The discovery well, known as Carioca, flowed at a rate of approximately 2,900 barrels of 27°-gravity oil and 2 million cubic feet of gas per day. The rate was constrained by test equipment. The 1-BRSA-491-SPS (1-SPS-50) was drilled in Block BM-S-9 in 2,140 meters of water. The site is 273 kilometers off the coast. Petrobras operates the block, and BG and Repsol YPF are partners.
Carioca is 70 kilometers west of Tupi, the October 2006 discovery that touched off the play. The discovery well 1-RJS-628A was drilled to a total depth of 5,314 meters in Block BM-S-11 in 2,126 meters of water. It was tested flowing 4,900 barrels of 30°-gravity oil and 4.3 million cubic feet of gas per day. Partners in that block are Petrobras, BG and GALP.
Additionally, Petrobras announced a successful appraisal to the Tupi discovery. The latest well, 1-RJS-646, extended the oil deposit 10 kilometers west of the discovery. Tupi could contain as much as a billion barrels of recoverable oil. Several additional appraisal wells are planned.
1 Canada
Galleon Energy Inc., Calgary, reported that its third-quarter 2007 drilling program yielded significant discoveries in three major areas along the southern flank of the Peace River Arch in northwestern Alberta. At Eaglesham, the company tested one well at more than 800 bbl. of oil per day and a second tested 425. At McLeans Creek, two wells each tested more than 500 bbl of oil per day; at Kimiwan, two wells each tested in excess of 200 a day. The wells will be tied in prior to year-end. Galleon has a substantial land position in the area and a large number of drilling locations identified by 3-D seismic. Galleon has been on a tear since its discovery early last year of the Puskwa Beaverhill Lake light-oil pool.
2 Argentina
Calgary-based Antrim Energy began a two-year drilling program in its key asset in southern Argentina. The company commenced its campaign in Tierra del Fuego with the LP009 well in Los Patos Field, a half-kilometer northwest of the 2006 LP10005 discovery. The program targets oil reservoirs in the Cretaceous Springhill formation at an approximate depth of 2,300 meters. Each well is expected to take between two and three weeks to drill and case.
3 U.K.
Total SA has made a significant gas-condensate discovery at its Tormore prospect on Block 205/51 that tested 32 million cu. ft. of gas and 2,200 bbl. of condensate per day. The 3,936-meter 205/5a-1 well was drilled in 610 meters of water, some 100 kilometers northwest of the Shetland Islands and 15 kilometers southwest of Laggan Field. Total's partners in Tormore are Italian firm ENI, Danish firm DONG and Chevron.
Total plans a subsea system for its deepwater Laggan Field, reports Deepwater International. The field contains 1 trillion cu. ft. of gas.
4 U.K.
The Harrison exploration well, 44/19b-6, operated by ConocoPhillips, encountered a 16-meter gas column in the Lower Ketch formation, reports partner Tullow Oil. The well, 20 kilometers northwest of the Murdoch platform on Block 44/19b in the Southern Gas Basin, has been drilled to a depth of 4,289 meters and is being tested. Drilling was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
5 Norway
The Snohvit partnership has decided not to develop the oil zone at Snohvit Field in the Barents Sea. Evaluations show the oil cannot be economically developed. Earlier this year, an appraisal well was drilled to assess the oil potential, and it showed that significantly less oil was present than was expected. Partners in Snohvit are Statoil, Petoro, Total, Gaz de France, Hess and RWE Dea.
6 Cameroon
Noble Energy Inc. has made a discovery on its offshore PH-77 license. The well, in 1,732 feet of water, encountered 95 ft. of net hydrocarbon pay in the Miocene YoYo-1 interval at a depth of 8,425 ft. Production tests from the reservoir yielded flow rates of 31 million cu. ft. of gas and 330 bbl. of condensate per day. Rates were limited by test facilities. The Houston-based operator plans additional appraisal work. It holds 50% of the 1.125-million-acre license, and its partners are Societe Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), the national petroleum company of Cameroon, and Petronas Carigali.
7 UAE
ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and Shell have presented bids for the Shah multibillion-dollar sour-gas field development in the United Arab Emirates. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) is expected to choose a winner for the project soon because it wants to fast-track the project to meet growing gas demand. The winner will take a 40% stake in the project, and Adnoc will keep 60%. The UAE has gas reserves of 214 trillion cu. ft.
8 Iraq
Norwegian firm DNO said drilling and testing of two wells on Tawke Field in Kurdistan in northern Iraq has been completed. Tawke-5A achieved a flow rate of 9,000 bbl. of oil a day, and Tawke-8 produced 20,500 bbl. a day. The two wells were intended to appraise an oil discovery in deeper reservoir horizons. Additional wells are planned.
9 Malaysia
Murphy Oil reports that deepwater Kikeh Field, offshore Sabah, has started production. The field's initial production rate averaged 20,000 bbl. per day, and is expected to peak at an average of 120,000 bbl. a day by the end of 2008, Petronas Carigali reports. Kikeh lies in Block K around 210 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia. The field is in some 1,300 meters of water. Arkansas-based Murphy is operator with an 80% stake; Petronas holds the balance.
10 Papua New Guinea
Oil Search plans to boost capacity at its proposed LNG plant in Papua New Guinea by up to 44% more than its original plans. The ExxonMobil-led group is considering building the plant with a capacity of up to 7.2 million tonnes a year of LNG, Oil Search reports, up from previous plans for capacity of between 5- and 6.5 million tonnes a year. The project is now estimated to cost between $9- and $10 billion, Oil Search will own around 30% of the project, and would be responsible for around $2.5 billion of the costs at current estimates.
11 Philippines
A wildcat has been spudded by Petronas Carigali on an offshore Mindoro prospect in the Sibay Basin that has been touted as one of the most prospective in the Philippines, according to IHS Inc. The Kamia 1 well lies in 142 meters of water on Block SC47. The well is projected to a depth of 1,527 meters. Petronas also has a second prospect on the block called Tablas that it plans to drill next year. Two additional wells are slated for 2009.
12 Australia
Houston-based Apache Corp. has discovered gas in its Brunello-1 well in the WA-356-P concession in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia. This is the operator's third discovery on WA-356-P permit. Apache test-flowed 72.5 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,239 bbl. of condensate per day from Triassic Mungaroo. Brunello-1 hit 37 meters of net pay in a single zone. The well was drilled to a depth of 3,668 meters in 155 meters of water. The well is 160 kilometers offshore Western Australia, and is close to Apache's Julimar-1 and Julimar East-1 discoveries. Apache operates the WA-356-P permit with a 65% stake, and Kuwait's Kufpec holds the remaining 35%. Apache plans to spud three more gas prospects in the Carnarvon Basin this year.
13 Australia
Chevron has long-term plans to double production at its Gorgon LNG development to 20 million tonnes, from an initial phase of 10 million tonnes of capacity. The project offshore Western Australia will include the world's largest CO2 undertaking and will reinject around 3 million tonnes a year of the gas underneath Barrow Island, the site of Chevron's proposed LNG plant. Gorgon's latest cost estimate is around $13 billion or higher. With more than $43 billion of new LNG projects on the drawing board, Australia may be on the verge of a big LNG investment boom as Asian demand for the fuel increases. Chevron operates Gorgon with 50%, and Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil each has a 25% stake. Gorgon has estimated reserves of around 40 trillion cu. ft. of gas.
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