After a rocky start to its drilling campaign, Range Resources has hit oil at a development well in Trinidad.

The MD 42N development well is located at the company’s Morne Diablo Field and was first spudded on Sept. 4.

While the company encountered well bore instability during early drilling, Range decided to drill the well to a revised depth of 2,610 ft instead of 3,210 ft to avoid the risk of losing the well.

Range announced that hydrocarbon sands and oil shows were encountered at the Upper Cruse channel sand complex during drilling of the well, with electric log interpretation confirming the presence of recoverable hydrocarbons with an estimated net pay of 48 ft, 38 ft of which is planned for production perforations.

The well has been cased and approvals are being sought for production testing, which is scheduled in the next two weeks.

Rig 2 will now be moved to the GY 180SE development well, which is the first well to be drilled by the company on its Beach Marcelle field.

The well will be drilled to a total depth of 1,820 ft to test the Lower Gros Morne horizon. Range has estimated recoverable oil from the well to reach 100,000 barrels.

Range, the largest private onshore acreage holder in Trinidad, has been operating in the southern Caribbean country since 2011 following the acquisition of three producing onshore licenses in Morne Diablo, South Quarry and Beach Marcelle.

The company has had little success in the South Quarry field after recent development well drilling failed to encounter any commercial hydrocarbons.