What's new in exploration
Bigger than they thought. Petrobras’ largest gas discovery, made last April, originally had estimated reserves of 2.5 Tcf. Further drilling has revised those estimates dramatically upward, to 14.7 Tcf, plus an undisclosed but significant amount of condensate. Since this report comes from newspapers, plus the fact that structures this large cannot reasonably prove up that much gas with a couple wells, be cautious in accepting this as proved, recoverable gas reserves. The upward revision, if it holds, means that Brazil’s gas reserves could nearly triple. The 1-SPS-35 discovery well is located 76 mi off the coast of Sao Paulo, in Block BS-400 of Santos basin, at a water depth of 1,500 ft. The well was drilled to 16,260-ft TD and encountered 330 ft of sandy gas pay. Well tests produced 24.7 MMcfd of gas and 600 bpd of condensate. The find is conveniently located is about 85 mi from major pipeline infrastructure and near one of the largest consumer markets in southeast Brazil. However, the gas could languish inasmuch as gas demand is developing slowly in Brazil. Furthermore, the country is required to buy gas from neighboring Bolivia under take-or-pay contracts. Thus, Petrobras may have to sit on the gas portion of the reserves while waiting years for demand to materialize. Side door ANWR exploration? Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski is seeking interest in a stratigraphic test well to be drilled off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with participation open to all organizations willing to share proportionally in well costs. Earliest drilling would be the winter of 2004 – ’05, although to allow drilling by then, the state would need to do site survey work this fall. The state would hold the results confidential for two years, possibly longer. The purpose of the well is to gather data for both the eastern Beaufort Sea and the 1002 area of ANWR. Good North Sea find. BP made a discovery in Block 16/28 of the Central North Sea, about 144 mi northeast of Aberdeen. The discovery, known as Farragon, is close to Andrew field and has estimated recoverable reserves of 30 million barrels of oil. The well was drilled under a farm-in arrangement, whereby Eni UK Ltd (well operator) and EnCana (UK) Ltd financed the well. Though not large by world standards, new fields like this are key to maintaining the vitality of the UK sector. BP is field operator. New microbe finding process. A new microbial-biodiversity process was developed at the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and recently used on samples of microbes from Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming. A multidisciplinary study of hydrothermal vents was conducted by GTI scientists and investigators from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University and Eastern Oceanics, Inc. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Life in Extreme Environments Program Thus far, the process has been able to identify 2 – 10 times more microbial species compared with previous methods. Yellowstone Lake has hydrothermal vents that release super-heated water (up to 230°F) into the lake, providing a unique area that closely resembles the environment of primordial Earth 4.5 billion years ago. Hydrothermal vents also exist in the oceans, but Yellowstone Lake is freshwater. “The oceans were not salty 4.5 billion years ago,” explains GTI’s John Kilbane, Senior Environmental Scientist. “And there was no oxygen-containing atmosphere. The planet was undergoing massive volcanic activity. Yet, there were microorganisms thriving through it all.” Fluid samples were obtained from vent areas at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake by an ROV. In the microbial-diversity process, fluorescent dyes are used in a new way to stain certain members of mixed microbial populations. Flow cytometry is then used to sort cells and divide microbial populations into sub-populations. The study of these sub-populations allows analysis in greater detail than previously possible. GTI’s initial interest was to develop a method to characterize the bacterial communities that negatively affect natural gas pipelines. However, the process can be applied to a variety of microbial studies. Potential uses include: insight into the origins of life on Earth; better pharmaceuticals; new microbes for enhanced oil recovery; and insight into what roles microbes might play in oil generation, migration and biodegradation. While thousands of microorganisms have been characterized, as much as 99% of all microbial species have not. Largest permanent seismic. OYO Geospace installed the industry’s largest permanent subsea seismic system, in Valhall field. It comprises 2,504 multi-component stations with a total of 10,016 channels. Located in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea in 224 ft of water, BP’s Norwegian subsidiary, BP Norge, operates Valhall field in partnership with Shell, Amerada Hess and Total. More than 90 mi of armored cables comprising the sensors and digitizing system were trenched about 3 ft below the sea floor and cabled to a production platform. When data is gathered, it is temporarily stored on the platform before transmission via a fiber optic cable directly to the processing office onshore or, conventionally, to stored media. In addition to gathering seismic data, the system also measures tidal action and reservoir subsidence at the rig site. The project was a joint collaboration between BP and GERI, a division of OYO Geospace. Sign of the times. In Australia, the fishing industry is trying to prevent proposed seismic activities in the area. A forum was organized by Woodside Energy to allay fears and inform residents of its plans to explore for gas along the southwest coast. Peter Farrell, the project’s environmental adviser, was quick to stress that seismic testing would not kill marine life, threaten whales or abalone divers in the area, nor cause damage to the sea bed. One fisherman asked, “So if a diver is in the area, is he going to get his head blown off by one of these things?” Divers would be notified of a 1,500-m exclusion zone during seismic activity. If whales were spotted within 3 km, air guns would not be fired until the mammals were out of sight. Fishermen attacked 30-year-old research on the effect seismic surveys had on fish. They were also worried that testing could affect spawning in the valuable rock lobster fishery. Fishermen in the southeastern area of Gippsland are supporting their western brethren to stop seismic shooting, and are asking for independent scientific assessment.
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