President Energy's update on Argentina well sees 600 bopd

LONDON -- President Energy, the upstream oil and gas company with a diverse portfolio of production and exploration assets focused primarily in Argentina, provides an update on its drilling program at the Puesto Flores/Estancia Vieja Concession, Rio Negro Province, Argentina (90% President and operator and 10% EDHIPSA, the Provincial energy company).

Highlights

• PFO 1001, the first newly drilled well now tied in and flowing from the Punta Rosada primary target formation at 600 bopd
• The secondary Pre Cuyo target, 200 m lower down in the well which flowed at 240 bopd, has been temporarily isolated and kept in reserve to produce at a later date
• PFE 1001, the second new well, has been successfully cased showing total net oil pay of 43 m in aggregate over both primary and secondary targets
• Testing of the second well to commence next week
• The drilling rig will be moved next week to drill the third and final well in this year's program, PFO-1005

New well PFO 1001

PFO 1001, the vertical well is now tied in and producing to the battery at the rate of 600 bopd from the primary target, the Punta Rosada formation with zero water cut, having been choked back from an initial equivalent peak flow rate of over 1,000 bopd for prudent reservoir management. The oil quality is commensurate with that of oil produced from other wells in the  Puesto Flores field. The secondary target Pre Cuyo interval, 200 m deeper which flowed at 240 bopd has been temporarily isolated and is being kept in reserve to be brought on production at a later date.

Taking into account the prolific production from the Punta Rosada, as indicated previously, production from the two formations will not be co-mingled.

PFE 1001

This directional well having been successfully drilled on plan, time and budget to the target depth of 2,550 m has now been electronically logged and cased.

The logs show 17 m of net pay in the Punta Rosada primary target and 26 m of net pay in the Pre Cuyo formation with good porosities of between 15% and 25%.

The well has been cased and cemented, and the drilling rig is now being prepared to move to the third and final location in this year's drilling campaign, PFO 1005. The workover rig will be moved onto the well in the next week to test and complete the well and put it on production.

At the present time President maintains its guidance as to approximately 200 bopd targeted production from the second and third wells in the program.

Peter Levine, chairman and chief executive commented:

"President's progress continues with the results from the first well speaking far more eloquently than any words that can be written.

"Every well is different and accordingly it is important to manage expectations and retain our original targets for the second and third wells in the series."