JPT: Regional Update May06

Vol. 58 No. 5

May 2006

Regional Update

AFRICA

Operator Total, Marathon, Sonangol, Esso E&P, and Petrogal discovered oil offshore Angola. The well, located in the eastern part of Block 32 off the Angolan coast, was drilled to 1758 m water depth and tested at 5,347 BOPD.
Operator Repsol, Libyan Natl. Oil Co., OMV A.G., Total, and Hydro found oil in the Murzuq basin in Libya Block NC115, located 800 km south of Tripoli in the Sahara. Preliminary production is 2,300 BOPD.
Peak Petroleum and Equator Exploration confirmed the discovery of oil and gas on the B-DX1 well located in the OML 122 license area offshore Nigeria. Total gas in place is estimated at 800 Bcf, and oil in place is estimated at 120 million bbl.
Melrose brought the El Tamad No. 1 and 2 wells in Egypt on stream with a combined production rate of 850 BOPD. Also, the Tummay No. 1 exploration well encountered a 39-ft-gross gas-bearing interval at 3,413 ft.
RWE Dea discovered oil in the Disouq area onshore the Nile Delta in Egypt. The well tested 48°API oil from the Qantara formation.

Joint venture participants Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Petronas made a fourth oil and gas discovery on the Pisagan-1A exploration well, located in Deepwater Block G offshore northwest Sabah, Malaysia.
An international consortium consisting of PetroVietnam, ConocoPhillips, Geopetrol, SK Corp., and Korea Natl. Oil Corp. discovered additional oil and gas reserves off Vietnam’s southern coast. Located in the Su Tu Trang zone, the field was found to have estimated reserves of 300 million bbl of oil and 4 Tcf of gas.
Lukoil reported a find in the northern Caspian, 220 km from Astrakhan. Reserves for the multilayer oil and gas/condensate field are estimated at 600 million bbl and 1.2 Tcf of gas.
An operators group consisting of China Natl. Offshore Oil Corp., Eni China, Chevron Corp., and China Energy reported that the Hui Zhou 19-1 field, located 120 km southeast of Hong Kong in the northern part of Block 16/19 in the eastern South China Sea, came on stream.

Operator Santos Ltd., Peedamullah Petroleum, and Mittwell Energy Resources delivered first gas from the Casino gas project, the first commercial development within VIC/P44. The development is located 30 km offshore from Port Campbell, Victoria, Australia.
Stuart Petroleum and Avery Resources found a new oil field in Cooper basin, Australia, with wildcat exploration Well Toparoa No. 1. The well encountered a 6-m oil column.

Statoil completed drilling 10 Snohvit wells in the Barents Sea. The first phase of the Snohvit Project includes the Snohvit and Albatross fields, located approximately 140 km northwest of Hammerfest in northern Norway.
Operator Norsk Hydro, Petoro, Statoil, Total, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips commenced production from the first of three planned wells on the Oseberg West Flank satellite development, located 10 km northwest of Oseberg Field Center. The field contains recoverable reserves of 27 million bbl of oil and 123.6 Bcf of gas.
Po Valley Energy reported a gas find on the Vitalba 1d exploration well, 25 km east of Milan. The well tested at 2.8 MMcf/D of gas.
Oilexco began development of the Brenda field, located in Block 15/25b in the U.K. Central North Sea. The development is the first phase of the Brenda/Nicol project, with production set to begin this fall.

Kuwait announced the discovery of 35 Tcf of gas and 10–13 billion bbl of light oil. The gas find is in the northern Sabriya and Umm Niqa areas and tested at 16–27 MMcf/D of gas and 2,200–4,000 B/D of condensate. The oil was found in northern Kuwait.
Saudi Aramco announced a gas discovery in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province that could produce 50 MMcf/D. The Mudrikah 3 well, located 27 km south of the Ghawar field, tested at 27 MMcf/D.
Petroleum Development Oman announced the discovery of four oil fields. Two finds in northern Oman at Ufuq and Dafiq are located near the Lekhwair oil field and validate the extension of the productive Upper Shuaiba reservoir. Two finds in the south at Sakhiya-SW and Mamour will be brought on stream as part of the Harweel field development.
TransGlobe Energy found oil and gas on Block S-1 in the Republic of Yemen. The An Nagyah No. 19 well flowed on test at 3,226 BOPD and 1.6 MMcf/D of gas.

Petsec Energy announced a third gas discovery at Main Pass 19 in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The Main Pass 19 G-5 well encountered an estimated 45 ft of net gas pay; the Main Pass 19 platform is located 80 miles southeast of New Orleans. Additionally, a fourth well was spud on Main Pass Block 18.
RSX Energy participated in a gas discovery in the Hinton area of northern Alberta, Canada. A 165-ft pay interval was encountered on the Cabot RSX Hinton 11-16-51-25 W5M well.
Operator Denbury Resources and PetroQuest Energy logged gas pay in south Louisiana at the Pelican Point Prospect. The well is expected to produce at an initial gross rate of from 10,000 to 15,000 Mcf/D and increase to approximately 30,000 Mcf/D.
Contango discovered a 140-ft potential net pay hydrocarbon column at Grand Isle 72 in the GOM. Drilled to 14,256 ft, the Grand Isle 72 Well No. 1 is located 25 miles offshore Louisiana in 128 ft of water and tested at 5 MMcf/D of gas.

Petrobras began operations in the Golfinho field in the Espirito Santo basin, the first production of oil from deep waters outside the Campos basin. Currently in test phase, initial production from the field is 21,000 BOPD. The company also commenced production from the Peroa field in the Espirito Santo basin.
Antrim Energy reported test results on the Las Violetas 104 well in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, at 2.75 MMcf/D of gas. In addition, a 6.6-m-thick net pay zone was encountered on the Los Patos 1003 well, also in Tierra del Fuego.