Area Drilling

Philippines

The Department of Energy granted Pacrim Energy Ltd. et al. a nonexclusive geophysical permit for an area known as the Bamban-Clark-Manila Corridor (BCMC).

The permit area comprises 358,560 acres. Pacrim believes the area likely gas prone. Possible markets are industries at Clark, the former U.S. air base, Subic Bay, and several power plants that feed the Luzon grid.

Gas has been proven to be present 40 km northeast of the BCMC at the Amoco Victoria 1, drilled in 1979 on a farmout from Houston Oil & Minerals Corp. The well flowed 1.2 MMcfd.

The BCMC contains the very large, never tested Bamban anticline 4 miles north of the runways at Clark. Several other subsurface gravity anomalies extend southward from Bamban to the north end of Manila Bay.

New Mexico

The Oil Conservation Division approved gas infill drilling on 80 acre units in Blanco Mesaverde field in the San Juan basin from Feb. 1, 1999.

A study by the applicant, Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co., indicated that 80 acre development would result in ultimate recovery of 1.5 to 3 trillion cu ft of additional gas from the low permeability reservoir in San Juan and Rio Arriba counties.

BR, operator of 2,287 wells in the reservoir, said it has drilled 38 Mesaverde 80 acre infill wells and plans to drill 50 more this year.

BR said that only 9% of the reservoir is being adequately drained with two wells on each proration unit and that only 44% of the 12.5 tcf of original gas in place would have been recovered.

The OCD order also added about 300 ft to the reservoir's upper vertical limits in part of the field to eliminate confusion introduced in previous orders. This will not interfere with gas pools in the overlying Pictured Cliffs formation, it said.

Blanco, covering all or part of 65 townships, is one of North America's largest gas fields. OCD designated the Mesaverde pool in 1949 and established proration in 1955.

New York

The Division of Mineral Resources in Albany sought competitive bids by May 4 for five oil and gas parcels in Chemung, Steuben, and Schuyler counties. The parcel sizes range from 606 acres to 6,900 acres.

Texas

Gulf Coast Exxon Co. U.S.A. completed a new field discovery in Kleberg County.

The 1049 King Ranch Canelo, 10 miles west of Riviera, flowed 8.015 MMcfd of gas on a 16/64 in. choke with 6,855 psi FTP plus 233 b/d of 53.7° gravity condensate and 157 b/d of water from Vicksburg "Yellow" sand perforated at 12,568-786 ft. CAOF is 32.9 MMcfd. TD is 13,008 ft.

The well, which opens KR/BOA field, is about 1 mile northeast of the Sue Jo field discovery well, Petroleum Information/Dwights LLC reported.

Utah

Conoco Inc. spudded a remote wildcat in the Circle Cliffs area of Utah's Escalante Canyons region. The 1 Muley Creek-Federal, in 29-36s-10e, Garfield County, is to go to 12,600 ft or Cambrian, PI reported. The site is 45 miles east of Upper Valley oil field (see map, OGJ, Mar. 14, 1997, p. 69).