|
Vol. 230 No. 12 |
|
|
| NELL L. BENTON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR |
Africa-Middle East. Sonangol EP and Petrobras made a deepwater oil discovery offshore Angola in Block 18/06. The well was drilled approximately 124 mi from Luanda in waters 4,925 ft deep. Sonangol is the concessionaire of the block, with Petrobras serving as the well’s operator with 30% interest in partnership with Sinopec International, holding 40%, Sonangol P&P (20%), Geminas (5%) and Falcon Oil (5%).
Sunpec subsidiary Madagascar Energy International made an oil discovery onshore Madagascar with the SKL-2 well in Block 3113. Kaiyuan Petroleum, the chief drilling contractor, has reported 31 oil-bearing zones with a total thickness of 279 ft at depths between 10,780 and 11,890 ft.
The PetroChina unit of CNPC has made an oil discovery with a new exploration well in the desert Oued Mya Basin, Block 438B, of Algeria. This find is the second on the concession by PetroChina, which discovered oil and gas on the block with its NGS-P-1 exploration well in 2007. Under PetroChina’s 2003 agreement with Algeria, its investment of $31 million to explore Block 438B entitles the company to a share in any oil discovered and produced.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) commenced drilling its initial exploration well in northern Kenya near Isiolo on Block 9. The Boghal-1 well, which is located in the Anza Basin, will be the deepest well yet drilled in Kenya. Boghal-1 is expected to reach a total depth of 18,229 ft and will pass through two possible hydrocarbon horizons at 9,843 and 16,400 ft.
Americas. Gazprom subsidiary Zarubezhneftegaz discovered a gas field in the Gulf of Venezuela just two months after the Eni-Repsol discovery that has been described as one of the largest gas fields in the world. Zarubezhneftegaz is the operator of the Urumaco Blocks I and II with 100% interest. No discovery announcements have been made.
Petrobras has concluded the drilling of its first exploration well on Peru’s Ucayali Basin Block 58 in the Amazon rainforest region of central Peru, in Cusco Province. The Urubamba-1X well was drilled to a 13,124-ft TD, and samples from the well are currently being analyzed to determine its commerciality. It is estimated that Block 58 harbors some 5 Tcf in gas reserves. Petrobras is the operator of Block 58 and the exploration wells with 100% interest.
Pacific Rubiales Energy discovered oil at a second well on its Quifa Block in the Llanos Basin of Colombia with its Quifa-12 well, which was drilled as an appraisal well. The Quifa-12 found the top of the Carbonera basal sands at 3,693 ft MD, or 2,255 ft true vertical depth at subsea level (TVDSS), and the oil-water contact at 3,774 ft MD, or 2,310 ft TVDSS, resulting in an oil column of 55 ft at the well.
Enegi Oil resumed operations at the Port au Port-1-ST3 well onshore Newfoundland, Canada’s Garden Hill South concession on the Port au Port Penninsula between the Bay of St. George and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Enegi’s operating subsidiary PDI Production has flowed the well at an initial rate of between 580 and 600 bpd with associated gas, on a 32/64-inch choke.
Questar Exploration & Production has commenced drilling the first of six permitted wells in the Johnson Bottoms Unit in Uintah County, Utah. The target zone is the H4 member of the oil-bearing Green River Formation at an approximate depth of 7,000 ft. Johnson Bottoms Unit drilling campaign results are being held confidential.
Asia-Pacific. Reliance Industries has discovered oil in the Cambay Basin of India, in the onshore Block CB-ONN-2003/1. The well, CB10A-A1, was drilled to a total depth of 4,761 ft in Part A of the block. A gross reservoir thickness of about 49 ft was encountered, and the well flowed at a rate of 500 bpd of oil through a 6-mm choke with a flowing tubing-head pressure of 360 psi on conventional testing. Reliance is the sole operator with 100% interest.
A Petrovietnam-led consortium with SK Energy and Total made an oil discovery in the South China Sea offshore Vietnam on Block 15-1/05. The discovery was made on the 1,467-mi2 concession with an exploration well drilled some 120 mi southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. The well tested good-quality oil on a production test that predicted a probable 4,300-bpd output once onstream. Petrovietnam is the operator of Block 15-1/05 with 40% interest, with Total holding 35% and SK Energy the remaining 25%.
Oil Search discovered gas from a well drilled onshore Yemen in its operated Block 3, outside Papua New Guinea. The Tubb’a-1 well produced gas and condensate on test at rates of up to 9 MMcfd of natural gas and some 450 bpd of condensate on a 1/2-inch choke. Block 3 and the Tubb’a-1 discovery well are operated by Oil Search with 60% interest in joint venture with Petoil, holding 34%, and Yemen General Corporation for Oil & Gas, with the remaining 6%.
Europe. Lundin Petroleum completed exploration of Well 25/4-10S. The well was drilled on the Viper prospect in PL203, 4 mi south of the Alvheim FPSO in the Norwegian North Sea. The size of the discovery is estimated to be 5–10 million barrels of recoverable oil. It is likely that the discovery will be developed as a subsea tieback to the Alvheim FPSO. Lundin Petroleum has 15% working interest in PL203 with partners Marathon Petroleum Norge AS (operator) and ConocoPhillips Scandinavia AS.
Aurelian Oil & Gas tested gas from the interval between 5,423 and 5,486 ft MD in its Voitinel-1 well, in the Brodina concession of Romania. The well flowed at an initial rate of 3 MMcfd of dry gas at a tubing-head pressure of 595 psi. The well is being further tested at different flowrates and pressures. Aurelian operates the concession and the well with 33.75% interest in partnership with SNGN Romgaz (37.50%) and Europa Oil & Gas (28.75%).
StatoilHydro Petroleum concluded the drilling of a wildcat well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, Block 30/9. Well 30/9-24 was drilled about 4 mi west of Oseberg Field to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks belonging to the Statfjord Formation. The well failed to encounter hydrocarbons, despite reservoir rocks with significant thickness and medium to good reservoir quality being encountered in the Lower Jurassic. 
|
