|
MATERIAL FACT
RESULTS OF WINGAT - OFFSHORE NAMIBIA
Rio de Janeiro, May 20, 2013 - HRT Participações em Petróleo S.A. (the "Company" or "HRT") (BM&FBOVESPA: HRTP3, TSX-V: HRP) through its wholly-owned subsidiary HRT Walvis Petroleum (Proprietary) Ltd. ("HRT Walvis"), announces that its first exploration well (Wingat-1 2212/07/1) in a multi well offshore program in Namibia has found oil although not in commercial volumes. This well is located in Petroleum Exploration License 23 ("PEL-23"), in the Walvis Basin, offshore Republic of Namibia. The well, spudded on March 25, was drilled in water depths of circa 1,005 meters and has reached a final depth of 5,000 meters.
The main objective of the well was to test the resource potential of the Albian age carbonate platform, which was penetrated on targeted depth, but its reservoir quality is much less developed than originally expected.
The Wingat well was initially planned to be drilled to a total depth (TD) of 4,127 meters, but because of the potential to drill deeper to test the presence of turbidite reservoirs and the opportunity to penetrate and to sample the main source rock, the consortium decided to go deeper, to a final TD of 5,000 meters. This decision was also supported by the increasing concentrations of hydrocarbon shows present in the well below of the depth of 1,500 meters. The Wingat-1 was drilled in 68 days by the semi-submersible Transocean Marianas (NYSE:RIG) and within the budget.
The information obtained, coupled with the results of preliminary studies of all data collected from the well, allowed HRT to identify two well-developed source rocks, which are rich in organic carbon and both are within the oil-generating window. Also, the well encountered several thin-bedded-sandy reservoirs that are saturated by oil. HRT collected four samples of this oil, each of 450cc, and the analysis of these samples indicated the presence of light oil, 38o to 42o API, with minimal contamination. No water-bearing zones were identified in the drilled section. The well is currently in the process of being plugged and abandoned.
The fact that the source rock is in the oil window and generating liquid hydrocarbons of excellent quality confirms the source potential of the basin. As such, the results of Wingat-1 Well provide important information that will help calibrating and guiding HRT's next exploration steps in the Walvis Basin. These source rocks present in the well can charge reservoir intervals of other prospects identified in the license, including Murombe Prospect, which will be drilled next.
Murombe Well will be drilled about 15 kilometers westward of Wingat-1, it will test a Cretaceous basin-floor fan and its spud-in is expected to happen latter in May. This well will be the second of a three-firm-well drilling campaign that HRT is currently running in Namibia.
"We are pleased with Wingat-1 overall results. The confirmation of the presence of high quality source rocks that are clearly in the oil-generation window, coupled with the IFA formation testing, which recovered light-oil from the reservoirs we penetrated, were major achievements obtained by this well. The find and recovery of the first oil offshore Namibia make us feel confident that we will achieve our goals that were set for our drilling plans in the Country. Our efforts will now be to proceed to our second exploration location in this basin - the Murombe-1 well, which will target turbidite reservoirs located above and beneath these source rocks within the same PEL,"highlighted Milton Romeu Franke, the CEO of HRT.
HRT is the operator of 10 blocks offshore Namibia, which are contained in 4 Petroleum Licenses. GALP Energia (NYSE Euronext Lisbon: GALP), with a 14% participating interest, is HRT's partner in the drilling of the first 3 wells of the current exploration campaign.
Click here for the Material Fact.
For further information, please contact HRT's Investor Relations Department.
About HRT
HRT Participações holds one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in Brazil. The HRT Group comprises eight main subsidiaries: IPEX (Integrated Petroleum Expertise Company Serviços em Petróleo Ltda.), HRT O&G Exploração e Produção de Petróleo Ltda., HRT Netherlands B.V., HRT África Petróleo S.A., HRT América Inc., Air Amazonia Serviços Aéreos Ltda. and HRT Canada Inc.. The Company retains a 55% interest in 21 exploratory blocks in the Solimões Basin. HRT also operates ten exploratory blocks off the Namibian coast: eight blocks in the Orange Sub-basin and two blocks in the Walvis Sub-basin. HRT's team includes PHDs and masters in geochemistry, geophysics, biology and engineering, most of them former employees of Petrobras and ANP (Brazil petroleum agency). HRT is committed to minimizing any possible environmental impacts in the sites where it acts. Our commitment to the local communities is towards health conditions, safety and quality of life. For more information, please visit the Company's website: www.hrt.com.br/ir
|