Exploration discoveries

	Vol. 230 No. 6
ARTHUR BERMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, bermanae@gmail.com

Africa- Middle East. Heritage Oil made an apparent giant field discovery with its Miran West-1 well on the Miran Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq near Kirkuk. The company estimates recoverable reserves between 1.6 and 2.3 billion bbl of oil. It further estimates per-well flowrates of 10,000−15,000 bopd from fractured Upper Cretaceous Shiranish, Kometan and Qamchuqua reservoirs. Heritage Energy Middle East operates with a 75% interest with Genel Energy Intl. Ltd. holding the remaining interest.

Tullow Oil discovered oil with its Nsoga-1 exploration well on Block 2 in the Albert Basin of Uganda. The well found about 10 ft of pay in Tertiary reservoirs equivalent to the productive interval at nearby Kasamene Field. The well was directionally drilled to a TVD of 2,477 ft, and was apparently designed to test the oil-water contact on a structure with over 500 ft of oil-filled closure. Tullow operates with 100% interest.

Total discovered oil with its Moho Nord Marine-4 well 50 mi offshore the Republic of Congo. The well tested 8,100 bopd from a 535-ft oil column in Lower Cretaceous (Albian) reservoirs. The well was drilled to a 13,908-ft TD in 3,537 ft of water. Total E&P Congo operates with 53.5% interest, in partnership with Chevron Overseas Congo (31.5%) and Societé Nationale des Petroles du Congo (15%).

CC Energy Development (Oman) and Tethys Oil’s Saiwan East-2 well is an apparent heavy oil discovery on Block 4 onshore Oman. Pay was identified in core from three zones in the Miqrat and Amin sandstones and in the Buah limestone. The well is drilling to a 7,874-ft TD. CC Energy Development operates with 50% interest, and Tethys holds the remaining interest.

Apache Corp. made two oil and gas discoveries with its Phiops-1x and WKAL-A-1x wells in the Faghur Basin in the Western Desert, Egypt. The Phiops-1x tested 2,278 bopd and 5 MMcfd from Jurassic Safa reservoirs. Pay was also found in the Cretaceous AEB-3 interval. The well is located on the Mediterranean coast about 2.5 mi northwest of the Kalabsha Field. Five mi west of Phiops, Apache’s WKAL-A-1x tested 770 bopd and 4 MMcfd from Jurassic Zahra reservoirs, and 2,906 bcpd and 16 MMcfd, also from the Cretaceous AEB-3G. Apache hold 100% interest in both areas.

Noble Energy’s Dalit-1 well flowed 33 MMcfd from 43 ft of pay on the Michal Block offshore Israel. The company said that the well is capable of flowrates of up to 200 MMcfd and had estimated gross field reserves of 500 Bcf. The discovery is located southwest of Tamar Field (5 Tcf EUR) and announced in February 2009. Noble operates with a 36% working interest in partnership with partners Isramco Negev 2 (28.75%), Delek Drilling (15.625%), Avner Oil Exploration (15.625%) and Dor Gas Exploration (4%).

Americas. Repsol made a significant discovery with its Panoramix well in the offshore Santos Basin of Brazil. It tested 13.4 MMcfd and 1,570 bcpd between 14,469 and 14,499 ft. Repsol operates with 40% interest with partners Petrobras (35%), Vale (12.5%) and Woodside Petroleum (12.5%).

Petrobras made a discovery with its 1BRSA718ES well on the BT-ES-15 Block in the Espirito Santo Basin onshore Brazil. The company said that the well tested oil but no details were released. The well was drilled to a 6,588-ft TD. Also in the onshore Espirito Santo Basin, Petrobras announced another discovery with its 4BRSA728ES well on Block ES-T-364. No rates or reserves were announced in the well, which was drilled to a 2,641-ft TD.

Walter Oil & Gas’ discovery well EB998-1 flowed 4,254 bopd and 5.4 MMcfd between 14,352 and 14,400 ft on Ewing Banks Block 998 in the US Gulf of Mexico. It is located about 150 mi southwest of New Orleans in 1,000 ft of water. Walter operates with 50% interest in partnership with Apache, which holds the remaining 50%.

ConocoPhillips and Anadarko Petroleum discovered oil and gas with their Pioneer-1 and Rendezvous-2 wells in the Greater Moose’s Tooth Unit on the North Slope of Alaska. The wells are located in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve about 20 mi southwest of the Colville River Unit. ConocoPhillips operates with 78% interest and Anadarko holds the remaining 22%.

Pemex made three discoveries with its Bricol-1, Cupache-1 and Bajilum-1 wells onshore Tabasco and Veracruz states in Mexico. In the Cinco Presidentes area, the Bricol-1 well tested 5,200 bopd while the Cupache-1 well tested 1,300 bopd. In the Veracruz Basin, the Bajilum-1 well tested 7,200 bopd. Oddly, these discoveries were first announced in Pemex’s annual report.

Asia-Pacific. Sinopec made a discovery with its Great Auk-1 well in the Timor Sea, offshore Australia. It found 20−25 ft of hydrocarbon column in Puffin K1a reservoirs at 7,218 ft. The well is located 6 mi south of AED’s Puffin-9 discovery, and 10 mi west of Skua Field in 200 ft of water. Sinopec operates with 60% interest, while AED Oil holds the remaining 40%.

Pan Orient Energy discovered oil with its L44-W well on Blocks L44 and L33 onshore Thailand. The well is producing 1,200 bopd of 27° to 32°API oil from volcanic reservoirs. The well is located about 30 mi northeast of the NSE-F1 discovery and 35 mi northeast of the Na Sanun East Field. Pan Orient operates with 60% interest in partnership with Carnarvon Petroleum, which holds the remaining 40%.

Petrovietnam Exploration & Production discovered gas on Block 103-107 about 60 mi offshore Vietnam. The Hac Long well tested 14.1 MMcfd. The company estimates reserves of 1.76 Tcf and 45 MMbc. Petrovietnam operates with 55% interest with Petronas holding the remaining 45%.

Europe. StatoilHydro discovered gas with its 30/5-3S well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea about 4 mi northwest of the Oseberg C platform. The well, named “Corvus,” found 1,804 ft of pay in Upper Triassic sandstone reservoirs of the Hegre Group. It was drilled to a 12,566-ft TD in 371 ft of water. StatoilHydro operates with 63.82% interest in partnership with Petoro (33.60%) and ConocoPhillips (2.58%).