Caspian Sunrise shares drop as it plans to stimulate latest deep well

Caspian Sunrise Plc (LON:CASP) shares dropped in Monday’s early deals after the company revealed plans to acid stimulate Deep Well A5 at the BNG project in Kazakhstan.

Deep Well A5 has now flowed for 40 days, the longest than any of the company’s deep wells to date, and, the company said it still believes the well is capable of producing at least 1,500 bopd.

For context, Deep Well A5 contributed some 1,887 barrels for the month of January.

The company said its focus is on ensuring the well can continue to flow over the longer term rather than maximising rates.

In Monday morning’s deals Caspian Sunrise shares were down about 10% at 6.9p, having traded as low as 6.1p earlier.

“We have sought to achieve this by maintaining a constant pressure through regular adjustments to the choke size, thereby reducing the risk of blockages from excess drilling fluids and other well debris,” the company said in Monday’s statement.

“We are in no hurry for the well to reach its optimum operating capacity and are considering a number of actions which may help maximise the ultimate contribution the well makes to the company’s fortunes.”

It added: “our operational team believes the well would benefit from acid treatment.”

The company will later this month start a hydrochloric ‘acid job’.

At the same time, the company continues to work towards an acid treatment solution to better stimulate the previously drilled Deep Wells A8, 801 & A6.

It is also planning to drill another new deep well, Deep Well A9, in the first half of this year and it expects to hire a rig contractor before the end of the first quarter.

Operations continue on the group’s portfolio of shallow wells, where new drilling is also taking place – Well 150 was spud in December and has so far reached a depth of 1,420 metres, meanwhile, Well 153 is slated for a mid-February spud allowing it to be online by the end of the second quarter.

Caspian Sunrise also today reported production figures for January, showing a total of 44,169 barrels were produced in January with the daily rate reported at 1,425.

Published at Mon, 10 Feb 2020 09:32:00 +0000-Caspian Sunrise shares drop as it plans to stimulate latest deep well