New Zealand
The Energy Ministry plans to announce successful bids in January 2004 from among 23 bids received for 17 blocks offered in the offshore/onshore Taranaki basin bid round.
Of 17 companies that bid, four are new to New Zealand, the ministry said.
The nine offshore blocks, in 50-200 m of water, and eight land blocks cover a total of 12,772 sq km. The work programs offered total nearly $200 million.
Each block requires the drilling of a well within four years of the permit issue date, but many of the bids involved more prompt commitments, the ministry said.
Poland
FX Energy Inc., Salt Lake City, plans to select an exploratory drillsite on the Sroda structure in the Fences II project area for drilling in the first quarter of 2004.
Polish Oil & Gas Co. has mapped and defined the structure.
FX Energy holds varying interests in five project areas in Poland. They are Fences I on 265,000 acres; Fences II on 670,000 acres; Fences III on 770,000 acres; Pomerania on 2.2 million acres, all in the Permian basin of western Poland; and Wilga on 250,000 acres in central Poland.
Venezuela
The Venezuelan Petroleum Corp. unit of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA will soon start acquiring marine seismic surveys along Vene- zuela's coast.
The work is in preparation for the offering of areas for gas exploration in the Gulf of Venezuela off Falcon state and off Barcelona states, OPEC News Agency reported.
The energy and mines ministry said proved reserves of 100 tcf of gas and 20 billion bbl of crude oil lie in the country's offshore areas.
West Virginia
Penn Virginia Corp., Radnor, Pa., expects to drill four horizontal coalbed methane well patterns in the state in the fourth quarter of 2003.
The company drilled five patterns in the third quarter with an average working interest of 28%. One, the Loup Creek 001C pattern in Wyoming County, has a total lateral distance of 17,000 ft in the Lower Beckley coal.
The pattern, which flowed 7-8 MMcfd after drilling, is making 2 MMcfd until the company can install more pipeline and compression facilities.
Wyoming
Energytec Inc., Dallas, spudded the first well in a planned three-well pilot designed to test feasibility of implementing a steamflood in an unnamed heavy oil accumulation in the Big Horn basin 20 miles northeast of Greybull.
The Cole Federal 1-26, in 26-55n-92w, Big Horn County, is permitted to 2,200 ft.
The deposit, on federal land where Energytec holds more than 16,000 acres, contains an estimated 750 million-1 billion bbl of viscous oil in place in Permian Phosphoria limestone.
The company would produce the first well, a vertical penetration, at low rates in winter months while it runs reservoir simulations and assembles cyclic steam injection equipment, said Frank W Cole, chairman and CEO.