Exploration discoveries

	Vol. 230 No. 2
ARTHUR BERMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, bermanae@gmail.com

Africa. Heritage Oil made a large oil discovery with its Giraffe-1 exploration well drilled on Block 1 in the Lake Albert region of Uganda. The company estimates that recoverable reserves may be more than 400 million bbl of oil combined with its adjacent Buffalo discovery. The Giraffe well found a 292-ft oil column with 125 ft of net pay and was drilled to a 2,213-ft TD. Heritage operates with 50% interest in partnership with Tullow Oil, which holds 50%.

Apache Corp. tested a total of 80 MMcfd and 5,909 bopd from Jurassic reservoirs in three new discoveries in the Western Desert of Egypt. The Sultan-3x flowed 5,021 bopd and 11 MMcfd from the Alam El Buieb (AEB-6) and Safa formations. The well is located in the Khalda Offset Concession, 7 mi south of Apache’s Imhotep Field. The Adam-1x and Maggie-1x wells are on the Matruh Block north of the Sultan discovery.

Dana Gas made a gas and condensate discovery with its Salma-1 exploration well on the onshore Nile Delta West Qantara Concession in Egypt. The company estimates recoverable reserves of more than 150 Bcf, from 82 ft of pay in the Abu Madi Sandstone and 13 ft of pay in the underlying Kafr El Sheikh. The well was drilled to a 7,320-ft TD.

Offshore Ghana, Jubilee Field has been confirmed. The field straddles the west-side Deepwater Tano Block and the east-side West Cape Three Points Block in over 4,000 ft of water. Tullow Oil confirmed the 1.8 billion-bbl Jubilee Field discovery with a successful test of its Hyedua-2 appraisal well, drilled to an 11,033-ft TD in the Deepwater Tano Block. The well tested oil at 16,750 bopd. In addition, a new reservoir was discovered in 180 ft of sandstone that tested at 16,750 bopd of 37°API oil and 21 MMcfd. Tullow (49.95%) operates the block with partners Kosmos Energy (18%), Anadarko Petroleum (18%), the Ghana National Petroleum Corp. (10% carried) and Sabre Oil & Gas (4.05%).

In the adjacent West Cape Three Points Block, Kosmos Energy’s Mahogany-3 appraisal well also confirmed Jubilee Field pay and found 108 ft of additional oil pay in a deeper reservoir. Kosmos Energy (30.875%) operates the block in partnership with Tullow Oil (22.896%), Anadarko Petroleum (30.875%), GNPC (10% carried), E.O. Group (3.5%) and Sabre Oil & Gas (1.854%).

Ophir Equatorial Guinea made gas discoveries with its Fortuna-1R2 well and with its Lykos-1R3 well on Block R in the Gulf of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea. The Fortuna well found 75 ft of pay in Miocene turbidite sandstones with porosities as high as 35%. It was drilled to an 11,155-ft TD in 5,548 ft of water, 90 mi southwest of Bioko Island. Ophir’s Lykos-1 R-3 well encountered a 95-ft gross gas column based on log and pressure data. The well was drilled to a 7,994-ft TD in 5,072 ft of water. Ophir operates with 80% interest in partnership with Equatorial Guinea’s national oil company, GEPetrol, which holds the remaining 20%.

Americas. Eromanga Hydrocarbons’ Paca-2 well discovered oil on Block 330 in the Sergipe Alagoas Basin, onshore Brazil. The well found pay over a 761-ft gross interval in the Coqueiro Seco, Penedo and the Barra de Itiuba Formations. The well was drilled to a 1,860-ft TD. Gavea is the operator with 60% interest, and Eromanga holds the remaining 40%.

Marathon Oil made a successful step-out discovery with its Cana-1-15H in Oklahoma’s Woodford Shale play in the Anadarko Basin. The well is located in Canadian County and was drilled vertically to 13,177 ft and then horizontally 4,090 ft to a 17,267-ft MD. The well flowed at an initial rate of 5.2 MMcfd.

Asia Pacific. InterOil has made an apparent discovery in Block PPL238 of the Eastern Papuan Basin, Papua New Guinea. Logs indicate a gross pay interval of more than 2,000 ft in a dolomite and limestone reservoir from 5,761 to 7,736 ft. The company estimates that the net pay interval is more than 1,800 ft thick. InterOil’s subsidiary SPI Ltd. operates under a PSA with state-owned Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd.

Europe. StatoilHydro made an oil discovery with its 6608/10-12 well (Domgap) on Block 6608/10 in the Norwegian Sea north of Norne Field. The company estimates recoverable reserves at 25 - 50 million bbl of oil. The well was drilled to a 10,361-ft TD in the Lower Jurassic in 1,096 ft of water. StatoilHydro operates with 64.0% in partnership with Eni (11.5%) and Petoro (24.5%).

Middle East. Saudi Aramco has discovered five new oil fields and three new gas fields in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Onshore oil fields are Jaouf II, Ramthan IX, Nayashin I and Khursaniyah 114. A shallow-water offshore oil field is called Jareed 101. Jaouf II Field is located 185 mi northwest of Dhahran, and can produce 2,551 bopd and 1.2 MMcfd. Ramthan IX Field is located 250 mi northwest of Dhahran, and Nayashin I is 40 mi northwest of Ramthan. The Khursaniyah 114 discovery is 85 mi northwest of Dhahran, and Jareed 101 is in the Persian Gulf about 80 mi north of Dhahran. The new gas fields, Arabiya I, Rabeeb I and Hasba 16, are all in the Gulf-Arabiya I is 115 mi northeast of Dhahran. Together they are capable of producing about 41 MMcfd.

Oilex made discoveries in three onshore wells in Oman in Block 56. The Sarha-2 appraisal well produced 150 - 200 bopd, confirming an oil column in the Al Khlata interval that was discovered by the Sarha-1 well, located 2,000 ft to the southeast. The horizontal well encountered 650 ft of net pay. The Al Jumd-1 exploration well on Block 56 discovered 90 ft of oil pay in the Al Khlata from 3,818 to 4,357 ft. No oil-water contact was found. The Umq-1 exploration well found oil and associated gas shows in the Huqf reservoir from 4,318 to 6,037 ft.