Exploration discoveries

	Vol. 230 No. 1
ARTHUR BERMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, bermanae@gmail.com

Americas. Petrobras announced a gas discovery in the Espírito Santo Basin, offshore Brazil, with its 1 ESS-185D well drilled in Block ES-5. It found 331 ft of gas-saturated sandstone reservoir at a depth of 11,211 ft. The well is 19 mi offshore in 200 ft of water, and was drilled to a 14,833-ft TD. Petrobras is the operator with 65% interest, while El Paso holds the remaining 35%.

Petrobras also made a light oil discovery with its 6-BFR-1-ESS and 6-BAZ-1DB-ESS wells in the Espírito Santo Basin, offshore Brazil. The company estimates that recoverable reserves are between 1.5 and 2.0 Bboe. The wells penetrated about 2,300 ft of salt and were drilled to 13,780 ft into pre-salt Cretaceous reservoirs, below existing production in the Baleia Franca, Baleia Azul and Jubarte heavy oil fields. Oil of 30°API gravity was found in pay zones that range 625-985 ft in net thickness.

Petrobras discovered gas with its 1BRSA671ES well, drilled on Block ES-T-454 in the Espírito Santo Basin of Brazil. The well was drilled to a 6,588-ft TD; no other details were announced.

Petrobras also made a discovery with its 1-BAS-147 Lua Nova well drilled on Block BM-J-3 in the Jequitinhonha Basin, offshore Brazil. No details were released on the well, which was drilled in nearly 7,500 ft of water. Petrobras is the operator with 60% interest in partnership with StatoilHydro (40%).

GeoPark Holdings’ Manekenk-1 exploration well on the Fell Block in the Magellan Straits of southern Chile tested at an initial rate of 7 MMcfd and 102 bcpd. The well was drilled to a 10,043-ft TD and found 36 ft of pay in the Springhill formation below 9,682 ft. GeoPark operates the Fell Block with 100% interest.

Pacific Rubiales Energy made an oil discovery with its Quifa-5 well in the Llanos Basin in Colombia. The well found a 71-ft oil column in sandstone reservoirs below 2,311 ft on an exploration block adjacent to the company’s Rubiales Field. Pacific Rubiales operates with 60% interest in partnership with Ecopetrol (40%).

Corridor Resources made an oil discovery at its South Branch G-36 well southern New Brunswick, Canada. It encountered pay in Hiram Brook sandstone reservoirs below 5,164 ft and tested 59 bopd of 45°API oil. The well is located 2 mi southeast of McCully Field and was drilled to a TD of 8,668 ft. While the indicated discovery is small, it is potentially significant because an additional 100 ft of Hiram Brook pay has been identified but not yet tested, and mechanical problems may have resulted in a reduced flowrate.

Asia-Pacific. CNOOC has confirmed its Jinzhou 25-1 Field discovery announced last year in the Bohai Basin of northeastern China. The company drilled four appraisal wells, and now estimates reserves of 733 million bbl of oil and 3 Tcfg. Initial production of 2,900 bopd and 11.7 MMcfd is targeted from the field, which is located in about 100 ft of water. CNOOC operates the field with 100% interest.

Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. (GSPC) discovered oil with its A21 well in Block CB-ONN-2003/2 of the Cambay Basin, India. Two zones from 4,593−4,659 ft flowed 200 bopd. The company estimates recoverable oil reserves between 10 and 50 million bbl.

ONGC made an oil discovery with its G-4-6 well on Block IG, offshore eastern India in 738 ft of water. Pay was found in three reservoir intervals between 12,326 and 12,730 ft, with the thickest single pay zone being 180 ft. ONGC operates with 100% interest.

Europe. Sterling Resources made a discovery with its 210/29a-4 well drilled on Block 210/29a in the UK sector of the North Sea. The well encountered a 112-ft oil column in 25 ft of net Jurassic sandstone pay. The well was drilled to a TD of 9,734 ft in 535 ft of water. Sterling is the operator with 39.9% interest in partnership with Revus Energy (33.5%), EnCore Oil (6.6%) and Dyas UK (10%).

StatoilHydro completed its 34/8-14A appraisal well on the Pan/Pandora discovery south of the Visund Field in the North Sea (Norwegian Sector), Block 34/8. The well confirmed a 175-ft gas and 26-ft oil column in Brent Group reservoirs. It was drilled to a 9,987-ft TD in 958 ft of water. StatoilHydro operates with 59.06% interest, with partners Petoro (16.94%), ConocoPhillips (13%) and Total (11%).

Africa-Middle East. The Improved Petroleum Recovery Group (IPR) found oil and gas with its Zain-1X in the Yidma-Alamein Block in the Alamein Basin of Egypt’s Western Desert, 75 mi southwest of Alexandria. The well tested a combined rate of 5,414 bopd and 16 MMcfd from two Jurassic reservoir intervals. IPR is the operator of the block in partnership with Sojitz Corp.

Circle Oil made a gas discovery with its CGD-9 well on its Sebou Block onshore Morocco. The well tested 8.9 MMcfd from the Lower Guebbas Formation. Circle operates with 75% interest in partnership with ONHYM (25%), the Moroccan national oil company.

Gulfsands Petroleum discovered oil with its Yousefieh-1 well drilled on Block 26 in eastern Syria. The well flowed 900 bopd from more than 200 ft of net pay in Cretaceous reservoirs. It was drilled to a 7,018-ft TD about 2 mi from its Khurbet East discovery, announced previously. Gulfsands operates 50% interest in equal partnership with Emerald Energy.

PA Resources made an oil discovery with the Didon North-1 well on the Zarat Block, offshore Tunisia. The well found 46 ft of pay in the El Gueria Formation below 9,176 ft after reaching a TD of 10,401 ft. PA Resources is the operator with 100% interest. The Tunisian national oil company, ETAP, has the right to back in for a 55% working interest.

Total made a discovery with the Moho Nord Marine-3 well on the Moho-Bilondo license area, offshore Republic of Congo. The well tested 3,000 bopd in almost 200 ft of Upper Miocene reservoirs. The well was drilled to a 7,546-ft TD at a location 50 mi offshore in 3,380 ft of water. It is located near Moho-Bilondo Field that began production in April 2008, and the Moho Nord Marine-1 and Moho Nord Marine-2 discoveries announced last year. Total E&P Congo is the operator with 53.5% interest in partnership with Chevron Overseas Congo (31.5%) and the Societé Nationale des Petroles du Congo (15%).