Tracy Dulle • Houston
Latin America
The regional government council of the Autonomous Region of the Southern Atlantic (RAAS) has approved Infinity Energy Resources Inc.’s offshore Nicaraguan exploration and development contracts. The contracts now go to national government in Managua for final approval and signature from Nicaragua’s president.
The concessions cover some 1.4 million acres, says CEO Stanton Ross.
“We believe that the Perlas and Tyra concession blocks potentially contain substantial quantities of oil beneath waters that range in depth from 100-300 ft (30-91 m),” says Ross. “A number of international oil and gas companies have already contacted Infinity regarding their potential interest in partnering with us to develop the concession.”
The company continues to seek the approval of its contracts under the jurisdiction of the regional government council of the Autonomous Region of the Northern Atlantic (RAAN).
North Sea/Europe
BP Norge has consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority in Norway to use the Hod platform facilities until May 2015, beyond the original expected design life.
BP Norge’s Hod platform has been cleared for use through May 2015.
BP is preparing a revised production strategy for Hod and production may continue. The company is considering increased water injection and other measures to boost the recovery rate from the field.
Hod is scheduled to be connected to a new PH facility in 2010.
Petroceltic Elsa has been granted nine exclusive exploration permits in the central Adriatic Sea offshore Italy. Included in the awards to Petroceltic are permits d492 and d493, which were subject to a competitive external bid.
These interests, together with the other seven permits, d494 to d500, and the company’s existing interest in the BR 268RG offshore permit, give Petroceltic access to a nearly contiguous proven hydrocarbon play fairway of over 2,660 sq km (1,027 sq mi) along the Apulian Carbonate platform margin offshore Italy, the company says.
The permits, in water depth depths of 30 to 150 m (98 to 492 ft), are adjacent to existing oil and gas fields that have demonstrated three working hydrocarbon plays: the Cretaceous Miglianico/Elsa basin floor fan, the Cretaceous-to Miocene Rospo Mare/Ombrina Mare platform carbonate oil play, and the Santo Stefano Mare Pliocene biogenic gas play.
Interpretation of 2D seismic data shows a number of prospects and leads in the permits, the company says. The company plans to obtain new seismic data in order to high-grade prospects for drilling.
Petroceltic has a 100% working interest in the nine permit awards, which are d492, d493, d494, d495, d496, d407, d498, d499, and d500.
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced its 20th licensing round. The government will include 79 blocks/parts of blocks in the 20th round, with 51 in the Norwegian Sea and 28 in the Barents Sea.
The application deadline is Nov. 7, 2008. Awards are scheduled for spring 2009.
Barents Sea
StatoilHydro has confirmed the existence of gas in the Ververis prospect in the Barents Sea. ThePolar Pioneer struck gas in the prospect while drilling exploration well 7226/2-1.
The main purpose of the well was to confirm hydrocarbons in early- to mid-Jurassic sandstones. The well confirmed gas in mid-Jurassic sandstones. No gas/water contact was established nor has any formation leak-off test been conducted. Extensive data acquisition and sampling have taken place, the company says.
“It is, of course, promising that we have discovered gas, but the drilling was performed in a relatively complex formation,” says Bente Fotland at StatoilHydro’s Harstad office. “We therefore need to perform more analyses and evaluations in order to determine the resource potential of the discovery.”
Polar Pioneer drilled the discovery well to a vertical depth of 2,992 m (9,816 ft) below the sea surface and completed in the lower Triassic Havert formation. Next, the rig is scheduled to drill exploration well 7224/6-1 in production license 394, operated by StatoilHydro.
The company also announced thatTransocean Leader drilled exploration well 6605/8-2 in the Stetind structure in the Norwegian Sea without any recoverable hydrocarbons being confirmed.
After completing this well the rig will move on to production license 218 in the Norwegian Sea for the drilling of exploration well 6706/12-1, operated by StatoilHydro.
Africa
Addax Petroleum Corp. has achieved 200 MMbbl of oil production from OML123, offshore Nigeria.
“I am extremely proud of this recent accomplishment, given Addax Petroleum acquired OML123 in 1998 with a fraction of the reserves we have there today,” says Jean Claude Gandur, president and CEO of Addax Petroleum. “Achieving this 200 MMbbl production milestone, along with celebrating 10 successful years of operating in Nigeria, highlights the quality of our Nigerian assets and our track record of delivering results that enhance shareholder value. We believe that OML123 will continue to be a major production hub for us in the coming years, given the new fields we will be bringing on stream and the substantial exploration potential still contained within the block as demonstrated by our plans to drill up to six exploration wells by the end of 1Q 2009.”
