Repsol tests gas strike in southwest Venezuela

Dec. 20, 2004
Repsol YPF, Madrid, discovered gas at the first of 11 wells it plans to drill on the Barrancas exploration block 225 miles southeast of Maracaibo, Venezuela.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 20 -- Repsol YPF, Madrid, discovered gas at the first of 11 wells it plans to drill on the Barrancas exploration block 225 miles southeast of Maracaibo, Venezuela.

The Sipororo 2X exploration well tested 35.3 MMcfd of gas, a rate much higher than Repsol expected, from 18,840 ft. Gas from the well is to initially feed an 80 Mw power station set for completion in the second quarter of 2005 in Portuguesa state.

The well is near the Sipororo 1X discovery drilled by Petroleos de Venezuela SA in the 1990s.

Repsol is authorized to produce nonassociated gas on the block, which it acquired in 2001 in the Barinas-Apure basin in Barinas, Portuguesa, and Trujillo states. Block production is to reach 71 MMcfd by 2006 and will also be used to supply a thermoelectric power station of up to 450 Mw to be installed at Obispos, Barinas state.

Repsol said its 100% owned Barrancas block has five potential fields: Sipororo, Guaramacal, Guaramacal Sur, Barrancas, and La Yuca. It plans to acquire 3D seismic data. Next up for drilling is Guaramacal in the second exploration phase.

Repsol produces 100,000 boe/d in Venezuela from the Quiriquire, Quiamare-La Ceiba, Guarico Occidental, and Mene Grande blocks.