BPZ drilled its first well in 47,000-acre Corvina Field late last year, and found both gas and oil. The CX21-XD flowed 60 million cu. ft. of gas and 5,900 bbl. of oil a day. The second well, CX11-16X, was a workover of an existing gas well that BPZ completed for 20 million cu. ft. of gas a day.
Corvina is the first field development spearheaded by BPZ on Block Z-1. The block, which contains proved, probable and possible reserves of 4 trillion cu ft. of gas, was originally drilled in the 1970s and early '80s. Past operators drilled 19 wells on five structures in the block, and all tested oil, gas or both. Following its Corvina work, the company plans to redevelop Albacora oil field, also on Block Z-1.
-Peggy Williams
1 Canada
Oilsands Quest Inc., Calgary, received government approval for three programs targeting oil sands in northwestern Saskatchewan. It received permits to drill 97 exploratory holes, to conduct electrical resistance tomography surveys, and to do road maintenance. Up to 70 holes will be drilled in the Axe Lake area, and are intended to delineate the Axe Lake discovery. Another 27 holes will be drilled along the access road to test targets identified by previously acquired seismic. Oilsands reports its commitment to eight drilling rigs by March 2008. It is attempting to extend the boundaries of commercially viable deposits of the Athabasca oil sands, and is mounting the first major exploration program for that in Saskatchewan.
2 Venezuela
Petroleos de Venezuela SA will team up with Iran's Petropars in a $4-billion program to develop the Ayacucho 7 heavy-oil block in the Orinoco Belt. The companies have started seismic studies to determine reserves on the block, while Petroleos has reported an estimated 31 billion bbl. of heavy oil with a potential recovery of 6.2 billion bbl. using existing technology. If the project moves ahead, it could reach first production in two years, according to a Dow Jones Newswire report. Petroleos has four producing projects in the Orinoco province with capacity to produce 600,000 bbl. of oil a day.
3 Brazil
Devon Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, started production from Polvo Field, on Block BM-C-8 in offshore Campos Basin. The field was discovered in 2004 in 92 meters of water. The company expects production to peak at year-end 2008 at a rate of about 50,000 bbl. a day. Devon has installed a fixed production platform connected to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. Polvo has estimated reserves of 50 million bbl. of oil. South Korea's SK Corp. holds a 40% share of the field.
4 United Kingdom
Chevron Corp. drilled a successful appraisal well at its Rosebank discovery, west of the Shetlands Islands. The appraisal well in Block 205/1-1 tested at a choked rate of 6,000 bbl. a day of light oil. The discovery well was in 1,129 meters of water some 160 kilometers west of the islands. The well was the second appraisal on the discovery, and tested the southern end of the structure. It encountered more than 24 meters of vertical oil pay in sands at depths around 2,745 meters. The rig will now move to a third appraisal, the 213/27-A2, on the northern end of the structure. Chevron and its partners Statoil, OMV and DONG have assembled a large amount of acreage around the discovery.
5 United Kingdom
ATP Oil & Gas Corp., Houston, tested its Wenlock W1 well in the Southern Gas Basin in the U.K. portion of the North Sea for 58 million cu. ft. of gas a day. Flow was limited by the capacity of the test equipment, reported ATP. The Block 49/12a well was drilled in 23 meters of water and found pay in two fault blocks in the Rotlegend Leman sand. ATP plans to put the field on steam this winter at a rate between 50- and 60 million cu. ft. a day.
6 Norway
Statoil ASA, Stavanger, has found up to 100 billion cu. ft. of gas at its Yttergryta prospect in a discovery in the prolific Asgard area in the Norwegian Sea. Its 6507/11-8 well was drilled about one kilometer northeast of Statoil's Midgard 6507/11-1 discovery. The test, which found gas in Jurassic sediments, will be connected to Asgard's infrastructure next year. Operator Statoil's partners are Total, Petoro, Norsk Hydro and ENI.
