Puesto Flores and Estancia Vieja are two fields located on the edge of the prolific Neuquen Basin in the Rio Negro Province, as illustrated by the base map (click the map to launch a larger version in your web browser).

It is a field with a low density of wells per area drilled to date. The trap, an inverted anticline structure, combined with a substantial number of unconformities and several fluvial & marine reservoirs has at least two active source rock. This constitutes an excellent environment for growth. The field has existing production plus development and in field exploration upside.

Chevron acquired the concession in 2001 and held it until it was acquired by Molecular Energies PLC in September 2017. At expiry of the licences in November 2017, the Company successfully obtained as extension to the concession licence terms to 14 Nov, 2027.

To-date, 29 wells have been drilled in Puesto Flores; cumulative production to-date is some 6.9 million bbls oil and some 22.5 mln m3 of gas with peak production reaching some 3,800 bpd in 2013, before the field entered decline due to Chevron shifting their focus to larger fields.

19 wells are currently producing at Puesto Flores with the majority utlising Electrical Submersible Pumps “ESP’s”, with 3 additional wells acting as water injectors.

The extensive state-of-the-art computerised battery is capable of handling up to 3,000 m3/day of fluid. Currently, some 60% of the produced water is separated on-site and re-injected into with the balance of oil and water being transported via a 15 km pipeline to a third-party field where it is treated before being transported via the Oldeval pipeline system to the Puerto Rosales maritime terminal (some 700 km south west of Buenos Aires) where it is sold to various buyers.

Current production of associated gas is used for heating and the remainder is sold to a neighbouring field where it is processed by a third party and injected into a regional pipeline.

Independently certified reserves as at 31 December 2018 amounted to over 7.8 MMboe of 2P reserves.

Since taking over the field Molecular Energies PLC has

• Completed two successful workover campaigns, increasing production by over 70%
• Converted two wells into water injectors and upgraded a third existing injector well
• Completed the installation of an integrated water injection system
• Completed improvements to the facilities and operation of the field
• Installed an additional 1000 m3 tank to the battery

The result is that the field production has been increased by over 50%  since October 2017 while improving net backs on the production by optimizing operation costs. 19 wells are currently producing within the Puesto Flores concession, with 3 wells acting as water injectors. The production of medium sweet crude and a small amount of associated gas production is sent via pipeline to a neighbouring field where it is processed by a third party.

Molecular Energies PLC completed a 10 well workover campaign and drilled a successful 3 well development well campaign in the Puesto Flores field in Sept 2018. In 2019, Molecular Energies PLC completed a multi well workover campaign continuing throughout the year. The company also plans to continue to develop the model of the subsurface to develop additional potential infield and near field development wells.

In mid 202o, Molecular Energies PLC announced that it was to commence a pilot waterflooding project in the Puesto Flores field and that it would take time to evaluate such work. In June 2021, having run essential testing, the pilot project is shows concrete signs of success which if promulgated to other parts of the mature Puesto Flores field would not only in the short to medium term increase production and but would also extend out decline curves, thereby prolonging field life and ultimately have a beneficial effect on the extent of recoverable reserves. The results suggest that a wider long term application of waterflooding may be successful in other areas within the Puesto Flores field and it is this that potentially could have a material impact on incremental production, the extension of decline curves, estimated ultimate recovery factors, in due course reserves and importantly field life.

The Estancia Vieja field comprises 30 wells; the field produced a peak of over 9,500 bopd in 1990 but did not produce since 2011 until Molecular Energies PLC restarted production in 2019.

Since taking over the field, which was idle, Molecular Energies PLC has completed the following works

• Full recognizance of the field, battery and pipeline gathering systems
  • Removal of unused pipelines
  • Reactivation of the oil battery, and truck loading point
• Reactivation and long-term testing of three gas wells.
• Reactivation of six oil wells and production commenced.
• Removal of a 1000 m3 tank, which was moved to the Puesto Flores Battery.
• Gas production facilities installed and gas production commenced.
• Successful drilling and workover programme.

The result is that the field has been reactivated, with both oil and gas production being brought on line by Molecular Energies PLC in the second half of 2019. To date, the work has been completed to reactivate 8 wells, which are now all being connected to bring onto production fully. The production of light sweet crude is trucked to the Puesto Flores field where it is blended with the production from Puesto Flores and shipped via a 16 km pipeline to a neighbouring field for processing. The gas that is being produced is being sold to market through our own pipelines with some also being consumed in the field for power generation. Additionally, as of April 2020, two new generators have been installed and put to work in Estancia Vieja. 

H2 2020 saw the completion of a successful multi-well drilling and workover programme. Workovers wells of EV-20 and EV-x1, which were not previously producing, were completed on time and on budget. Likewise, ENV-x1 was drilling and initial results agreed with the pre-drill projections of production of 60,000 m3/d (353 boepd) of gas and 188 bopd.

In H1 2021, Molecular Energies PLC commenced its three gas well drilling campaign in Rio Negro. EV-1001 and EV-1002 were successfully drilled on budget and on time for end May, at which date there is an increase in Argentina gas prices. In particular, during testing, EV-1002 flowed at over 100,000 m³/d (3.53 MMsft/d or 580 bopd) with an 8mm choke and an excellent well-head pressure of 1,750 psi.

The Estancia Vieja field is being evaluated for redevelopment, which will include

• Drilling new wells
• Reactivation of the existing gas wells to flow to market through the pipeline
• Reactivation of the remainder of the battery