Puesto Flores and Estancia Vieja are two fields within onshore concession 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).

Productive 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 rocks, all that constitutes an excellent environment for growth. The field has existing production plus an evident development and possible in field exploration upside.

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

To-date, 26 wells have been drilled in Puesto Flores; cumulative production to-date is some 5 mln bbl of oil and some 17.5 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.

14 wells are currently producing at Puesto Flores with the majority being Electrical Submersible Pumps, with 3 additional wells acting as water injectors.

Facilities are 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 including Shell and Axion.

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 2017 amounted to 8.1 mln boe of 2P reserves.

Since taking over the field President 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 65%  while improving net backs on the production by optimizing operation costs. 16 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.

President has completed a 10 well workover campaign and drilled a successful 3 well development well campaign in the Puesto Flores field in Sept 2018. The company also plans to continue to develop the model of the subsurface to develop additional potential infield and near field development wells.

The Estancia Vieja field comprises 30 wells; the field produced a peak of over 9,500 bopd in 1990 but has not produced since 2011.

Since taking over the field, which was idle, President 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 three oil wells (two being worked over as part of 2018 workover program)
• Removal of a 1000 m3 tank, which was moved to the Puesto Flores Battery

The result is that the field is being reactivated, with both oil and gas production being brought on line by President in the second half of 2018. To date, the work has been completed to reactive 6 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 currently being consumed in the field for power generation.

Independently certified reserves as at 31 December 2017 amounted to 0.9 Mmboe of 2P reserves.

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

• Use of existing gas wells to provide power for the Estancia Vieja and Puesto Flores Field
• Reactivation of the remainder of the battery
• Minor decommissioning works on unusable sections of the battery
• Evaluation of potential gas and oil development wells