CUBA — Formal approval has been granted for the Unit 1B well in the Block 9 Amistad field development onshore Cuba, in which ASX-listed Melbana Energy holds a 30 per cent interest, and is on track for production by quarter one 2025.
Construction approval has also been received for the next Unit 1B well pad, while additional pads are progressing through permitting.
Melbana Energy Executive Chairman Andrew Purcell said it had been a busy few months preparing to meet the goal of exporting first trial cargo of oil by the end of the year.
He said: “Production from the existing completion in Unit 1B from the Alameda-2 well was recently brought back online to further refine our logistics, storage and processing arrangements as well as to build some more inventory.
“Remediation of this completion is planned for November, the objective of which is to restore the well’s initial production rate of 1,235 barrels per day.
“All export approvals are in place and the oil trucks/tankers we requested have arrived in country. Offtake arrangements with a major international oil trader are also in an advanced stage of negotiation.”
Regarding the next stage of Unit 1B’s development, Purcell said the work program and budget for the remediation of the existing Unit 1B completion, and the installation of two additional production wells has been approved by our partner and the regulator, with construction of the new drilling pads planned to commence towards the end of the current rainy season (usually around November).
He said: “It is planned to continue to drill production wells once the results from these first wells are available.
“The drilling rig will complete its current work by next month and is available for us again when we need it.
“In parallel, we continue to study the results of the Alameda-3 appraisal well and the forward plan for the remediation of these deeper reservoirs will be finalised once the results of the Unit 1B remediation can be incorporated.
“Our focus, however, remains on the development of new production wells in the shallower Unit 1B reservoir to increase the rate of production from the 46 million barrels of contingent resource as quickly as possible, which we expect to be able to do with the financial resources currently available to us supplemented by the revenue from oil sales.”
