Offshore staff
(Turkey)-Toreador Resources Corporation and its partners TPAO (the Turkish national oil company) and Stratic Energy Corporation announced that the Bayhanli-1 exploration well encountered natural gas in a new prospect offshore Turkey in the South Akcakoca sub-basin project area.
Analysis of log data indicates natural gas pay in the approximately 25 m of sands to be tested in the next week, with at least another 25 m to be perforated after producing the initial intervals. The gas sands are between 760 to 1,115 m true vertical depth in the Kusuri formation. The Bayhanli-1 was drilled on a new prospect to the east of the Dogu Ayazli structure and along the same fault trend.
"The Bayhanli-1 discovery extends the natural gas producing area in the South Akcakoca Sub-basin," said G. Thomas Graves III, Toreador President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to report that we continue to find gas where our seismic interpretation predicts its presence. As a result, we should easily reach our initial production targets when we bring first gas ashore by the end of the year."
The company also announced test results from the Akkaya-3 well, which as previously announced, encountered approximately 23 meters (75 feet) of net pay. During well testing, the Akkaya-3 flowed approximately 6.2 mmscf per day from 8 meters (26 feet) of perforations through a 32/64-in.choke at 936 psi flowing pressure. The remaining 15 m are expected to be perforated when the well is brought on production. The well will be tied back to the Akkaya tripod along with the Akkaya-1A and Akkaya-2 wells.
Infrastructure development in the South Akcakoca Sub-basin project is proceeding according to schedule. The Akkaya tripod structure is nearing completion and is scheduled to be towed out of the Izmet, Turkey construction site and installed in early June. Two additional tripods are scheduled for installation on the Ayazli and Dogu Ayazli structures, with an optional fourth tripod under consideration.
In the July -- August timeframe, the sub-sea pipeline will be laid and the tripod structures tied into the pipeline. The onshore production center construction is underway, with the site preparation nearly complete and the production facility tender out for bid. The onshore pipeline has been pressure-tested and buried, and has already been connected to the national grid. Commissioning of the production center is expected in October, with first gas sales expected by November.
Toreador will engage it's outside reservoir engineers, LaRoche Petroleum Consultants, to provide a mid-year update of the reserve potential in the South Akcakoca Sub-basin project following the conclusion of the current drilling campaign. Results will update the estimate of reserves from the prior study completed in September 2005. The results of the study are expected to be available by mid-July.
5/24/06
