Otto Energy Limited (OEL) (Otto) is pleased to advise that the initial exploration well, Green #1 in Matagorda County Texas, testing the Lightning prospect has commenced drilling from an onshore rig. As at 6am US Central Time on 3 December 2018 the well is drilling ahead at 245 feet True Vertical Depth. This is the second well in the Hilcorp program.
The well will be drilled to 15,500 ft MD/15,500 ft TVD and is expected to take 60 days to reach total
depth. Otto will earn a 37.5% working interest by paying 50% of the costs of drilling and either setting
casing or plugging and abandoning the well, after which point Otto will pay 37.5% of all future costs.
The well is expected to cost the Company US$4.97 million (50% paying interest).
The Green #1 well is targeting the Frio-Tex Miss sands that are Oligocene in age. This is a prolific
section, with significant production and multiple recent discoveries in the region from these sands.
The prospect is a slope fan/channel levee system with strong AVO (amplitude variation with offset)
support. The prospect has been assessed as having a probability of success of 45%.
Otto’s Managing Director, Matthew Allen, commented:
“Otto is excited to be participating in drilling the Lightning prospect, the second of an eight well program. Recent nearby discoveries in the same play trend highlight the benefit of newly acquired 3D seismic in being able to unlock
plays like this. Exploration of the Oligocene trend in this area is relatively new providing the
potential for upside outcomes in the success case.
“With a number of pipelines located close to the drilling site, any discovery can be quickly
brought into production.
“Otto is entering a period of very high activity and looks forward to sharing the results of the
highly impactful drilling events with shareholders in the new year.”
