Ophir Energy said it encountered oil after completing operations on a wildcat exploration well in the Gulf of Thailand, but it was below the threshold for economic viability.
The well was the second in Ophir’s 2015 exploration drilling programme in the G4/50 licence and targeted the Parichat Southwest prospect in the South Western Graben area.
The company said the well will now be plugged and abandoned after it reached a total depth of 2,830 metres.
The oil discovery had been below the economic threshold for a commercial discovery.
Ophir took solace in that it confirms for the first time the existence of an active hydrocarbon system in this previously undrilled South Western Graben.
It added: “The well also encountered a greater thickness of reservoir sands than expected pre-drilling, which is an encouraging result for the future exploration of this basin.”
Once the G4/50-11 well has been plugged and abandoned, a detailed analysis of the well data will be carried out.
This analysis will determine whether the multiple analogous prospects nearby have been sufficiently de-risked to warrant exploration drilling in 2016.
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