InterOil Corp., a Canadian company with corporate headquarters in The Woodlands, Tex., said that a drilling rig to be used to drill the Moose prospect has arrived in Papua New Guinea.
The Moose well, on PPL 238, was to have spudded Mar. 23 as the first in an eight-well drilling program that will extend throughout the year. InterOil contracted RB Drilling to operate the drilling rig under the management of InterOil's wholly owned subsidiary, SPI (208) Ltd.
The Moose prospect primary targets are the Late Cretaceous Pale and Subu sands at 4,921-6,561 ft with a secondary target Eocene limestone at 3,608 ft.
The Moose prospect drilling follows two successful wells with which InterOil discovered a new oil system in the eastern Papuan basin (OGJ, Mar. 11, 2002, p. 38).
Technical studies by the Petroleum Division of Commonwealth Science and Industry Research Organization, a government entity, showed a mean estimate of postulated reserves on the Moose prospect of 350 million bbl.
The Papua New Guinea government has a right to take a 22.5% interest in the Moose prospect.
"We start the largest drilling program in Papua New Guinea history, in an area our exploration team feels could be a new world class basin," said Phil Mulacek, InterOil CEO. "Due to the attractive logistics of the Moose prospect, which is located close to an airstrip and navigable river, a discovery can lead to early development and production."
InterOil also is building a 32,500 b/d refinery in Papua New Guinea that is expected to start up by Dec. 31.
Only one well was drilled in Papua New Guinea in 2002, compared with two each in 2001 and 2000. The 2002 well was Bilip-1, an oil and gas discovery by a Santos Ltd.-led group in the Papuan basin southern highlands 10 km southeast of Southeast Gobe oil field (OGJ Online, Feb. 17, 2003).
