Exploration discoveries

	Vol. 229 No. 7
ARTHUR BERMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, bermanae@gmail.com

Africa. Aminex’s Kiliwani North-1 (KN-1) well tested 40 MMcfd and 40 bcpd in the Nyuni/East Songo-Songo Block, offshore Tanzania. Aminex’s subsidiary Ndovu Resources (operator) has 39% interest and has five other partners.

Gaz de France has made a gas discovery with its WEB-1X well in the West El Burullus Concession, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt. The well tested 27 MMcfd from Pliocene turbidite reservoirs. The well was drilled in 62 ft of water to a 7,884-ft TD. Gaz de France (operator) and Dana Petroleum each have a 50% interest in the block.

Sonatrach discovered gas at its Tirechoumine-2 exploration well drilled in the Ahnet Block in the Sahara Desert’s In Salah region of Algeria. It tested gas at a rate of 1.75 MMcfd from Devonian Gedinnien reservoirs. Sonatrach has 100% interest in the block.

Noble Energy’s appraisal, Well I-5, has confirmed its Benita discovery in Equatorial Guinea’s Block I in the Gulf of Guinea. The well found 43 ft of net pay and the oil-water contact, and was drilled to a 10,089-ft TD.

Europe. Total discovered gas and condensate in the UK North Sea Alwyn Area at its Islay well near Jura Field. The well tested 43 MMcfgd and 1,181 bcpd from Brent reservoirs. It is located in Block 3/15, about 275 mi northeast of Aberdeen, in 400-ft water depth, and was drilled to a 13,124-ft TD. Total has a 100% interest.

BP made an oil discovery with its Kinnoull well in the North Sea Block 16/23 South, 143 mi northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland. The well was drilled to a 9,144-ft TD in 338 ft of water. BP (operator) has a 77.07% interest in partnership with Eni (16.67%) and Petro Summit (6.27%).

StatoilHydro discovered gas at its Galtvort 6407/8-4 S well in the Norwegian Sea PL348, about 6 mi northwest of Draugen Field. It was drilled to a TD of 8,636 ft and found pay in lower Jurassic reservoirs. StatoilHydro (operator) has a 30.0% interest, in partnership with five other oil companies.

BG Norge made an oil and gas discovery with its 15/12-19 well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. It tested 4,717 bopd from Sleipner (Jurassic) and Skagerrak (Triassic) reservoirs. Recoverable reserves are estimated to be 19-31 million boe. The well was drilled to a 10,397-ft TD in 282 ft of water, south of Varg Field.

North America. Mirada Petroleum’s Nesbit-5 exploration well discovered oil in the Ventura Basin, California. It found 280 ft of pay in the Saugus Sandstone between 3,200 and 4,000 ft, and in the Monterrey Shale at 7,000 ft. The well drilled to a TD of 7,134 ft. Mirada Petroleum (operator) has a 60% interest in partnership with Solimar Energy (20%) and Sunset Energy (20%).

Shell confirmed its Walker Ridge Block 508 discovery in the US Gulf of Mexico. The Stones-3 appraisal well, located 200 mi offshore Louisiana, is in 7,500 ft of water and is 1 mi north of the Stones-1 discovery. The Stones-3 well found multiple oil pay zones above its TD of 29,400 ft. Shell (operator) has a 35% interest in partnership with Marathon Oil (25%), Petrobras (25%) and Eni (15%).

South America. Global Energy Development (Harken Energy) tested 369 bopd and 37 bwpd in its Boral-1 exploration well on the Rio Verde Block in Colombia. Pay was found in the Ubaque Formation and possibly also in the Gacheta Formation. The well was drilled to a 12,340-ft TD. Oil reserves are estimated to be more than 3 million bbl. Global has 100% interest in the block.

Petrobras discovered light oil above salt in its 1-BRSA-607-SPS (1-SPS-56) well in the Santos Basin, Brazil. The company estimates the production will be 12,000 bopd of 36° API oil from Lower Cretaceous reservoirs found at 6,824 ft. The location is 170 mi south of Sao Paulo, near Tubarao, Estrelo do Mar, Coral and Caravela Fields, and is in 770 ft of water. Petrobras has 100% interest in the well and block.

Petrobras’ appraisal well 1-BRSA-532A-SPS (1-SPS-52A) of its Bem-Te-Vi discovery was successful. The Bem-Te-Vi subsalt discovery is in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil, Block BM-S-8. The appraisal well was drilled to a TD of 22,222 ft in 7,018 ft of water. Initial analysis indicates an oil gravity of 25-28°API. No other information was given. Petrobras (operator) has 66% interest in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell (20%) and Galp Energia (14%).

Norwood Resources discovered 138 ft of net pay (based on logs) with its Maderas Negras-1 well in onshore Nicaragua’s Oklanicsa Concession. The (Paleocene) Maderas Negras Brito Formation pay is the same interval as in the San Bartolo well, some 3 mi to the southwest, where logs also identified 172 ft of net pay. Additionally, 387 feet of “new” net hydrocarbon pay has been identified in the overlying Masachapa Formation in the San Bartolo well. Porosities in these reservoirs ranged from 10% to greater than 30%.

Asia. Imperial Energy made a new pool discovery in the Kiev Eganskoye Field in the Tomsk Oblast region of southern Russia. The Kiev Eganskoye-361 tested 1,575 bopd from 21 ft of pay in “B8” Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs at a depth of 7,474 ft.

Lukoil and Gazprom have made a significant oil discovery with the Tsentralnoye exploration well in the Caspian Sea region of Russia on the Severniy Block, offshore Dagestan Republic. The discovery, which may have reserves of 730 million bbl, is located about 90 mi east of Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, near the Russia-Kazakhstan border.

Total discovered gas and condensate at its Maharaja Lela/Jamalulalam-2-06 (MLJ2-06) well 30 mi offshore Brunei in the South China Sea. The well was drilled to a 19,194-ft TD in 200 ft of water. Total (operator) has 37.5% interest in partnership with Shell Brunei (35%) and other local partners (27.5%).

Citic Resources made an oil discovery with its Nief Utara A-1 exploration well drilled on the Non-Bula Block on Seram Island, Indonesia. Recoverable reserves are estimated to be 18 million bbl from Lower Nief and Manusela carbonate reservoirs. Citic’s Seram (operator) has 53.5% interest in partnership with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Corp., which owns the remainder.

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