ASIA/PACIFIC

Peter Tang
Singapore

New awards off Cambodia [94,180 bytes]

Australia: Apache gas discovery

Apache has made a gas discovery in the Dampier Sub-basin that could hold 300-400 bcf. The Caribou-1 well, drilled using R&B's Ron Tappmeyer jackup, was suspended after intersecting a 19-meter gross gas column in the Jurassic Legendre Formation which could possibly be a southward extension of the Reindeer gas discovery. The well was drilled to TD of 3,711 meters, and further evaluation of the Legendre and also the Triassic Mungaroo Formation is planned.

Cambodia: PSC awards

Khmer Shelf offshore Blocks 5 and 6 have been awarded to Australian company Woodside Southeast Asia (45%) and fellow Australian partner Cambodian Resources Company NL (55%). The PSCs were awarded for a five year exploratory period comprising an initial exploration term of two years followed by two extensions of two years and one year respectively. The work commitments allow for 2D seismic acquisition in the first two years followed by the drilling of an unspecified amount of exploration wells in the following three years. The seismic acquisition is scheduled to commence later in 1998.

Indonesia: Nine PSCs on offer

Pertamina has announced that it is preparing to offer nine new contracts to interested parties in 1998. The nine are all PSCs and are:

Anambas PSC (West Natuna Sea)
Terempa PSC (West Natuna Sea)
Buntal PSC (East Natuna Sea)
Tapak Tuan PSC (West Sumatra offshore)
Bone PSC (South Sulawesi offshore)
Fernin PSC (South Irian Jaya offshore)
Sabuda PSC (South Irian Jaya offshore)
Samai PSC (South Irian Jaya offshore)
Kaimana PSC (South Irian Jaya offshore).

Three new offshore PSCs were awarded at a ceremony in Jakarta earlier this year and are detailed below:

Shell has been awarded the 6,250 sq km Bukat PSC, located in the Tarakan Basin offshore northeastern Kalimantan. Water depths in the undrilled frontier area next to Shell's Sebawang Block II range up to 2,000 meters.
The Kutei Basin Ganal PSC offshore East Kalimantan has been awarded to Unocal. The frontier acreage lies east of Total's Nubi and Sisi gas fields and adjacent to Unocal's Makassar Strait A PSC in water depths between 720-2,000 meters.

In the Makassar Strait, a Japanese consortium consisting of Japex (operator), Teikoku, and Taiyo was awarded the Kapoposang PSC, a frontier area of 10,280 sq km between Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

Unocal has Kutei Basin discovery

On the drilling front, Unocal has made an oil discovery with its Sepinggan Southwest-1(ST) well, located in the Kutei Basin East Kalimantan PSC. The well was spudded using Santa Fe's Galveston Key jackup. The original wellbore failed to encounter hydrocarbons, so an up-dip sidetrack was drilled. This encountered mechanical problems and was itself sidetracked. This second sidetrack was drilled to TD at 3,104 meters MD. It was completed as an oil discovery, but no test results were made available.

Two further successful delineations of the Vorwata discovery have recently been completed. Arco's Vorwata-6 in the Berau PSC was abandoned as a gas well in early February, but no test results were made available. On the extension of the field into British Gas-operated Muturi PSC, Vorwata-9 was also abandoned as a gas well, again with no test results issued. The well declared a tight hole. Two more wells are ongoing, Vorwata-7 (Arco) and Vorwata-10 (British Gas).

Malaysia: Two PSCs awarded

Two offshore PSCs have been awarded on blocks PM-304 and SK-306. Both were awarded to Amerada Hess (operator) and partner Carigali. This represents Amerada Hess' first exploration activity in Malaysia. PM-304 lies in the Malay Basin and covers an area of 10,200 sq km. This has been awarded to Amerada (70%) and Carigali (30%). It was granted for an initial five-year exploration period and carries a minimum financial commitment of $12.9 million. The work commitment includes the acquisition and processing of 2,000 km of new 2D seismic and 50 sq km of 3D, the reprocessing of 3,000 km of old 2D and 100 sq km of 3D, and the drilling of three exploration wells. SK-306 lies offshore Sarawak and covers an area of 4,400 sq km. The interest allocation is Amerada (80%) and Carigali (20%). The initial five year exploration period in this case carries a minimum financial commitment of $12 million. The work commitment consists of the acquisition and processing of 2,000 km of new 2D seismic and 100 sq km of 3D, the drilling of two exploration wells, and studies aimed to provide further understanding of the regional petroleum systems.

Philippines: Shell sees disappointment

Shell's recent 3-well drilling campaign offshore Palawan came to a disappointing end when Cliffhead-1, located in Southwest Palawan Basin GSEC 91, was plugged and abandoned as dry. Cliffhead-1 was spudded on 18 January using Atwood's Falcon semisubmersible. The well is located on the giant Cliffhead structure, mapped by Phillips in the 1970s and located 93 km southwest of and on trend with the Nido Field. The well was drilled to a TD of 2,262 meters, short of its prognosed TD of approximately 3,231 meters. It has been disclosed that Cliffhead-1 penetrated the Miocene reef target higher than predicted, but it turned out to be water wet. Cliffhead had been estimated to contain reserves of up to 400 million bbl of oil or 2 tcf of gas.

Two Philippine contracts awarded

Two new offshore contracts have been awarded in GSEC 93, located in the East Visayan Sea and over the northwest portion of the island of Leyte, and GSEC 94 in the South Palawan Basin/Reed Bank area. The contract was awarded to an Alcorn-led consortium for a 12-month exploration term. The 14,560 sq km area covers what was GSEC 61, which was relinquished in 1994, and over which a GSEC application was immediately filed by the partners, later to be headed by Alcorn. The second award, GSEC 94, granted to Trans-Asia and partners, covers 14,850 sq km in the South Palawan Basin/Reed Bank area. This area was awarded for a 15-month exploration term and covers what was essentially the operator's GSEC 80, relinquished in June 1997.