PetroTal (AIM:PTAL), the Peru-focused heavy oil producer, has spudded the 25H development well at its Bretana field, the first new well there since January 2025.
The well marks the resumption of a drilling program the company says is the first step toward restoring Bretana production to a sustainable plateau of approximately 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
"The resumption of development drilling at Bretana is the culmination of months of hard work from our entire team", said Manuel Pablo Zuniga-Pflucker, president and chief executive officer, adding that 22 drilling locations remain to fully exploit Bretana's 106 million barrels of proved-plus-probable reserves.
Spudded on 21 September, a week ahead of schedule, 25H is the 20th horizontal well drilled at Bretana and the first using the higher-specification Estrella 2027 rig.
The well will reach a measured depth of roughly 4,300 metres, targeting the Vivian formation at a vertical depth of approximately 2,700 metres, at an estimated cost of $15 million over eight weeks.
The drilling restart follows a stimulation campaign on two water injection wells completed on 3 September, which lifted Bretana's water injection capacity to just over 190,000 barrels per day, a 9% increase on the August average.
Supported by that capacity gain, Bretana field production averaged 11,960 bopd in September, up approximately 600 bopd month over month, while total group production averaged 12,286 bopd.
PetroTal is targeting total injection capacity of 320,000 barrels per day by the end of 2028.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
PetroTal has spudded well 25H at Bretana, resuming a development drilling program halted since January 2025 and targeting restoration of the field to 20,000 bopd production. The restart comes after a water injection stimulation campaign in early September lifted injection capacity by 9%, and September production rose to 11,960 bopd—still well short of the 20,000 bopd goal but moving in the right direction. With 22 drilling locations remaining to exploit 106 million barrels of proved-plus-probable reserves, the company has a multi-year runway to grow output, though execution risk remains material given the field's history of production volatility.
The resumption of drilling and the production uptick narrow the gap between current output (11,960 bopd in September) and the stated 20,000 bopd target, but PetroTal remains at roughly 60% of its goal. Success hinges on drilling execution, water injection capacity gains (targeting 320,000 bopd by end-2028), and sustained heavy oil demand; the $15 million per-well cost and eight-week cycle time suggest a measured pace of reserve conversion.
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