By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb 21 -- Occidental Petroleum Corp. reported Wednesday the discovery of two more fields on its 494,000 acre Block 15 in Ecuador's eastern Oriente basin.
Two exploratory wells—Yanaquincha Este-1 and Yanaquincha Oeste-1—which lie 12 km and 16 km, respectively, from the existing central processing facilities, encountered oil of 21° and 27.2° gravity in three zones: Hollin, Napo U, and Napo T Sandstones, at 9,758-10,200 ft. Each test well encountered more than 90 ft of net pay, Oxy said.
The Hollin formation tested at 590 b/d of oil, natural, through a ½-in. choke, Oxy said. The U formation pumped as much as 2,300 b/d of oil, and the T formation pumped at rates of as much as 3,320 b/d of oil.
The two back-to-back, adjacent discoveries follow the successful completion of an extensive 3D seismic survey over Block 15 (OGJ Online, Sept. 10, 2001). The two exploration wells were followed by two delineation wells, and drilling continues with two more delineation wells planned.
Oxy acquired Block 15 in 1985 and had discovered six fields by spring 1999, at which time the company signed a production-sharing agreement with state oil firm Petroecuador, along with a sharing of management responsibilities (OGJ, May 31, 1999, p. 36).
Then-Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. (AEC) of Calgary (now part of Nexen Inc.) farmed into Block 15 with a 40% interest in late 2000 and assumed certain capital costs through 2004, a transaction that funded Oxy's capital program for existing projects in Ecuador while freeing investment capital for new projects. (OGJ Online, Nov. 1, 2000). Oxy remains operator of the block.
Oxy said its ongoing development plans on Block 15, which target an increase in gross production to 70,000 b/d of oil in 2003, were tied to the successful completion of a crude oil pipeline in Ecuador, a project which both companies support.
Oxy said this year it plans to complete the interpretation of its 3D seismic data on Block 15 and will drill four to seven new exploration wells on the block.
