The find came at the Acorazado-1 exploration well and marked the Canadian oil company’s fourth discovery in 2018, which will help set the stage for its plans to drill 34 more wells during the fourth quarter of the year, according to the firm.

The Acorazado-1 well was drilled to a depth of 15,470 feet with 356 feet of gross thickness in the Mirador formation sandstone reservoir. “Open-hole wireline logging operations identified five separate, potentially hydrocarbon-bearing sections of the Mirador formation,” said the company in a statement.

Richard Herbert, chief executive officer of Frontera, noted that though there are indications of lowered reservoir pressure, the “well has identified a part of the structure which contains resources which have never been previously drilled and developed.”

Frontera Energy, which now has an output of 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Colombia and Peru and is pushing for production growth in 2019, plans to drill exploration and appraisal wells later this year at its Coralillo-3 and Cocodrilo-1 sits on the Guatiquia block in addition the Jaspe appraisal wells in the Quifa North area.

“Frontera’s strong production profile is well-timed with the upcoming expiration of our oil hedges at the end of October, which will increase our exposure to Brent oil prices by nearly $25 per barrel based on recent prices,” added Herbert.

Following the completion of “wireline logging operations combined with a limited pressure and sampling program,” the Toronto-based firm said it has confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons in “several potentially productive zones”

Drilling at the fully owned exploration well in the Llanos 25 block reached a depth of 15,470 feet and was completed “ahead of schedule and under budget,” said Frontera in a statement. Frontera Energy’s estimate for the pre-drill cost for drilling the well was between $35 million USD to $50 million USD.

The next step for the well will be to run and cement a liner in preparation for further testing, which will bring the well cost to date to $40 million. The testing process is expected to take “several weeks,” said Frontera.

“The company is encouraged by the results to date and will case the well and initiate a testing program,” added the firm. The testing program, depending upon results, is expected to take several weeks.

Additionally, the Frontera recently completed an unsuccessful exploratory drilling campaign as the technical operator on the Delfin Sur-1 well in the Z-1 block offshore of Peru. “Hydrocarbon shows were encountered but not in sufficient quantities to justify further evaluation,” said Frontera, adding that the well, which had a net capital cost for the company, “is being plugged and abandoned.”

This figure, however, is slightly up, by about 3%, compared to its depressed output of 59,131 barrels per day in the final quarter of 2017.

Higher oil prices also didn’t help lead to better financial results. Frontera, formerly known as Pacific Rubiales before a rebrand in recent years, realized just $249.5 million USD in sales and a net loss of $3.1 million USD in the first quarter.

These figures are down from the $316.6 million USD and $8.5 million USD net gain in the first quarter of 2017. It is also well below the $335.3 million USD in sales that the Toronto-based company made during the fourth quarter of 2017, when Frontera had a net loss of $32.5 million USD.

The uptick in oil production this quarter compared to the final quarter of 2017 was driven by an uptick in its output in Peru. Oil production in Colombia actually decreased from 56,593 in to 52,195 over the same time frame.

The drop is even more prominent — by nearly 10,000 barrels per day — compared to the 62,180 barrels per day average Frontera reported in Colombia in the first quarter of 2017.

In a statement, the company noted that the declines in Colombia were “a result of social unrest at the Cubiro block that has now been resolved” in addition to “increased volumes of 1,257 boe/d paid-in kind to Ecopetrol S.A. from production at the Quifa block pursuant to the high price participation clause in the governing exploration and exploitation contract.”

The firm’s natural gas output also has continued to fall over the past year. Frontera produced just 4,875 boe/d in Colombia in the first quarter of this year, down significantly from 5,314 boe/d in the fourth quarter last year and the 6,489 it managed in the first quarter of 2017.

Frontera attributed this to “natural production declines on the company’s natural gas assets at La Creciente.”

The growth news comes from Peru, where Frontera Energy brought its oil production from just 2,538 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 9,157 barrels per day this quarter.

Still, with the output drops in Colombia across the board, the company’s 66,227 boe/d in total oil and gas production was down from its 72,524 figure reported in the first quarter of 2017.

Frontera Energy is drilling, however, as it continues on a strategy it has coined “positioning for growth” in 2018.

“In April, we started drilling at our Acorazado-1 location in the Llanos foothills of Colombia, targeting a large structure on trend with the giant Cusiana and Cupiagua fields,” stated the company.

It also reported that two oil exploration wells in the Guatiquia block — Coralillo-1 and Alligator-2 — are completed and have been tested at an average of 1,000 barrels per day. Another well, the Jaspe-6D exploration well in the Quifa area, has is testing at an average rate of 187 barrels per day and the company has set the third quarter of this year to drill its offshore Delfin Sur-1 exploration well in Peru.