GeoPark Strikes Oil At 12,270 Foot Depth Off Colombia’s Caribbean Coast

Latin American oil and gas explorer GeoPark Limited (NYSE: GPRK), with current operations in Chile, Colombia, Brasil, and Argentina, has announced a new oil field discovery following the drilling of the Chachalaca 1 exploration well, located on the Llanos 34 Block in Colombia, where GeoPark has a 45% working interest in the Llanos 34 Block.

The Chachalaca 1 exploratory well was drilled to a total depth of 12,270 feet. A test conducted with an electrical submersible pump in the Mirador formation, at approximately 11,606 feet, resulted in a production rate of approximately 1,100 barrels of oil per day of 30.0 degree API, with approximately 6% water cut. Further production history is required to determine stabilized flow rates of the well and the extent of the field, says GeoPark.

GeoPark’s drilling campaign restarted in June 2015 with two rigs currently operating in Colombia. GeoPark is currently drilling the Jacana 1 exploration well and the Tilo 2 appraisal well, both in the Llanos 34 Block, where testing of these wells is expected to be conducted in the following weeks.

“Congratulations to our team who continue to find oil on our Colombian Llanos 34 Block – with Chachalaca being our seventh oil field discovery since we entered the block in 2012. The Llanos 34 Block – particularly the Tigana and Tua oil fields – represents attractive low risk, low cost and high netback fields which provide a profitable production base during periods of low oil prices as currently being experienced,” said James F. Park, Chief Executive Officer of GeoPark.

Though the northern part of South America is known for heavy crude, this Jacana discovery is said to have the light crude more desired by refiners. Geopark has also announced that it has implemented a self-funded, flexible work program that can be adjusted to different oil price scenarios to match cash flows from operations, and an expansion into Peru based on a transaction with Petroperu last October that is pending government approval.