Australia
Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Canberra, launched a 2-year project to inventory and document all depositional centers under Australian marine jurisdiction.
AGSO's Petroleum and Marine Division will begin targeting particular issues rather than operating in a survey mode. It will gather no new data for 2 years while it assesses and captures all relevant and current information as a platform for future work.
The work will focus on three regions on the subcontinent's northwest, southwest, and southeast margins.
Azerbaijan
SOCAR and private Moncrief Oil Co., Fort Worth, reached an agreement on joint development of Kalameddin and Mishovdag oil fields.
The fields, on the Shirvan steppe 120 km west of Baku, are believed to hold reserves of 20-30 million tonnes.
The agreement provided for $178 million in investment during the first 3 years. Petoil of Turkey will participate in the development.
China
Guangzhou Oceanic Geological Surveying Bureau of south China's Guangdong Province launched seismic surveys in the Yellow Sea, which lies between Bohai Bay and the East China Sea.
China hopes to be able to promote commercial prospecting in the area, covering 400,000 sq km in 60 m of water or less, within 5 years.
Greenland
The Statoil/Phillips group plugged the Qulleq-1 wildcat on the Fylla license west of Greenland without finding oil or gas.
The companies will evaluate results "and decide on their consequences for further activity by Mar. 15, 2001," Statoil said.
The well, in 1,152 m of water 140 km west of Nuuk, went to TD 2,937 m below sea level in a mudstone/sandstone succession of assumed Early Cretaceous age.
Egypt
The Eshpetco group that includes Vanguard Oil Corp., Calgary, successor company to Cabre Exploration Ltd. and Kappa Energy Co., set casing at a discovery on the West Esh El Mallaha concession west of the Gulf of Suez.
Tanan-1, 4.7 km northwest of Rabeh oil field, indicated a main pay zone in Matulla over a 110-ft interval with further pay in Duwi limestone. The well had good shows of light oil similar to that found at Rabeh field and the Tawoos-1 discovery well while drilling both formations. Miocene Rudeis had oil shows uphole. TD is 8,750 ft.
Vanguard said the extent of the discovery remains uncertain as well results are being integrated with interpreted 3D seismic data, and reserve estimates will be uncertain until after the integration process and more appraisal wells are completed.
Newfoundland
Deer Lake Oil & Gas Inc., St. John's, Newf., plans to deepen an indicated gas-condensate discovery in the Deer Lake basin.
The Western Adventure-1 on Permit 93-103 near Corner Brook encountered gas and condensate on two drillstem tests and indicated 1,350 psi bottomhole pressure. It is to be deepened to 1,422 m from interim TD of 872 m. Continuous coring revealed a braided stream type sandstone unit in Carboniferous North Brook, the operator said.
The drill site is about 45 miles northeast of the Garden Hill oil discovery, which Canadian Imperial Venture Corp., St. John's, applied in July to develop on Permit 93-102. CIVC said the proposed development comprises three genetically related structures along a fault-bounded fairway on 50 sq km.
Correction
Gulf of Mexico lease sale coverage wrongly referred to Occidental Petroleum Corp. as being the parent of Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd.'s unit CXY Energy Offshore Ltd. (OGJ, Sept. 4, 2000, p. 38). Occidental was never CXY's parent. It owned 30% of CXY's shares until sold in early 2000 and no longer holds an interest (OGJ, Mar. 13, 2000, p. 32). Canadian Occidental anticipates a name change later this year.