PA Resources has completed a long-term drillstem test on the Diega accumulation in Block I in Equatorial Guinea, and the Atwood Hunter rig has been released, the company said in a press release. PA Resources holds a 5.7% interest in Block I.

An initial pilot well, I-8, encountered 12 m (39 ft) vertical thickness of good-quality oil pay with no water and established the deepest known oil on the Diega accumulation. Subsequently the planned horizontal sidetrack I-8ST drilled some 400 m (1,312 ft) of oil pay of similarly good quality and was tested for one month at constrained rates up to approximately 7,300 b/d of oil, according to the release.

The well has been suspended for reuse as a future production well. The test confirmed lateral reservoir continuity and the absence of reservoir compartmentalization. The test will permit the submission in 2014 of a plan of development for Diega as a subsea tieback to the Aseng FPSO vessel, targeting first oil in 2016, the company said.