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Whitebark ramps up upgraded Wizard Lake facilities

Whitebark Energy has operated the Wizard Lake Oilfield in Canada for 16 trouble-free days since establishing its new facilities and pipelines at the site.

The Australian-based company’s managing director David Messina said the successful commissioning of the facilities and associated pipelines and wells had been an important milestone in the monetisation of the oilfield.

“The wells are slowly being brought back into production to ensure the long-term production of the field is preserved and sales in 2020 maximised,” Messina said.

The facilities separate the gas from the liquids for sales via the Petrus gas processing facilities, which are 15 kilometres to the north west.

Whitebark has held gas throughput at 2–2.5 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) while the wells continue to clean-up and stabilise.

Oil throughput uses a heated cascade tank system which uses gravity to separate the oil and water. This system removes up to 99.5 per cent of the water prior to the oil being trucked to receiving stations.

Whitebark has focused on re-establishing full flow from the wells with Rex-1 being cleaned out following the discovery of an obstruction. The company has placed the well on pump to accelerate fluid recoveries and speed the return to pre-shut-in flow rates.

Rex-2 is being converted back to pump, but before doing so, the well is being cleaned out to remove any frac sand that has accumulated in the borehole during the initial flow period. Whitebark will recommence production from the well during the week.

Rex-3 has continued to flow oil and gas unassisted and 30 per cent of the frac fluid has been recovered. The well is flowing through an 11.91mm choke to restrain the gas rate to approximately 2mmcfd and ensure the well can clean up in an optimal manner.

Whitebark reported in an ASX announcement that the well was presently flowing 350-450 barrels of oil per day (POPD) under heavy choke and would continue to do so until the clean-up was complete, with a total fluid water cut of approximately 35 per cent.

The total field production at this stage (from two wells still in clean-up mode) is averaging approximately 550bopd and 2.2mmcfd.

The company added that once Rex-2 was restarted these rates would increase.

“The production from the field will continue in a manner that will facilitate the well clean-up process and optimise production rates and uptime for the long term,” Whitebark stated.

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