By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, June 4 -- Triton Energy Ltd., Dallas, has made another discovery on Block G off Equatorial Guinea.
The G-5 well, named Okume-1, found gross oil pay of 407 ft, with 200 net ft of oil-bearing pay in one pool, said Triton.
Okume cost $5.5 million to drill to 7,064 ft TD in 1,604 ft of water. It is 18 miles off the continental coast of Equatorial Guinea.
Triton said Okume found reservoirs similar to those of Ceiba field on the same block, with average porosity of 28%. The oil is 37° gravity.
Brian Maxted, Triton Senior Vice President, Exploration, said, "We chose not to flow test the well because we believe we can confidently predict Okume-1's deliverability. Based on the well results, we estimate Okume-1's flow rate would be between 10,000-15,000 b/d of oil. Instead of flow testing the well, we will invest the time and money in the appraisal of our find."
Triton is planning appraisal work to confirm the discovery and prove minimum economic reserves for project development. It is also evaluating options for an early production system if warranted.
James C. Musselman, Triton president and CEO, said, "Obviously, we are very early in the process of evaluating the size of the new field, but, prior to drilling the Okume-1, we estimated the prospect size to be 25-250 million bbl of gross recoverable oil.
"Importantly, the well was the first test of several similar prospects in the same area that we high-graded based on 3-D seismic attributes calibrated by early exploration drilling and Ceiba field development. The aggregate gross recoverable oil of the greater Okume area could be very significant, potentially more than the Ceiba field," said Musselman.
The 45,000 b/d Ceiba field was brought on stream in November 2000, less than 14 months after discovery. Ceiba will produce 80,000-90,000 b/d by early 2002.
Triton operates the 1 million-acre Block G with 85% interest. Energy Africa Ltd., Cape Town, owns 15%. The government of Equatorial Guinea has a 5% carried participating interest in Ceiba, and will have a similar interest in Okume if it is commercial.
