Mexico

Eni has concluded drilling and testing the #3-Amoca discovery well in Mexico’s Campeche Bay in Area 1. The company has raised the resource estimate to 1.3 Bboe in place, with 90% oil. Water depth at the prospect is about 25 m (82 ft). The well was drilled to 4,330 m (14,206 ft) and encountered about 410 m (1,345 ft) of net oil pay with 25- to 27-degree-gravity oil. It penetrated several Pliocene reservoir sandstones, including Cinco Presidentes, where 45 m (148 ft) of reservoir was tested flowing 6 Mbbl/d. Eni has temporarily suspended the well, and the development plan indicates an output of 30 Mbbl to 50 Mbbl/d beginning in 2019.

US

Chesapeake Operating Inc. completed a high-volume Marcellus Shale well. According to IHS Markit, #6H McGavin flowed at a peak rate of 1.7 MMcm/d (61.8 MMcf/d) of gas. The Mehoopany Field well is in Section 9, Auburn Center 7.5 Quad in Meshoppen Township on an 841- acre lease in Wyoming County, Pa. It was drilled to the northwest to 5,695 m (18,684 ft), and the proposed true vertical depth was 2,283 m (7,489 ft).

Argentina

GeoPark announced a new oil field in the Cuenca Neuquina V Block (CN-V Block) in Argentina’s Neuquén Basin in Mendoza Province. The #1-Rio Grande Oeste was drilled to 1,676 m (5,500 ft). It was targeting Grupo Neuquén, where 15 different potential reservoir sands were identified at depths between 549 m (1,800 ft) and 1,676 m (5,498 ft) with a potential net pay of 122 m (400 ft). The preliminary logging information indicated hydrocarbons in the upper, middle and lower zones, and additional testing is planned. Production tests in four reservoir sands were about 300 bbl/d of 28-degree-gravity oil. This discovery de-risks other delineated and adjacent light oil prospects in the CN-V Block for future drilling. GeoPark and partner Wintershall are evaluating subsequent activities in the CN-V Block, including a development plan for the Rio Grande Oeste oil field.

Brazil

A commercial oil discovery was announced by Petrobras in a presalt layer in Marlim Sul Field in the Campos Basin. According to the company, this is the first commercial discovery of oil in the presalt layer. Well #6-BRSA-1349-RJS was drilled to 4,568 m (14,987 ft) and is in 1,107 m (3,632 ft) of water. The analysis of current data using profile data and gas detector fluid samples indicates carbonate reservoirs of good porosity and permeability features at 4,420 m (14,501 ft) within a 45-m (148-ft) interval.

Senegal

Results from the #1-FAN South exploration well were announced by Cairn Energy. At the offshore Senegal South Fan Prospect, the well encountered 31-degree-gravity oil in the Lower Cretaceous reservoir. It was drilled to 5,343 m (17,529.5 ft) and is in 2,175 m (7,136 ft) of water. According to Cairn, the venture was targeting dual prospects—an Upper Cretaceous stacked multilayer channelized turbidite fan prospect and a Lower Cretaceous base-of-slope turbidite fan, similar to the #1-FAN oil discovery in 2014. The #1-FAN South is being plugged and abandoned, and the rig is being moved to an area about 15 km (9 miles) north of discovery well #1-SNE. Cairn has estimated that SNE North has a prospective volume of more than 80 MMbbl of total resource in multiple objectives. The well will be in 900 m (2,953 ft) water depth, and the projected depth is 2,800 m (9,186 ft).

UK

UK Oil & Gas Investments has announced results from a Kimmeridge Limestone (KL1 to KL4) target section at its 100% owned exploration well, #1-Broadford Bridge, in license PEDL234 in West Sussex, U.K. According to the company, a gross Kimmeridge Limestone (KL1-Kl4) oil-bearing zone was found in a section at 1,225 m to 1,679 m (4,018 ft to 5,508 ft). A second highly fractured Kimmeridge shale and limestone reservoir zone, KL0, also was discovered from 1,679 m to 1,719 m (5,640 ft). The zone may extend farther upward into fractured zones above 1,158 m (3,800 ft). The Weald Basin well was drilled to 1,783 m (5,850 ft).

Norway

Lundin Petroleum AB is planning exploratory drilling in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea. A rig is drilling #1-Korpfjell in PL859 Block 7325/4, and after completion it will move on to PL609 Block 7220/6 to drill the Borselv Prospect on the Loppa High. The Loppa High is on trend with Lundin’s Alta discovery. After the well in PL609 Block 7220/6 is drilled, the rig will be moved south to PL533 to drill the Hufsa and Hurri prospects to the west of Alta. The Hufsa prospect has an estimated gross unrisked prospective resource of 285 MMboe. The Hurri prospect has an estimated gross unrisked prospective resource of 218 MMboe.

Kenya

A Tullow Oil Plc well, #1-Emekuya, in Kenya’s Block 13T encountered 75 m (246 ft) of net oil pay in two zones. The well is about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) north of #2-Etom, and the objective was to test a fault block on the flank of the Greater Etom structure. It was drilled to 1,356 m (4,449 ft) and penetrated reservoir-quality Miocene sandstones similar to those found at #2-Etom. Downhole pressure measurements and fluid samples indicate the main oil reservoir is on the same static pressure gradient as #2-Etom. The reservoir sands encountered also appear to be extensive, which further de-risks the northern play area in the region. The rig will be moved to drill an updip appraisal well on the Greater Etom structure.

Pakistan

Oil & Gas Development Co. (OGDC) reported results from a new gas fi eld in Sindh Province’s Sukkhur District, Thal Block 2769-15, at exploration well #1-Bhambhra. The well was drilled to 4,023 m (13,199 ft) and was tested fl owing 162 Mcm/d (5.73 MMcf/d). It was tested on a 32⁄64-in. choke with a wellhead fl owing pressure of 1,000 psi from Basal Sand of Lower Goru.

Myanmar

An exploration well by Woodside Petroleum in offshore Myanmar’s Block A-6 hit a 65-m (213-ft) gross gas column with an interpreted net gas pay interval of about 36 m (118 ft). The #1-Pyi Thit is in the southern Rakhine Basin and was drilled to 4,570 m (14,993 ft). A drillstem test across a 29-m (95-ft) section of the reservoir fl owed at 1.4 MMcm (50 MMcf) during testing on a 44⁄64-in. choke over a 44-hr interval.

Vietnam

A shallow-water oil discovery by Murphy Oil Corp. was announced in offshore Vietnam’s Con Son Basin with its #1X-CT exploration well. The well was drilled in Block 11-2 in the South China Sea. Preliminary estimates of the fi nd indicate 10 MMbbl to 12 MMbbl of oil. Additional drilling, exploration and evaluation are planned for this year.

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