JPT: Regional Update

Vol. 59 No. 5

May 2007

Regional Update

AFRICA

Repsol YPF discovered an oil field in Libya and has asked authorities for permission to develop the 474-million-bbl resource. Repsol YPF said the field, in the central southern Murzuq basin, is the biggest find in company history.
Eni completed drilling tests on two exploration wells in Tunisia’s Sahara region, Karma-1 in the Adam concession and Nakhil-1 in the Bordj el Kadra permit. Karma-1 was drilled to a 3617-m total depth and shows potential of more than 4,000 BOPD. Nakhil-1 was drilled to a 3929-m total depth and is now onstream with 1,200 BOPD.
Verenex Energy released information on testing results at its first exploration well in Libya, A1-47/02 in Area 47 in the Ghadames basin, confirming its status as an oil discovery. The company completed testing of an 82-ft interval at the base of the Lower Acacus formation, at a depth of 9,980 ft. The well initially flowed at rates of up to 5,172 BOPD.

BG India-Oil and Natural Gas Corp.-Reliance Industries consortium, operators of the Panna-Mukta-Tapti block, made a new find in two wells drilled in the Panna and Mukta fields in southwest India. Sources estimate the oil discovery to be about 30 million bbl.
PetroChina and Royal Dutch Shell said that their Changbei gas field in northwestern China has started commercial production. Changbei field, which is expected to have annual output of 3 billion m3 of natural gas in 2008, was developed jointly by PetroChina and Shell under a production-sharing contract.
Petrobras signed an agreement with Oil and Gas Development to explore offshore Block G in Pakistan. The block is located in the Indus offshore basin and remains largely unexplored, with only 11 wells having been drilled there. Covering nearly 7400 km2 with water depths of up to 2000 m, the block is located 200 km from Karachi. Petrobras and Oil and Gas Development will each hold 50%.
Toreador Resources and its joint venture partners Turkish National Oil and Stratic Energy announced the successful test of the uppermost of three zones in the Akcakoca-4 well. The flow test resulted in a flow rate of 18.9 MMcf/D of gas with a flowing pressure of 1,314 psi on a 48/64-in choke.

Hydro has proved the presence of oil and gas in an exploration well on the Nucula prospect in the Barents Sea. Hydro completed drilling exploration well 7125/4-1 on the Nucula prospect to a total depth of 1592 m. Oil and gas were encountered in the well. Hydrocarbons were found in the Realgrunnen Group formation and in the Kobbe formation. Participants in the Nucula license are Hydro as operator with 30%; Eni with 30%; BG with 20%, and Petoro with the remaining 20%.
Elixir Petroleum started drilling operations on its Guinea prospect in UKCS Block 15/13b. The Guinea well, designated as 15/13b-8, was spudded by the Borgsten Dolphin operated by Nexen Petroleum Elixir has a 13.125% interest in the block, and its share of the well costs is being fully carried by Nexen and Gas Plus.

EnCana completed drilling exploration well Neimah-1 in the southern part of Oman Block 4. The Neimah-1 well reached a total depth of 2195 m in the Al Khlata formation. The well encountered hydrocarbon shows in the Natih formation and small oil columns in the Khuff formation. EnCana is the operator on Oman Block 3 and 4, where Altinex Oil holds a 50% interest.
Saudi Aramco discovered an oil field southeast of Ghawar in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The Dirwazah-1 well tested oil in the Unayzah reservoir at 15,310 ft. The well flowed at 3,915 BOPD with 11.9 MMcf/D of gas. The Dirwazah-1 is 70 km southeast of Ghawar field and 280 km south of Dhahran.

Bayou Bend Petroleum made a gas/condensate discovery on its first well in the Marsh Island project in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Louisiana. The Greylock Prospect well was drilled to 10,500 ft and encountered 18 ft of Miocene Tex L “C” gas bearing sand with an average porosity of 29%.
BP successfully drilled a research well on Alaska’s North Slope in partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Energy and the U.S. Geological Survey to collect samples and gather knowledge about gas hydrates. The stratigraphic test well enabled BP and the Dept. of Energy to gather core, log, reservoir performance, and fluid data from an ice pad location at Milne Point.
Suncor Energy initiated the regulatory approval and stakeholder consultation process on plans to develop an expanded oil-sands mining operation. The proposed project, to be called Voyageur South, would be located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.
Gastar Exploration reported initial completion results on the Wildman Trust No. 2 gas well in east Texas. The well has been completed in one Bossier zone and had an initial gross rate of approximately 8 MMcf/D. An additional Bossier zone in the Wildman Trust No. 2 well is being evaluated for completion and commingling.

Petrobras found reservoirs saturated with light oil through well 4-ESS-172-ES in the BC-60 block off the coast of the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The reservoirs have been shown to have excellent productivity in a formation test carried out in a lined well at a water depth of 1011 m and at a depth of 4862 m. This test indicated that potential production may peak at 10,000 BOPD, while preliminary geological studies reveal an in-place potential of 570 million bbl.
Pacific Stratus Energy said that its 80%-owned Mauritia Norte 1 well in the Moriche block in the Llanos basin of Colombia encountered several multizone crude and gas shows. The well has been drilled to a total depth of 10,000 ft.