Cameroon
Addax Petroleum Cameroon Ltd. and Tullow Cameroon Ltd. signed a concession on the Ngosse block in the Rio del Rey basin near Nigerian waters.
The 474 sq km, shallow water block consists of the former MLHP-9 and PH-48a blocks previously operated by Shell's Elf and Pecten units.
The companies plan to confirm the commerciality of the Narendi, Odiong, and Oongue discoveries and evaluate other prospects, Tullow said. They will acquire 200 sq km of 3D seismic data in early 2003. Two commitment wells are set for 2004. Interests are Addax 60% and Tullow 40%.
Tullow said shallow deltaic Miocene targets and deeper Eocene turbidite plays are present. Miocene fields have been exploited in Cameroon since the 1970s, and modern seismic techniques have highlighted the possibility of larger and deeper structures similar to those discovered to the south off Equatorial Guinea, the company said.
Kazakhstan
Authorities approved transfer to Aurado Exploration Ltd., Toronto, of the Liman block license in western Kazakhstan.
Aurado is drilling East Tegen-1 to 600 m to test Albian sands. The block, which covers nearly 1.6 million acres, is near Atyrau in the North Caspian basin.
New Zealand
Westech Energy New Zealand, Denver, will drill an appraisal well 1.2 miles south of a company oil and gas discovery in the Taranaki basin.
Surrey 1 on PEP 38734 flowed 116 b/d of 30° gravity oil and 1.3 MMcfd of gas with no water on a 1/2 in. choke with 1,240 psi FTP from 1,615-18 m in the Miocene Mount Messenger sand. The well cut 25 m of reservoir starting at 1,610 m. TD is 1,935 m.
Hookup involves a 2.5 km pipeline and surface equipment. Westech holds 100% interest in the 39 sq km block 20 km from New Plymouth. Surrey is 8 km south of Westech's Windsor 1 discovery on PEP 38732.
Westech continues to explore the East Coast basin, where it has drilled 14 wells the past 5 years.
Poland
RWE Dea AG and Ramco Energy PLC plan to drill a second well after the Zdynianka 1 wildcat on the Carpathian overthrust belt encountered gas.
The wildcat, 150 km southeast of Krakow on Block 435, went to TD 2,325 m. The companies tested five zones at 520-2,230 m, three of which produced overpressured, high quality gas and formation water.
A 66-m interval below 1,800 m flowed at rates between 800 Mcfd and 1,800 b/d of water and 2.6 MMcfd and 4,400 b/d of water from a fractured, low-porosity sandstone, Ramco said. Two other zones produced gas at lower rates along with water.
The next well location is 15 km northwest. The companies hold blocks 434, 435, and 454 near the border with Slovak Republic.
Venezuela
Petro-Canada completed the acquisition from Veba Oil & Gas GMBH of a 50% working interest in the 445,000-acre La Ceiba block on the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo.
The acquisition includes Veba's original 30% interest and a 20% interest which Veba acquired with Petro-Canada's consent from Nippon Oil while pre-emptive rights were being considered (OGJ, Feb. 11, 2002, p. 36).
Commercial development is being evaluated for the block, operated by ExxonMobil Corp., where exploration began in 1996 and 5 wells have been drilled.