Interest in the U.K. North Sea has rebounded, with companies still able to appreciate the region's potential. In its 22nd licensing round, the U.K. offered 97 offshore licenses to 58 companies, and 15 are newcomers. The new "promote" licenses, which attracted smaller independents, accounted for 58 of the 97 licenses awarded. The successful applicants were Antrim Energy, CalEnergy Gas, Canuk Exploration, Century Exploration, Corsair Petroleum, Deltaic Systems, Endeavour Energy, Genesis, Geosolutions, Granby Enterprises, Iceni Oil & Gas, Ingen-Ideas, Ithaca Energy, Midmar Energy, Nautical Petroleum, Premier Oil, Serica Energy, Stelinmatvic Industries, Sterling Resources, Storm Ventures, Stratic Energy, Tullow Oil, Unilon Oil, Venture Production, Veritas Geophysical, Virgo Energy, Wham Energy and Wintershall. Seven "frontier" licenses, covering 27 blocks, were also awarded to prod along exploration in the West of Shetlands area. ChevronTexaco, Faroe Petroleum, Shell and Total were given operatorships. Additionally, 32 traditional offshore licenses were granted to many familiar players, including Amerada Hess, Apache, BG, Century Exploration, CH4, ChevronTexaco, DONG, GDF, Kerr-McGee, Noble Energy, OMV, Premier Oil, Serica Energy, Shell, Total and Tullow Oil. -Peggy Williams ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Canada Paramount Resources Ltd. and Apache Canada Ltd. plan winter drilling on the Nogha structure at Colville Hills in the Northwest Territories, reports Nickle's Petroleum Explorer. The companies will drill exploratory wells targeting the basal Cambrian on exploration licenses 414 and 399, north of Norman Wells. The partners have already drilled several wells in the area and have amassed some 721,000 acres of joint leasehold. The Nogha C-49 and Nogha M-17 tested between 3- and 5 million cu. ft. of gas per day after stimulations. Two additional wells drilled last winter, the Nogha B-23 and the West Nogha K-14, will be production-tested this winter. Also in the region, Devlan Exploration Inc. has received approval from the National Energy Board to drill its Devlan Moose Lake D-07 in the Grandview Hill area on Exploration License 413. The well is projected to 800 meters in the Devonian Bear Lake formation. 2 Colombia Harken Energy Corp. subsidiary Global Energy Development Plc has signed an E&P contract for the 75,000-acre Rio Verde Block, in the central Llanos region. The new license is approximately 40 kilometers north of Global's Palo Blanco complex. During the first phase of the contract, Global will bring two existing wells on production, reprocess 300 kilometers of existing seismic and acquire 50 kilometers of new 2-D seismic. 3 Brazil El Paso and Petrobras say that Tadeu and Luana fields, on Block BS-1 in the Santos Basin, can be commercially developed. The blocks are 150 kilometers offshore the Sao Paulo coast. The companies will submit a development plan in early 2005, and expect to see first production during 2006. El Paso operates BS-1 and holds a 60% working interest; Petrobras holds the remaining 40%. 4 U.K. Talisman Energy, Calgary, plans to spend C$770 million to develop Tweedsmuir and Tweedsmuir South fields in the U.K. North Sea. The fields, in Block 21/1aN, contain gross reserves of 71 million bbl. of oil equivalent. The fields will be developed using a four-well subsea tieback to Talisman's Piper B platform, some 55 kilometers north. First production is expected in late 2006, and a plateau rate of 40,000 bbl. per day is anticipated. Talisman operates the block and holds an 87.43% working interest. 5 U.K. Total SA announced a positive appraisal of Laggan Field, some 120 kilometers west of the Shetland Islands on the Atlantic Margin. The 2006/4AZ well was drilled in 600 meters of water and tested at a rate of 37.8 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Total operates Laggan and owns a 50% interest. Its partners are DONG, Eni and ChevronTexaco. 6 Gabon A light oil onshore discovery has been made by operator Shell Gabon and its 50% partner, Pan-Ocean Energy. The Awokou 1 wildcat was drilled on the Koula prospect on the Awoun Permit, some eight kilometers north of Avocette Field. The well was drilled to a total depth of 6,319 ft. and found oil in the Gamba sandstone. A second exploratory well is planned, some three kilometers southwest. The Awoun Concession covers 1,112 square kilometers on Gabon's coastal plain. 