By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 15 -- BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd. has made a fifth oil discovery, Palas-1, on ultradeepwater Block 31, off Angola.
Stavanger-based Ocean Rig ASA's Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible rig drilled Palas-1 in 1,602 m of water to a TD of 3,745 m subsea. Palas-1 is 325 km northwest of Luanda and about 62 km southeast of Plutão field in a potentially new development area in the southeastern part of Block 31. The block lies in 1,500-2,500 m of water.
On test Palas-1 flowed a maximum 5,330 b/d of oil through a 40/64-in. choke. BP said it plans additional work to evaluate the full extent of the discovery.
Other reservoirs on the 5,349 sq km Block 31 include Plutão, Saturno, Marte, and Venus (OGJ Online, June 14, 2004).
Sonangol EP is the concessionaire of Block 31. BP is operator, holding 26.67%. Other shareholders are Esso Exploration & Production Angola (Block 31) Ltd. 25%, Sonangol 20%, Statoil Angola ASA 13.33%, Marathon Petroleum Angola (Block 31) Ltd. 10%, and Total Exploration & Production Angola (Block 31) Ltd. 5%.
The drillship next will move to Block 33 off Angola to drill another well for BP. Drilling operations are expected to take 30-45 days.
