Argenta tests gas with light condensate in Argentina's Covunco block

Argenta Oil & Gas has announced that it has started a long term production test in well OA x-1 in the Covunco block located in the Neuquen basin in Argentina. Early results indicate a reservoir with gas and light condensate with stabilized rates of 706.6 mm cfpd at a pressure of 350 psi on an 8 mm choke and 16 bpd of condensate.
The gas is flowing from perforations between 6,220 and 6,306 feet in the Tordillo Formation. Well OA x-1 was initially drilled by YPF in the 1980's and then stimulated by Alberta Energy in the 1990's, but was never put on production.

Testing activity will continue for several days to determine whether the company should proceed with re-stimulating the reservoir with state of the art technology and to estimate the recoverable reserves through the interpretation of the newly acquired flow and pressure data.
The Covunco Block (141,000 net acres) is located in the southwest area of the Neuquen Province, on the edge of the "Dorsal" area and thrust belt of the Neuquen Basin. The block has previous gas discoveries, which were not put in production due to soft gas markets at the time.

Although the area is considered gas-prone, there have been recent oil discoveries by Apache and Repsol in nearby blocks. The area has 2D seismic data and Argenta has recently shot 223 sq km of 3D seismic which is currently being interpreted. Potential pay zones are the Lajas and Tordillo Jurassic formations located at a depth of between 2,000 and 3,000 metres.
Argenta Oil & Gas is a Canadian energy resource company with oil and gas assets in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina and in Colombia's Lower Magdalena Basin. Argenta owns and operates all of its assets.