JPT
Go
spacer

Vol. 58 No. 3

March 2006

Regional Update

AFRICA

  • Operator Murphy Oil and Société Nationale Pétroles du Congo tested the Azurite Marine No. 2 appraisal well in the Mer Profonde Sud Block offshore Congo at approximately 8,000 BOPD from a single zone. The well is located in 4,488 ft of water.

  • Operator Foxtrot Intl., a unit of Enerci, Petroci, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, and Gaz de France discovered gas in 400 m of water offshore Côte d’Ivoire on the Mahi-1 well in Block CI-27. The well, located 5 km south of the Foxtrot platform, flowed 32 MMcf/D of gas and 250 B/D of condensate.

ASIA

  • Operator Daewoo Intl., Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Korea Gas Corp., and GAIL (India) reported that the Block A-1 Shwe field in Myanmar is estimated to contain gas reserves of up to 3.5 Tcf. The 2005–06 drilling campaign has begun with the Shwe Nilar-1 well.

  • China Natl. Offshore Oil Corp. brought the Lufeng 13-2 oil field on stream in the western part of Block LF 08 in the Pearl River Mouth basin. The field is producing 18,000 B/D from three horizontal wells, and production capacity tested at 30,000 B/D. The company also encountered 31.5 m of oil and gas pay in Liaodong Bay in northeastern Bohai Bay with the JX1-1-2D, an independent wildcat well.

  • Petronas discovered gas on the Kanowit-1 exploration well in Block SK306 offshore Sarawak. The well is located approximately 180 km northwest of Bintulu in 80 m of water.

  • Operator Gujurat State Petroleum Corp. struck oil with the second well drilled in the Tarapur Block in India. The company first discovered oil in the Dholka Block.

  • CanArgo Energy encountered dry gas on the second exploration well in the Akkulka program in Kazakhstan. The accumulation, located 6.5 km north of the Kyzyloi gas field, tested at 3.53 MMcf/D.

AUSTRALIA

  • Joint Venture partners ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton found an estimated 700 Bcf of gas in Bass Strait, between the Australian mainland and Tasmania. The find increases the previous 6-Tcf estimate of Gippsland basin gas reserves.

  • Operator Dana Petroleum, Gaz de France, Tullow Oil, Hardman Resources, and Roc Oil discovered oil offshore Mauritania on the Faucon-1 well. Predrill resource calculations estimate between 100 and 250 million bbl of recoverable oil.

  • Apache and Tap encountered a 35-m gross gas pay column on the Kultarr-1 exploration well in Permit WA-334-P offshore Australia. The well is located 9 km west of the Wonnich production platform.

EUROPE

  • Operator Eni, Statoil, and DNO reported finding oil on the Goliat appraisal well in the Barents Sea. The discovery, expected to be significant, is the first find in the Barents Sea after 64 wells have been drilled. Oil and gas were encountered in two intervals on Goliat Well 7122/7-3. The Goliat discovery is located 85 km northwest of Hammerfest and 50 km southeast of the Snoehvit field.

  • OMV GmbH found gas in the Vienna basin with the Ebenthal Tief 1 exploration well. Potential reserves are estimated to be 10 million BOE.

  • Dana Petroleum brought the F16-E gas field in the North Sea onstream at a rate of approximately 90 MMcf/D from two wells.

MIDDLE EAST

  • Operator DNO found oil on Well Tawke No. 1 in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the first time a western oil company has drilled for hydrocarbons there since 2003. The company’s acreage is located in the province of Dohuk. Estimated reserves in the northern region are 45 billion bbl of oil and 100 Tcf of gas.

  • Norske Hydro and LukOil made an oil discovery on the Anaran exploration block in western Iran. Estimated recoverable reserves on this block, which consists of four prospects, is 1 billion bbl.

  • Operator Calvalley Petroleum commenced production of oil from the Hiswah pool in Block 9 in Yemen. Full productive capacity of all existing wells on Block 9 is estimated at more than 20,000 B/D. Drilling has begun on the sixth well in the Hiswah field.

NORTH AMERICA

  • Operator Nexen, Anadarko Petroleum, BHP Billiton, and Chevron Corp. reported that the first well in Green Canyon 512 at the Knotty Head Prospect encountered approximately 600 ft of net oil pay in multiple zones. The well is located in 3,500 ft of water.

  • Operator Chevron, Anadarko, Plains E&P, and Shell made a deepwater discovery at the Big Foot Prospect located in Walker Ridge Block 29, approximately 225 miles south of New Orleans. The Big Foot No. 2 well encountered more than 300 ft of net oil pay.

  • Remington Oil and Gas discovered gas on the Vermilion 61 B-3 well in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The company also reported encountering two hydrocarbon-bearing zones on the Ship Shoal 250 No. 1 exploration well, of which Cimarex Energy owns 40%.

  • Gulfsands Petroleum announced a gas find on Eugene Island 58 well in the GOM. Hydrocarbons were encountered within several zones, with approximately 170 ft of potential net pay. The well tested at 8.2 MMcf/D of gas and 134 B/D of condensate.

  • Dominion E&P and Pioneer Natural Resources began production from the Triton and Goldfinger subsea wells, located 140 miles southeast of New Orleans on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 771, 772, and 728 in the GOM. Triton/Goldfinger consists of three subsea wells connected to the Devil’s Tower floating production system, the world’s deepest dry-tree spar.

  • Petsec Energy spudded the first well in a four-well drilling program at Main Pass 19. The wells will be drilled on the Main Pass 19 platform, located 80 miles southeast of New Orleans. Estimated potential for this area is approximately 18 Bcf of gas.

SOUTH AMERICA

  • Petrolifera Petroleum reported a crude-oil discovery on its Puesto Morales/Rinconada concession in the Neuquen basin in Argentina. The RN.PM.x-1003 well tested at rates ranging from 750 to 2,400 B/D. Also, the RN.PM.x-1004 well tested at from 457 to 940 B/D, and the company reported an oil find on the RN.PM.x-1010 well.

  • CDS Oil and Gas spudded its first well, CDS-GM-05-5001, in the Chaco region of Paraguay. The well, which tested at 960 Mcf/D of gas, is located 200 m southeast of the Independencia 1 well on the Gabino Mendoza Block.

  • Operator Occidental Petroleum, Talisman Peru, and Amerada Hess Peru found oil on the Situche Central 2X well in Block 64 in Peru’s northern jungle in Loreto. Estimated production is 2,400 B/D of 34°API crude.