The jackupHercules 156 has spudded the Iris Charlie Marin-1 (ICM-1) exploration well in the Iris Marin PSC offshore Gabon, according to Sterling Energy.
The ICM-1 will target the Charlie prospect, estimated to contain reserves of 20-40 MMbbl of oil in the Gamba Sandstone formation. The well is 12 km (7.4 mi) southwest of the Gamba field in 25 m (82 ft) of water.
Asia
The East Belumut/Chermingat fields in PM 323 and the Puteri field in PM 318 recently started production, says Newfield Exploration Co. Both fields are offshore Malaysia.
Newfield Exploration’s Malaysia blocks.
In conjunction with the start-up of production from these fields, Newfield raised its 2008 production guidance for the second time this year. Newfield now expects 2008 production to be 232-239 Bcfe, a 22-26% increase over 2007 (adjusted for asset sales and acquisitions). The company’s most recent guidance was 224-234 Bcfe. Newfield expects that its 2Q 2008 production will be approximately 57 Bcfe, or 2 Bcfe ahead of the mid-point of its earlier guidance.
“Our 2008 organic production growth is strong and reflects the quality of our assets and the execution of our business plan,” says David Trice, chairman, president, and CEO, Newfield. “Our Woodford Shale and Monument Butte assets are growing at rates ahead of our earlier projections. Growth in these areas is fueled largely through strong cash flows from our Gulf Coast and international assets. We believe that our portfolio of assets presents visible production growth for the next several years.”
Newfield also announced signing a new production sharing contract in shallow water Malaysia on license area SK 310, which covers nearly 1.2 million acres in about 300 ft (91 m) of water offshore Sarawak. Newfield and its partners have committed to shoot 500 sq km (193 sq mi) of new 3D seismic data and to drill three exploration wells. Seismic acquisition is expected to begin later this year and drilling could begin in late 2009 or early 2010. Newfield is the operator of SK 310 with a 30% interest. Other partners include Mitsubishi Corp. (30%) and Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (40%).
Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) dominated bidding on 45 of the 57 blocks offered under the seventh round of India’s New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Bids closed at the end of June.
It will take about two months to evaluate the bids and select winners, with the first possible contract expected after two months at the earliest, said a senior official at the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) at Noida, outside New Delhi.
BHP Billiton led the foreign companies in submitting bids for seven deepwater blocks, some of which were also bid by ONGC and its local partners Gujarat State Petroleum Corp Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. BHP has GVK Infrastructure Oil & Gas Ltd. as its partner.
BP joined Reliance Industries Ltd. in bidding for a single deepwater block, while Cairn Energy made a separate bid for a deepwater block, according to DGH.
Caspian Sea
The Morskaya-1 exploration well in the Lagansky block, northern Caspian Sea, has encountered a major oil accumulation in the Aptian and Neocomian sandstone reservoirs, according to Lundin Petroleum. Minor amounts of gas were encountered in the overlying Albian reservoir.
The well was drilled to a depth of 2,082 m (6,831 ft) in less than 2 m (6.5 ft) of water. A significant number of cores, wireline logs, and reservoir fluid samples have been acquired; the company now plans to test at least two of the well’s hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs.
Following testing of Morskaya-1, the Marine Drilling Complex is set for transport to the Laganskaya-1 well, where drilling is expected to begin at the end of September.
Lundin Petroleum plans to drill another two wells in 2009. The Petrovskaya-1 well will target a large anticline to the northwest and on trend with the Morskaya discovery. The second well most likely will be an appraisal well of the Morskaya discovery, according to the company.
Australia
Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd. (AWE) has finalized its Tui reserves review and has increased the initial proven and probable (2P) oil reserves to 50.1 MMbbl from 47 MMbbl.
Total field production to June 30, 2008, was predicted to be 14.2 MMbbl. Production since June 1 has averaged 42,500 b/d of oil.
An additional development well and several near field exploration wells are planned for early 2010. These exploration wells could be tied back to Umuroa if successful.
AWE is the operator with 42.5% interest. Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd. holds 35%, Stewart Petroleum Company Ltd. (“New Zealand Oil & Gas”) holds 12.5%, and WM Petroleum Ltd. (“Pan Pacific Petroleum NL”) holds 10% percent interest.