7 Equatorial Guinea Houston-based Noble Energy has agreed to become the technical operator of Block I, in water depths of greater than 500 meters, east of Bioko Island in the Douala Basin. The 806-square-kilometer license is held 40% by Noble and 60% by a group consisting of Nigerian firm Atlas International Petroleum Ltd. and Osborne Resources. The state entity, GEPetrol, will have a carried 5% interest after the block is declared commercial. To date, a 3-D seismic survey has been acquired on the acreage. 8 Congo Total SA has made an ultradeep oil discovery on its Mer Tres Profonde Sud permit, approximately 200 kilometers southwest of Pointe Noire in water depths between 1,300 and 3,000 meters. The Pegase Nord Marine 1 was drilled to a total depth of 3,622 meters and tested at a rate of 14,360 bbl. of oil per day. Total operates the permit and holds a 40% interest; Eni has 30% and ExxonMobil has 30%. The well is the second discovery on the block, following the Andromede Marine 1, drilled in May 2002. That well, in 1,893 meters of water, tested at the rate of 7,000 bbl. of oil per day. 9 Azerbaijan The Azerbaijan International Operating Co. has sanctioned the Phase 3 development of giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli Field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. Phase 3 of the project calls for a 48-slot drilling platform that will be linked to a production platform in deepwater Gunashli. ACG's gross recoverable reserves are estimated at 5.4 billion bbl. Partners in the AIOC consortium are Socar, the state oil entity, Unocal, BP, Inpex, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TPAO, Devon Energy, Itochu and Amerada Hess. The field is currently producing 148,000 bbl. of oil per day; total production is expected to peak at more than 1.1 million per day in 2009 after the completion of Phase 3. 10 Bangladesh Calgary-based Niko Resources has had success in its first two wells in a three-well appraisal program in the Feni Block, onshore Bangladesh. The Feni 4 well was drilled to a total depth of 3,100 meters and encountered several prospective sands. During two production tests, the well flowed gas at a cumulative rate of 32 million cu. ft. per day. The flow rates were constrained by the facilities, the company says. Earlier this year, Niko tested the Feni 3 at the rate of 13.6 million cu. ft. of gas per day from two zones. Next, the company will drill the Feni 5. Niko operates the field and holds an 80% working interest. 11 Malaysia El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy Oil has made an oil discovery at its Senangin 1, drilled in 1,431 meters of water in Block K, offshore deepwater Sabah. The well reached a total measured depth of 4,865 meters. The Senangin structure lies 14 kilometers from Murphy's Kikeh Field on a completely new trend, the company reports. While the sands are thinner than at Kikeh, the areal extent of the accumulation could be larger. Murphy will now drill its Todak prospect, further north on the 4-million-acre license. It operates and has an 80% interest in Block K, and Petronas Carigali has the remaining 20%. Additionally, Murphy confirmed that it had success on its Pertang prospect, on Block PM-311, offshore Peninsular Malaysia. The Pertang 1, which was drilled in 68 meters of water to a depth of 3,200 meters, encountered gas in multiple zones. It was the second well in the company's program on the block, following the Kenarong 1 ST. That well also found significant quantities of natural gas. 12 Indonesia Amerada Hess has found more gas in its East Java Sea drilling program, designed to test the western extension of Ujung Pangkah Field. The company's western appraisal well on its Pangkah production-sharing contract flowed 31.4 million cu. ft. of gas per day from a 117-ft. gas column, and 2,100 bbl. of oil per day from an underlying oil zone. Another well, drilled to the north, encountered a 78-ft. gas column and an underlying 77-ft. oil column. That well flowed at a stabilized rate of 2,300 bbl. of oil per day on a production test. It also flowed 14.4 million cu. ft. per day on a separate test of the gas interval. Amerada Hess operates the Pangkah production-sharing contract and holds a 66% interest; ConocoPhillips has 22% and Dana Petroleum Plc, 12%.

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