Area Drilling

Jan. 7, 2002
Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd. plans to proceed with the $80 million development of Egret gas and oil field offshore and northeast of Fairley field.

Brunei

Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd. plans to proceed with the $80 million development of Egret gas and oil field offshore and northeast of Fairley field.

In Phase 1 first gas is to flow by August 2003. It will flow from a 12 slot platform through a 20 in., 25 km multiphase pipeline to the Ampa 6 platform, from where it will go to Brunei LNG Sdn. Bhd.

Egret gas will help satisfy Brunei´s domestic and export gas needs for 2003 and beyond. Shell did not give a timetable for Phase 2, which will target the field´s oil and the remaining gas.

Kazakhstan

Nelson Resources Ltd., London, and Kazakhoil were starting limited oil production from Alibekmola field on the Precaspian basin eastern rim.

The No. 28 and No. 26 wells flowed 1,100 b/d and 500 b/d of oil, respectively, after workover, and the companies drilled one new development well and spudded a second. Drilling the first took twice the expected 60 days.

The field, discovered by the Soviets in 1987, has 24 wells but was never produced. It holds 40° gravity oil in Carboniferous zones as deep as 10,500 ft. Alibekmola is 25 miles from a rail line. Nelson and Kazakhoil have 50% interests in Alibekmola and Kozhasay fields.

Libya

Repsol YPF submitted to National Oil Corp. a development plan for two discoveries on Block NC-186 in the Murzuk basin 800 km south of Tripoli.

Repsol drilled wildcats on five structures, four of which are commercial discoveries. Preliminary evaluations indicated total reserves exceeding 250 million bbl.

The most recent find, D1, flowed as much as 2,286 b/d of 41° gravity oil from Ordovician Hawaz sandstone. The 4,300 sq km block has a large number of prospects and is within 30 km of El Sharara field facilities.

Block NC 115, including El Sharara, is producing 165,000 b/d. Blocks NC 187 with 19,000 sq km and NC 190 with 12,300 sq km have potential similar to that of NC 186, Repsol said.

Malaysia

Shell´s Sarawak unit said it identified scope for additional reserves of 150 million boe in its fields off Sarawak through the application of a "Realising the Limit" team concept that started in mid-2000.

Optimization of existing wells and facilities was to yield some 10,900 b/d of additional production by yearend 2001, mainly from enhanced reservoir management techniques that included the timely implementation of gas and water injection methods.

Newfoundland

Canadian Imperial Venture Corp., St. John´s, spudded the Indian Head 1 well as the first of three planned wells on 84,000 acre Permit 96-108 in the West Newfoundland fold and thrust belt.

Main target is the 40,000 surface acre North Brook anticline. Reservoir and source rocks are interpreted to lie in the footwalls of subhorizontal thrusts, a setting that resembles that of Garden Hill oil and gas field, under development.

Middle Ordovician karsted and dolomitized reservoirs are predicted to have extensive porosity and permeability. The source rocks of the Humber Arm allochthon are known from outcrop to be rich and oil prone.

Timing of migration and trapping is also expected to be favorable based on similarities with the Port au Port petroleum system. The overlying Carboniferous sediments are also considered prospective.

Texas

BNP Petroleum Corp., Corpus Christi, spudded a wildcat on North Padre Island Dec. 10 (OGJ Online, Sept. 20, 2001).

The 1 La Playa, 20 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and first in a multiwell program, is to go to 13,500 ft (10,500 ft TVD). Primary objective is in Upper Frio sandstones. The well is near idle Dunn-McCampbell gas field, Kleberg County.

Interests are BNP 25%, Novus Petroleum Ltd., Sydney, 30%, KCS Resources Inc., Houston, 20%, Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. 15%, and Golden Gate Resources Ltd. 10%.