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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

U.S. markets were closed for American Thanksgiving. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery added one cent to $47.96 in electronic trading on the New York Merc, while Brent for January added three cents to $48.95 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.50 to WTI ($32.46), unchanged. Natural gas for December added one cent to $3.02. The TSX energy index lost a fraction to close at 216.86.

Colombia-focused Parex Resources Inc. (PXT) lost four cents to $17.01 on 124,200 shares, despite some good news at its 55-per-cent-held LLA-34 block. The co-owner and operator of the block, GeoPark Ltd., has announced yet another expansion of the block's Jacana field. This field was discovered a little over a year ago and is now producing an impressive 13,000 gross barrels a day. The discovery well, called Jacana-1, tested at 1,880 barrels of oil a day in September, 2015, with a water cut of just 1.9 per cent. (Water cut refers to the amount of water co-produced with the oil. Low cuts are generally preferable, as high cuts can lead to increased water-disposal costs, equipment corrosion and other problems.) The well was drilled along the same trend as the Tigana field, which was producing about 11,500 barrels a day at the time. Roughly a year later, production from the Tigana/Jacana complex exceeds 25,000 gross barrels a day. Notable wells along the way included Jacana-3 and Jacana-5. Both of these extended the field to the northwest, were drilled at depths of 11,000 to nearly 11,500 feet and showed that the oil-water contact (the lowest point at which hydrocarbons occur) was deeper than reserve evaluators had forecast. The most recent Jacana well to be drilled was Jacana-6, set to test the southwest extension of the field. GeoPark announced the results yesterday. They were slightly mixed: Jacana-6 was drilled to nearly 11,700 feet, and water is starting to make its presence known, with the well showing a water cut of 17 per cent. Still, the test rate was a satisfying 1,800 barrels a day, and GeoPark has lost none of its enthusiasm for the play. It plans to drill one or two more wells by year-end and then at least 15 next year.

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