A unit of Gulf Canada Resources Ltd., Calgary, and partners report the Suban-4 delineation well in the Corridor Production Sharing Contract area south Sumatra, Indonesia, has reached target depth of 10,500 ft and will now be tested. Gulf Indonesia Resources Ltd. said the well is 2,296 ft deeper than the lowest tested gas in previous wells in the Suban structure. Gulf said the well penetrated a thicker section of Baturaja limestone and a similar thickness of Talang Akar sandstone compared to the Durian Mabok-2 well, 2.5 miles to the southeast. The Suban-4 well will be tested over a 30-day period. Operator Gulf's partners in the Suban project are Talisman (Corridor) Ltd., a unit of Talisman Energy Inc., Calgary, 36%; and Pertamina, 10%.
Corridor Resources Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, reports natural gas has been encountered at the McCully No. 1 wildcat, about seven miles northeast of the town of Sussex, New Brunswick. The Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (PCS) is the operator. PCS will pay Corridor costs on the project to earn a 50% interest in Corridor's petroleum and natural gas rights in 3,459 acres in the immediate area. The McCully well will be the first to test a petroleum prospect in the Maritimes Basin based on use of 3D seismic. Further evaluation of the well is planned.
Phillips Petroleum Co. has acquired a 50% interest in and operatorship of the Slater Dome/Coal Bank Draw coalbed methane prospect in Colorado and Wyoming, said Wyoming Oil & Minerals Inc., Casper, Wyo. The prospect covers 16,000 acres. The partners have drilled the first three of eight planned wells in a pilot drilling program expected to be completed by October 2000. The initial three wells encountered gas in the Williams Fork and Illes Coals of the Mesa Verde formation at various intervals and depths from 400-3,000 ft, said Wyoming Oil & Minerals. A 1999 well in the prospect tested at 252 Mcfd of gas and 198 b/d of water. If the pilot program finds enough reserves, Phillips projects drilling 16 development wells and constructing a gas pipeline in early 2001, with 32 wells projected for 2002. Skyline Resources, Denver, holds 33.3% interest in the prospect, and Wyoming Oil & Minerals holds 16.7%.
Magnum Hunter Resources Inc., Irving, Tex., said it entered into a 50:50 joint venture with El Paso Production Co., a unit of El Paso Energy Corp., for an exploration, development, and recompletion project on South Timbalier blocks 264, 265, and 266. As part of the agreement, Hunter has exchanged a 50% ownership interest in Blocks 265 and 266, including production facilities on Block 265, for a 25% ownership interest in Block 264�in which Magnum Hunter already held 25%�additional cash consideration, and other drilling commitments. The companies will hold equal interests except in Block 265 well A-4, where El Paso holds 60% and Magnum holds 40%. The project includes one producing gas well and three existing wells scheduled for completion, plus 6-8 exploration, development, and recompletion opportunities. El Paso will operate the drilling phase of the program under the JV, and Magnum Hunter will operate all of the production and related facilities.
TransGlobe Energy Corp., Calgary, said it participated in a successful development well in the Tasour field on Block 32 in the Sayun Basin in Yemen. The Tasour-4 well was drilled to total depth of 1,757 m and flowed at 2,500 b/d of 29-degree oil on a submersible pump test from the Qishn sand reservoir. The well has been completed as a producer and will be tied-in to the adjacent Tasour production facilities once they are complete, probably by the end of October. The rig moved to drill Tasour-D; results from that well are expected by the end of October, said TransGlobe. DNO ASA operates the field with 20%; Ansan Wikfs (Hadramaut) Inc. holds 45.19%; Norsk Hydro AS, 25%; and TransGlobe Energy Corp., 9.81%.
Noble Affiliates Inc., Ardmore, Okla., said the Vermilion Block 196 No. 2 exploratory well found 70 ft of net pay in three sands between 13,160 ft and 14, 350 ft. This is the first well drilled under McMoRan Exploration Co. and Noble Affiliates unit Samedan Oil Corp.'s previously announced exploration alliance in the Gulf of Mexico (OGJ Online, Sept. 19). The well will be temporarily abandoned but will be used for future production. Samedan Oil holds 25% interest in the block and McMoRan holds 47.5%; an unnamed participant, 25%; and an individual investor, 2.5%. The Marine 15 drilling rig will move to Vermilion Block 144 to drill an exploratory test well. Noble and McMoRan own 25% and 71.3% working interests, respectively, in the Vermilion 144/145 prospect, located in 90 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico, 40 miles offshore Louisiana.
AMG Oil Ltd., Calgary, expects to receive the necessary regulatory consents to drill the Ealing-1 and Arcadia-1 exploration wells in New Zealand's 1.3 million-acre onshore Canterbury basin. The Arcadia Prospect is a well-defined pop-up anticline, mapped as a possible oil or gas trap in an area of over 15,000 acres. The Ealing prospect is a fault and paleo-drape structure covering an area of 25,000 acres. AMG plans to drill Ealing-1 in mid-October before moving the rig to the Arcadia-1 site. Both Ealing-1 and Arcadia-1 exploration wells are expected to take three weeks to drill to target depths of 6,000 ft.
Swift Energy Co. said the Rimu B-1 well in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, was logged to total depth of 13,740 ft and confirmed the presence of a lower Tariki section of high-quality reservoir rock in an interval between 13,222 ft and 13,304 ft. Porosity is estimated at 12-30%. Swift said the Lower Tariki section has 56 ft of net pay with average porosity of 17%. Swift subsidiary Swift Energy New Zealand Ltd. operates the well with 90% interest; Antrim Oil & Gas Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Calgary-based Antrim Energy Inc., holds 5%, as does Marabella Enterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of Brisbane-based Bligh Oil & Minerals Ltd.
Indo-Pacific Energy Ltd., Vancouver, reported Phillips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, Okla., the operator of permit ZOCA 96-16 in Australia's Timor Sea, will begin drilling the Coleraine-1 exploration well in late September with the Ocean General semisubmersible rig. Indo-Pacific said it would take at least four weeks for the well to reach its 11,000 ft target depth. Indo-Pacific has a 10% interest in Coleraine-1, fully carried by Phillips through the cost of drilling and testing the well.
Petrolex Energy Corp., Vancouver, BC, received a permit from the Colombian Ministry of the Environment to begin testing and production from up to 10 wells in the Rubiales Oilfield. The permit lasts for a term of 6 months. Petrolex said it is applying for a permit that would allow full development of the field. Five of the 10 wells in the field are now ready for testing and production. The company said "shipments of oil from the field will commence as soon as practicable."
