urraca oil discovery in Llanos Basin, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Anita starzycka from Pixabay.

The Indian energy company said that the Urraca oil discovery in the Lower Mirador play in the Urraca-IX well opens up new areas for more exploration in the northern portion of the CPO5 block.

ONGC stated: “ONGC Videsh has earlier discovered commercial oil in the Lower Sand pay in Mariposa and Indico fields in the block in 2017 and 2018 respectively, which are currently commercially producing @ 20,000 bbl oil per day.”