Offshore staff
SUBIACO, Australia – Empyrean Energy has contracted China Oilfield Services Ltd. (COSL) to drill an exploration well on the Jade prospect in block 29/11, offshore China.
The location is in the Pearl River Mouth basin, 200 km (124 mi) southeast of Hong Kong.
In the event of a commercial discovery, Empyrean’s partner CNOOC has the right to take a controlling 51% interest in the development and production phase.
COSL has confirmed availability of a rig for the target spud date of Dec. 15-30.
In April, Empyrean appointed AGR to perform the well design and engineering, and based on AGR’s recommendation, opted for a four-string casing design for the drilling program.
Estimated cost for the well is $12.3 million on a dry-hole basis, while under a success scenario, testing of any oil column could cost $7.4 million.
Progress continues on other drill preparations including the well site survey.
Jade, as audited by Gaffney Cline Associates, has potential resources in the range 225-395 MMbbl, with four recent nearby discoveries by CNOOC immediately to the west, all with gas clouds showing in the overburden on seismic.
Other prospects identified on block 29/11 are Topaz and Pearl prospects, with combined audited potential of 884-1,588 MMbbl.
A post-stack seismic inversion study showed Jade and Topaz both have potential for good-quality carbonate buildup reservoir, porosity and permeability, with the oil likely to be in the 38-41° API range, similar to nearby discoveries.
09/06/2021
