Exploration discoveries

	Vol. 230 No. 4
ARTHUR BERMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, bermanae@gmail.com

Americas. Devon Energy made a gas discovery with its 1DEV14AMAS well on Block BM-BAR-3 drilled offshore Brazil in the Barreirinhas Basin. It was drilled to a 15,831-ft TD in 7,664 ft of water about 100 mi north of the northern coast of Brazil. Devon operates with 45% interest in partnership with Petrobras (25%) and SK Energy (30%).

Starfish Oil & Gas made a discovery with its 1STAR10RN well on Block POT-T-748 in the Potiguar Basin, onshore northeastern Brazil. No further details are available.

Pemex announced four discoveries with its Tsimin-1, Xanab-DL-1, Yaxche-DL-1 and Teocalli-1 wells. All were drilled and completed in late 2008 off the coast of Tabasco State in the Gulf of Mexico. The four wells had initial production rates of 4,400, 9,200, 2,000 and 4,400 boepd, respectively, though no details were given on the gas-oil ratios of the discoveries. Pemex operates all wells in Mexico with 100% interest.

Geopark made a gas discovery on the Fell Block in southeastern Chile with its Yagan-1 well. The well tested more than 10 MMcfd and 136 bcpd from 43 ft of pay in Springhill reservoirs at a depth of about 9,921 ft. Oil shows were also found in the deeper Tobifera Formation above the well’s 10,328-ft TD. Geopark operates with 100% working interest.

PetroLatina Energy made an oil discovery with its Colon-1 exploration well on the La Paloma Block in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia. The well tested 5,899 bopd of 22°API oil from the Umir F Sand reservoir during a drillstem test from 8,755−8,795 ft. PetroLatina operates with 80% interest.

Africa. Tullow Oil discovered 69 ft of net Turonian condensate pay with its Tweneboa-1 well on the deepwater Tano Block, offshore Ghana. It was drilled to an 11,789-ft TD. Tullow operates with 49.95% interest and has four partners.

BP’s Leda well tested 5,040 bopd on Block 31, offshore Angola. It was drilled to a 19,380-ft TD in 6,791 ft of water. The well is located 260 mi northwest of Luanda and is the fifth subsalt discovery on the block. BP operates with 26.67% interest along with Esso (25%), Sonangol P&P (20%), Statoil Angola (13.33%), Marathon (10%) and Total (5%).

Noble Energy made an oil discovery with its Carmen well on Block O, offshore Equatorial Guinea. The well found 26 ft of net oil pay and 13 ft of net gas pay in Lower Miocene reservoirs. The well was drilled to a TD of 11,550 ft in 150 ft of water. Noble Energy operates with a 45% interest, along with partners GEPetrol, the Equatorial Guinea NOC, (30%) and Glencore Exploration (25%).

Vegas Oil & Gas confirmed its Amir Southeast discovery with the Amir Southeast-2X well on the Northwest Gemsa Concession, Gulf of Suez, onshore Egypt. The well tested 5,785 bopd and 7.8 MMcfd at a location about 190 mi southeast of Cairo. Vegas operates with 50% interest in partnership with Circle Oil (40%) and Premier Oil (10%).

Dana Gas found gas with its Azhar-1 and West Manzala-2 wells in the Nile Delta region of Egypt. The company estimates recoverable reserves of 100−150 Bcf at Azhar and 20 Bcf at Manzala. The Azhar-1 tested 15.1 MMcfd and 444 bcpd from a 98-ft interval of Upper Sidi Salim reservoirs.

Petrovietnam Exploration & Production (PVEP) discovered oil with its BRS-6 well drilled in Blocks 433a in the Oued Mya area of Algeria. The company estimates recoverable reserves of 180 MMboe, and it is expected that daily production will reach 36,000 bopd within three years. PVEP operates with 40% interest, with partners PTTEP (35%) and Sonatrach (25%).

Europe. Nexen Petroleum made a discovery with its Hobby-1 well on Block 20/1N, PL928 in the UK North Sea. The well tested 5,500 bopd at a location less than 1 mi west of the Golden Eagle discovery on the same block. Nexen operates with 34% interest with partners Maersk Oil (36%), Petro-Canada UK (25%) and Edinbugh Oil & Gas (5%).

Venture Production made an indicated gas discovery with its Carna 42/21b-5z well in the North Sea. The well encountered a gas-bearing reservoir and is being completed for testing. Logs indicate 127 ft of net pay in four Carboniferous sandstone intervals of the Millstone Grit from 10,029 to 11,440 ft. The well was drilled to a TD of 11,519 ft and is located about 6.5 mi southeast of Kilmar Field. Venture operates with 56% interest in partnership with Ithaca (29.9%), Dyas UK (10.1%) and EWE Aktiengesellschaft (4%).

Dana Petroleum made an oil discovery with its 210/24a-12 well on Block 210/24a in the northern UK North Sea. The well encountered a 400 ft oil column in Brent Sandstone reservoirs. The company estimates that reserves from this discovery and from nearby discoveries at Melville and Hudson have 80 million bbl of likely recoverable oil reserves. Dana Petroleum operates with 64.84% interest in partnership with Cieco UK, which holds the remaining 35.17%.

Aurelian Oil & Gas discovered gas with its Lilieci-1 on Block EII-4 Bacau, onshore Romania. The well tested 4.6 MMcfd from 102 ft of perforations from 7,913 to 8,150 ft. The well was drilled to a 9,777-ft TD. Aurelian operates with 41% interest in partnership with Romgaz (40%) and Europa Oil & Gas (19%).

Asia-Pacific. InterOil’s Antelope-1 well flowed at a rate of 382 MMcfd and 5,000 bopd on Block PPL238, onshore Papua New Guinea. The company estimates reserves of more than 10 Tcfg and a hydrocarbon column of more than 2,600 ft. InterOil operates with 100% interest pending a 20.5% farm-in option by Petromin PNG.

Xinhua news service reported an oil discovery with recoverable reserves of 255−292 million bbl in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. No details are available.

Woodside Petroleum discovered gas with its Martell-1 well on Block WA-404-P in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia. It found a 361-ft gas column in the well, which was drilled to a 10,926-ft TD. Located in 4,232 ft of water, 60 mi northwest of Pluto Field, Woodside operates the well with 50% interest in partnership with Hess Exploration, which holds the remaining 50%.