7 Russia
Gazprom, Moscow, chose France's Total to help develop its giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea. The first phase of the field will cost an estimated $15 billion. The field contains an estimated 131 trillion cu. ft. of gas and 227 million bbl. of condensate. The companies want to produce 837 billion cu. ft. of gas a year by 2013 and deliver liquefied natural gas the following year. Under the agreement, the companies will form a new entity to develop the field, and Gazprom will hold 75% ownership in the new company. Gazprom could add more foreign partners, but its stake will not fall below 51%.
8 Ethiopia
Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, signed up for the $2-billion development of two giant gas fields; Calub and Hilala, in Ethiopia. Negotiations began early last year when it won the bidding competition for the project, but discussions were delayed by disagreements over income tax and royalty fees. Reserves at Calub are estimated at 2.6 trillion cu. ft. and Hilala holds another 1.4 trillion cu. ft. The accumulations are 1,200 kilometers east of Addis Ababa. Petronas plans to build a gas-processing plant and a pipeline that will stretch from the fields to a seaport. The company was also awarded blocks 11 and 15 in the Ogaden Basin as part of the deal.
9 Cameroon
Activity in Cameroon continues at an unusually high pace with Noble Energy Inc., Houston, spudding an offshore well. Noble is drilling the Yoyo Pilar well in PH-77 to test both a Miocene gas/condensate Yoyo objective and a deeper Paleocene Pilar prospect, which may be oil-bearing. The well was spudded at the end of July and is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter. Noble holds 50% of the block, which lies between the Cameroon coast and its international boundary with Equatorial Guinea, and Petronas holds the rest.
10 Angola
La Defense-based Total SA's embarrassment of riches in Angola continues with the French firm making another deepwater discovery on Block 32. The Colorau-1 was the 11th discovery on the prolific block. Drilled in a water depth of 1,700 meters, it encountered Upper Oligocene oil-bearing reservoirs and tested at a rate of 2,130 bbl. a day through a 32/64-in. choke. The Colorau discovery lies in the northeast of Block 32, approximately 16 kilometers northeast of Manjeric.
11 China
Husky Energy Inc., Calgary, is shooting seismic over South China Sea blocks 29/26 and 29/06. Husky drilled China's first deepwater discovery in the area with its Liwan gas well. The new survey will cover 3,214 sq. kilometers, and the company hopes to use it to pinpoint new drilling locations. Husky also will drill an evaluation well at Liwan in the second half of 2008.
12 Indonesia
ExxonMobil Corp., Irving, Texas, has started appraisal drilling in Banyu Urip Field in the huge but much-delayed Cepu development project in Java. Drilling is expected to take five to six months to complete. The Banyu Urip project is forecast to recover more than 250 million bbl. of oil and has a target production rate of 165,000 bbl. of oil a day. The Indonesian government is keen to finally get the development up and running after five years of delays due to bickering between Pertamina and the major.
13 Australia
Woodside Energy Ltd., Perth, has finally approved development of the Pluto liquefied natural gas project offshore Western Australia and is investigating up to two more trains. The project is based on Woodside's Pluto and Xena gas fields, about 190 kilometers northwest of Karratha in permit WA-350-P. The initial phase will include a single LNG production train with production of 4.3 million tonnes a year, connected by a 180-kilometer offshore pipeline to a platform in 85 meters of water fed by five subsea big-bore wells in Pluto Field. First gas is expected in late 2010.
14 Australia
BHP Billiton reported that its Thebe-1 deepwater discovery could hold 2- to 3 trillion cu. ft. of gas. The well, drilled in 1,173 meters of water in permit WA-346-P about 300 kilometers from the coast, intersected a 73-meter gas column. The discovery lies on the Exmouth Plateau in the Carnarvon Basin, some 50 kilometers north of Scarborough gas field. BHP operates Thebe and has a 100% stake.
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