Romania
The Doina Sister well on the Midia Block in the Black Sea off Romania tested at stabilized rates up to 19.2 MMscfd in 4 hr from perforations at 1,139-68 m in the main Mio-Pliocene Doina reservoir, said operator Sterling Resources Ltd., Calgary.
After a 14-hr test at a fixed 16.5 MMscfd on a 48⁄64-in. choke with 1,160 psi stable wellhead flowing pressure, the well was shut-in for pressure buildup.
Equipment capacity constraints that limited the test rates also resulted in the decision not to perforate the lower 12-m net pay interval.
Sterling said, “Performance of the Doina Sister well during test indicates that it has superior reservoir qualities compared to the original Doina well, as expected from the electric open hole log data, and this will be quantified on recovery of the pressure gauges.”
The well will be suspended for future reentry, the Prometeu jack up released, and a 2008 drilling program discussed.
Sweden
The Swedish Mining Inspector granted an application by Tethys Oil AB, Stockholm, to explore a 133,400-acre license on northern Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea south of Stockholm.
Sweden has no commercial oil or gas production, but oil was previously produced from Ordovician reefs on Gotland, which the company called “the country’s only proven oil region.”
Tethys Oil said historic data and further work using gravimetry and radar techniques could improve understanding of the distribution of the reefs, several of which have been mapped and drilled. Surface geochemical surveys may be run later, possibly leading to seismic surveys and drilling.
Gulf of Mexico
Log-while-drilling tools at the second well at Flatrock field on South Marsh Island Block 212 off Louisiana indicated three resistive zones 198 ft thick on a 315-ft gross Rob-L section, said McMoRan Exploration Co., New Orleans.
The well, drilled to 15,400 ft about a mile northwest of the Flatrock discovery well, is to be deepened to 18,100 ft to evaluate other Rob-L and Operc targets. The discovery well, expected on line in the first quarter of 2008 using the nearby Tiger Shoal field facilities, flowed 71 MMcfd of gas and 739 b/d of condensate from the Operc section in October 2007. Drilled to TD 18,400 ft, it cut 260 net ft of hydrocarbon-bearing sands in a 637-ft gross interval, five in Rob-L and three in Operc.
Alaska
Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. reentered the North Shore-1 well on Jan. 10 to evaluate an oil accumulation initially tested in 1974.
Drilled to TD 13,319 ft measured depth and cased to 12,500 ft MD in 2007, the well is to be deepened 1,000 ft for tests of the Jurassic-Triassic Sag River and Ivishak formations. The rig will then move to the Tofkat-1 well in the Titania prospect area just east of Niuqsut east of the Colville River. The joint venture consists of Brooks Range, TG World Energy Inc., Bow Valley Alaska Corp., and Ramshorn Investments Inc.
Texas (West)
SandRidge Energy Inc., Oklahoma City, identified seven exploration targets to drill in the West Texas Overthrust after processing less than 20% of an anticipated 1,400-sq-mile 3D seismic survey.
The company controls almost all the land and production infrastructure around the projects, which are several miles from its Pinon gas field development.
SandRidge plans to drill 440 wells in 2008 in a $1.25 billion capital budget, of which $1.1 billion is for exploration and production. That covers $622 million for drilling in the WTO including Pinon field, $285 million for drilling outside the WTO, $33 million for PetroSource, and $151 million for land and seismic.