North America: Others

NORTH AMERICA

Others

   Greenland saw the Qulleq 1 offshore well drilled this summer by Statoil. Results were not available by press time. This is the country’s first well since the mid-1970s, when five dry holes were drilled. Another licensing round for offshore West Greenland is scheduled to open in March 2001 and will close in October of the same year. Companies will be able to nominate areas that they want included later this year.

   Guatemala will hold its long-postponed, third tender offer sometime this year. Union Pacific Resources (UPR) completed its Xan 27 horizontal well in Xan field, Peten basin. Production from the well rose to 2,900 bopd from 1,300 bopd. The company recently completed Xan 28, a vertical step-out well that extends the limits of the Xan reservoir further to the east. Additional horizontal wells drilled in the same low-permeability zone are planned this year. Anadarko Petroleum recently merged with UPR.

Guatemala and Mexico have agreed to build a gas pipeline from Ciudad Pemex, Mexico, to Esquintla, Guatemala. The 350-mi pipeline should be ready by 2004 and cost $350 million.

   Nicaragua is offering about 26 offshore and five onshore concessions. The bidding round was due to open in July 2000, with awards to be announced early 2001. To date, 24 offshore wells have been drilled, including four in the Pacific Sandino basin. The country has no production. Fugro-Geoteam AS acquired 1,935 mi of 2-D seismic for the tender.

   Nicaragua has a maritime border dispute with Honduras and Colombia. It was exacerbated last December when Honduras officially sided with Colombia, ignoring Nicaragua’s claims.

   Belize may see a return of activity. According to Upstream, AB Energy gained 14,000 offshore acres and plans to acquire seismic over its Gallifuna prospect. Several other operators, including Susan Morrice & Associates and Grynberg Petroleum, are reported to be considering exploration in the small nation. Guatemala and Belize have a land border dispute.

   Costa Rica’s second licensing round saw Mallon Resources win six onshore blocks in the northeast that total 2.3 million acres. Harken Energy completed a 100-sq-km, 3-D seismic survey in December 1999 offshore Costa Rica. Its Moin prospect – a roughly 80,000-acre structure of fault-segmented, four-way closure – should see a wildcat drilled as soon as all permits are approved. Harken, together with MKJ Xploration, holds 1.4 million acres in Costa Rican concessions.

Enron will build a subsea gas pipeline between Colon, Panama, and Cartagena, Colombia, for electric generation. The 300-mi pipeline will be constructed in 18 months at a cost of $300 million. A starting date was not given.