JPT

 

Vol. 58 No. 7

July 2006

Regional Update

Africa

  • Royal Dutch Shell reported an oil find on the Bonga North 2X well in Nigeria. Drilled in 1019 m of water, the well penetrated a 300-ft pay-sand interval.
  • Operator BP, Sonangol, Statoil, Marathon, and Total announced an oil discovery in Block 31 offshore Angola, the tenth discovery for BP in the block. The Urano well, drilled to 4578 m below sea level, tested at 1,970 BOPD.
  • Total, Sonatrach, and Cepsa made a gas discovery in the Timimoun gas perimeter in southwestern Algeria on the MJB-3 exploration well. The well tested at 8.3 MMcf/D.
  • Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Dangote Energy Equity Resources completed an exploration well off western Africa’s coast in the Gulf of Guinea. The JDZ Block-1 discovery, located 190 miles from the city of Sao Tome, is estimated to contain 1 billion BOE.
  • Peak Petroleum Nigeria and Equator Exploration reported test results on the B-DX1 well in OML 122 offshore Nigeria east of the Bonga Field. The well, located in water depths of 40 to 300 m, tested at 26.5 MMcf/D of gas. Estimated oil in place on this discovery is 130 million bbl, and estimated gas in place is 900 Bcf, not including a deep gas zone.

Asia

  • Shell and Petronas discovered gas in Block PM302 off the northeast coast of peninsular Malaysia on the Bunga Dahlia Channel-1 exploration well. The well was drilled to 2260 m.
  • China Natl. Offshore Corp. began production from the Huizhou 21-1 gas field in the eastern part of the South China Sea. The field is producing 54 MMcf/D from four wells.
  • Cairn Energy made another find in Rajasthan on the N-C-1 well in Block RJ-ON-90/1. The well, located north of the Mangala find, encountered an oil column of 18 m. Gross in-place reserves are 400 million bbl.
  • Lukoil reported discovery of the Sharonovskoe oil field in the Oktyabrsky and Chernushinsky districts in the south Perm region. The field is planned to come on line in 2009.

Australia

  • Apache, Kufpec, and Tap encountered a 9-m gross oil column on the Zephyrus-1 well, located approximately 2.5 km southeast of the Agincourt platform offshore Australia.
  • Coogee Resources reported two oil discoveries in the Timor Sea in Australia. A 23-m oil column was encountered on the Swift North-1 well in Ex--ploration Permit AC-P34 in the Ashmore Cartier area, and a 25-m oil column was intersected by the Swallow-1 well in the same permit area.
  • Origin Energy found gas on the Ogilvie Creek 1 and 2 exploration wells in Australia’s Surat basin. The first well tested at 0.4 MMcf/D and the second well at 5.1 MMcf/D.

Europe

  • Operator Total, BG Intl., Gaz de France, and Eni commenced production at the Glenelg gas and condensate field, located 240 km east of Aberdeen. The well has a production potential of 30,000 BOE/D.
  • Oilexco encountered a 90-ft oil column on the 21/23a-8Z well on the Disraeli Prospect located in Block 21/23a in the U.K. Central North Sea. 
  • Operator ATP achieved first production from the Tors development in Block 43/22 of the Southern Gas basin of the U.K. North Sea. The Kilmar field is the first well of four planned in the Tors development.

Middle East

  • Saudi Aramco discovered a gas field in Saudi territorial waters in the Persian Gulf that could produce 80 MMcf/D. The Karan gas well, located approximately 160 km north of Dhahran, tested at 40 MMcf/D.
  • Operator Toreador Resources, Turkish national oil company TAPO, and Stratic reported a gas find on the Dogu Ayazli-2 development well. A 348-ft gas column was encountered.
  • Cosmo Oil, the Tokyo-based subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum Development Co., began production of 6,000 BOPD at an oil field off the coast of east Qatar. Production is expected to peak at 10,000 BOPD in 2007.

North America

  • Kerr-McGee commenced production on the Constitution field in deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The field, located in Green Canyon Blocks 679 and 680 in approximately 5,000 ft of water, is producing 15,000 BOPD and 12 MMcf/D of gas.
  • Operator Noble Energy, Samson Offshore, and Energy Partners announced a discovery on the Redrock prospect in Mississippi Canyon Block 204 No. 1 well in the GOM. The well is located in 3,334 ft of water.
  • Petsec Energy reported a discovery on the G-6 well in GOM Main Pass 18. The discovery is estimated at 7.5 Bcf of gas and 1.1 million bbl of oil.

South America

  • Petrobras found 38°API oil in the Espirito Santo basin on the 4-ESS-164A well. The find is located 12 km northeast of the Golfinho field. Estimated volume of the discovery is 280 million BOE.
  • Enap confirmed gas deposits on the Patagonian island of Tierra del Fuego in the Lago Mercedes basin. Specific reserves estimates were not reported.