TMK Energy has fired up the engines on a 2026 work program at the company's Gurvantes XXXV coal-bed methane pilot project in Mongolia, mobilising a workover rig and crane to kick off a well optimisation and drilling campaign.
Set-up has now started at the 100 per cent-owned project, with the workover rig and a 70-tonne crane arriving on site last week. The first order of business was to remove the currently idle pump and production string from well LF-03, which is now being prepared for a cleanout and the first of three planned re-completions.
The work is designed to optimise gas flow from existing wells. The plan involves installing a new, smaller 5.5-inch slotted liner inside the existing 7-inch liner, before running smaller tubing and pumps. TMK says the reduced-diameter spacing should boost production from the existing wellbores. The optimisation process will initially apply to wells LF-03, LF-02 and LF-06.
Once the three workovers are in the bag, the company plans to spud a new well, dubbed LF-08. This will be drilled with a smaller hole size from the get-go to accommodate the 5.5-inch slotted liner.
If the re-completion strategy proves successful in boosting gas flows, the company says it will undertake the same process on all its existing Lucky Fox wells in 2027. That includes LF-07, which remains the star performer in the pilot field.
Across TMK's well portfolio, September average output climbed by eight per cent from August to 872 cubic metres a day, equivalent to 30,800 standard cubic feet per day (scfd). So far in October, the average has climbed dramatically from September to 950 cubic metres per day, or 33,549 scfd, suggesting the field may be rapidly closing in on commercial flow rates.
TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson said: "As of today, the field has been averaging approximately 950 cubic metres per day, a strong increase the gas rate achieved in September."