Petrolifera Petroleum says that on January 23, 2009 the company spudded its La Pinta 1 well on its 100 percent-owned Sierra Nevada Concession in the Lower Magdalena Basin onshore Colombia. The well is now drilling ahead and is expected to require approximately 45 days to reach the projected total depth of approximately 13,000 feet.

The La Pinta 1 well is located approximately 600 meters from the Guamito-1 well, which was drilled by a major oil company in 1975; this well tested very light gravity 46.7 degree crude oil but was not extensively production tested at the time due to lack of facilities and infrastructure and was later suspended. A subsequent testing effort in 1983 by another operator was unsuccessful due to casing problems and Guamito-1 was abandoned.

The primary objective of the La Pinta-1 well is to reevaluate the originally tested intervals of the nearby Guamito-1 well and to evaluate additional zones not tested in the original wellbore. The well is situated on the Sierra Nevada License, which comprises approximately 200,000 acres or about nine townships. It also offsets and is contiguous with the approximate 800,000 acre (approximately 35 townships) Magdalena License, which is anticipated to be awarded to Petrolifera in February, 2009.

If warranted by drilling results and log analysis, testing is anticipated to require a further 45 days once the well has reached total depth.

Tags: Petrolifera Petroleum Limited