Q1) Has the Cuban Government or Sherritt asked to take possession of the rig before drilling Alameda-3? No.. Dare say this would be considered material and therefore worthy of a note to ASX already? & no it wouldn't take 4 days to determine how to phrase this scenario, so this aint it.
However I note you have asked this question twice so the second part of the no answer is at the bottom.. ;-)
Q2) Has there been any application to the regulator for use of the 3 new well pads? Yes, they wish to use them to drill wells..
Q3) Has any engineering been done to calculate how the horizontal wells will be drilled? Yes, horizontally at an approximate angle significantly less than vertical at or around 90/270 degrees
Q4) Will the horizontal wells be able to be drilled from the Alameda well pad? Horizontal wells may be drilled from any well pad, same as vertical wells.
HAVANA, 5 Apr (DDC) Cuba-Petróleo says drilling the deepest horizontal well in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The well, located on the north coast, already exceeds six kilometers and should reach a record of more than 8.2kilometers, the reports said. The works are carried out by the Oil Drilling and Extraction Company of the Center (EPEP-C), belonging to CUPET.
According to the official press, CUPET has opted for this technology to “exploit the oil that lies beneath the sea from the coast” and “lower investment costs”.
The drilling began on December 28, 2016 in Boca de Camarioca, Matanzas, and has been complex “because of the geology of the underground rock,” explained Marcos Antonio Pestana, general director of EPEP-C in statements to the Juventud Rebelde newspaper.
Pestana said that EPEP-C has already extracted 8,000 tons of oil over the planned plan for the quarter.
“Drilling always imposes new challenges and at the moment we drill in six wells, which promise a lot for the production of the company and the country,” he added.
Since January, the company’s operations have been extended to Ciego de Ávila.
In Cuba, the first horizontal oil well was the “Varadero 1,000” and today there are nine open with this technology on the island.
Q5) Will an independent certifier likely deem the results gathered so far as contingent resource?
What is the difference between a contingent resource and a reserve? Signatures really...
Reserves represent that part of resources which are commercially recoverable and have been justified for development, while contingent and prospective resources are less certain because some significant commercial or technical hurdle must be overcome prior to there being confidence in the eventual production of the volumes.
Contingent resources are less certain than reserves. These are resources that are potentially recoverable but not yet considered mature enough for commercial development due to technological or business hurdles. For contingent resources to move into the reserves category, the key conditions, or contingencies, that prevented commercial development must be clarified and removed. As an example, all required internal and external approvals should be in place or determined to be forthcoming, including environmental and governmental approvals. There also must be evidence of firm intention by a company’s management to proceed with development within a reasonable time frame (typically 5 years, though it could be longer).
Ref:
Production 18. Have discussions commenced with CUPET or others on offtakes of oil from Alameda to their refineries? Production planning, logistics and storage considerations form part of the forward appraisal program. 19. Has there been any contact with the Cuban Hydrocarbon regulator on either pipeline export or trucking of the oil to local refineries? The former is premature but has been discussed in principle, yes. The latter forms part of the forward appraisal program. 20. What are the key issues to determining if the 6.4 billion barrels of OIP in discrete reservoirs will be suitable for economic production? What are the appraisal processes involved? Flow rate, reservoir performance and oil quality are the main determinants.
4. Reserves and Resources Table 4.1 highlights MAY’s 2U volumes. As demonstrated, MAY has a significant resource position, not only in Cuba but also an interest in its offshore permits in Australia. It is important to note in the table below that MAY is entitled to contingent deferred consideration payments of US$5.0 million and contingent royalty payments of US$10.0 million for each 25 million barrels of oil equivalent produced from the WA-488-P permit area (Beehive Prospect). In August 2022, Melbana announced a new independent assessment of the reservoirs encountered by the Alameda-1 exploration well. This assessment estimated the total resource for the three structures encountered whilst drilling the Alameda-1 well (Amistad, Alameda and Marti) at: • 6.4 billion barrels of OOIP and • 362 million barrels of Prospective Resource. The volumes of the Amistad reservoir consisting of Amistad Unit 1A/B, Amistad Unit 2 and Amistad Unit 3 have been independently estimated as 1.9 billion barrels of Oil in Place and 88 million barrels of Prospective Resource (unrisked gross best estimate). The volumes of the Marti reservoir have been independently estimated as 1.2 billion barrels of Oil in Place and 70 million barrels of Prospective Resource (unrisked gross best estimate). The volumes of the Alameda reservoir have been independently estimated as 1.8 billion barrels of Oil in Place and 109 million barrels of Prospective Resource (unrisked gross best estimate).
Q6) What does Sonangol want to do with the future of the production at block 9?
Er, as an oil producer their primary objective will always be to produce oil commercially..
However the relationship between Angola and Cuba dates back to the Cuban revolution and ergo the firm partnership between Sonangol & Cupet will divest to both A. provide the necessary needs to meet the demand of the Cuban people & B. produce commercial quantities of oil for sale on the international market.
Q7) Will the Cuban Government or Sherritt take their rig back after Alameda-3 to drill for more gas?
Not once a program of works has started, no they won't. Before a program has begun and costs borne this may be a possibility because you can push start dates right with no real impediment, but not once a program has begun. And considering Cupet are party to the current program of works it would be highly unusual for it to happen.. We're not in Africa here.