Petrolifera Petroleum Ltd said
it suspended its La Pinta No.1 well in northern Colombia after
tests indicated a casing breach.
The La Pinta No. 1 well is drilled solely by Petrolifera
on its 100 percent-owned Sierra Nevada License, in the Lower
Magdalena Basin onshore northern Colombia.
The company said a stop in the flow of crude oil likely
occurred as a sand plug formed in the well’s tubing string at a
depth well above the perforated interval.
Petrolifera said it found gravel and sand in the
separators, as well as formation water with the same salinity
as that recovered with crude oil in an earlier test of a lower
CDO (Cienaga de Oro formation) zone.
This lead the company to believe that the well may have
suffered a casing split, or separation, below the perforated
producing interval.
The company said the drilling rig will be released to
another operator for one well for about 120 days.
Calgary-based Petrolifera shares closed at C$1.82 Friday on
the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reuters)