AWE to drill several New Zealand play types

July 12, 2009
Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd., Sydney, is looking at drilling three or four exploration play types in its summer exploration in New Zealand’s Taranaki basin.

Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd., Sydney, is looking at drilling three or four exploration play types in its summer exploration in New Zealand’s Taranaki basin.

In a website presentation originally given to the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, AWE says its first well, Hoki-1, will be a Cretaceous North Cape formation play in PEP 38401 about 100 km due west of New Plymouth.

The Hoki-1 structure covers 70 sq km with 100 m of relief. The structure, in 150-900 m of water, lies geologically under the edge of the Western Platform.

AWE operates PEP 38401 with 50% interest. The other Hoki partners are OMV 31.25% and Todd Energy 18.75%.

AWE plans two wells as extensions to the Tui oil field pool in the Kapuni Group F10 sands. They are Tui Northeast, with an estimated 10 million bbl recoverable, and Tui Southwest with 5 million bbl.

AWE also outlined two other possible targets adjoining the Tui pool: Tui Southeast with 10 million bbl estimated recoverable and a Kahu channel play with a 30 million bbl target.

A fourth proposed well is Tuatara-1, off the South Island’s D’Urville Island. It is a Moki sands play similar to OMV’s Maari oil field. The top Moki sands at Tuatara cover a 10 sq km structure with 90 m of relief. AWE holds 100% of PEP 38524.

A fourth play type being considered for this drill round is the Bahamas Pleistocene biogenic gas play more than 100 km west of Taranaki largely in PEP 38483. While distant from shore, it appears to have a large upside, the company said.

The Kan Tan-IV semisubmersible is to arrive in New Zealand in November.

Guatemala

The PetroLatina subsidiary of Quetzal Energy Ltd., Toronto, is redeveloping the A7-2005 license that contains Atzam and Tortugas fields in Guatemala’s southern Peten (Chapayal) basin.

It plans to drill three development wells at Atzam and six in Tortugas.

PetroLatina has spud the Atzam-3 well in Guatemala’s Atzam oil and gas field in License A7-2005 in the southern Peten (Chapayal) basin.

Projected depth is 4,200 ft at the well, 500 m east of the productive Atzam-2 well. Quetzal chose the location to gain a structural advantage to Atzam-2 at the productive Coban C-18 and C-19 intervals.

Basic Petroleum (Bahamas) Ltd. drilled Atzam-2 in 1993. The reworked Atzam-2 has produced 102,168 bbl of 34° gravity oil from March 2008 until May 31, 2009. Previous operators produced 90,000 bbl before the well watered out.

PetroLatina also completed Atzam-1A as a water disposal well for a savings of $18,000/month.

Indonesia

CBM Asia Development Corp., Vancouver, BC, said it has applied through its Indonesian partner PT Ephindo for a second coalbed methane production sharing contract in the Kutei basin of East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The application covers 56,300 ha next to the company’s Kutai West PSC. CBM Asia, which has an 18% working interest in Kutai West, will hold a 40% working interest in the new contract if a PSC is awarded.

CBM Asia is responsible for carrying out a $5.6 million exploration and appraisal program by November 2011 to determine commercial feasibility of CBM production on Kutai West and submit a development plan to the government.

Norway

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. began shooting a multiclient 3D seismic survey in the Barents Sea off Norway.

The survey covers 4,300 sq km over the Hoop fault complex on the Norwegian continental shelf. It covers recently awarded acreage and open blocks expected to be offered later.

Thailand

Pan Orient Energy Corp., Calgary, said its NSE-I1 well in Thailand discovered commercial hydrocarbons in a previously untested volcanic reservoir 20 m thick at 637 m true vertical depth.

The well is pumping 75 b/d of 34° gravity oil and 200 b/d of water. Pan Orient is operator with 60% working interest.

NSE-I1 was deviated to target the shallow volcanic zone in the downthrown fault closure west of the NSE North fault compartment and a deeper volcanic objective on the high side of the north-south bounding fault.

The well encountered the first volcanic target zone at 637 m TVD and had moderate drilling fluid losses with oil shows observed at surface. It encountered the second volcanic objective at 750 m TVD with the upper 85 m penetrated before drilling was terminated while still in the zone. Minor oil shows were observed at surface along with minor mud losses while drilling through the zone. Subsequent testing of the lowermost objective recovered water and 2 bbl of 32° gravity oil.

The company plans to test the same zone structurally much higher on the east (high) side of the main bounded fault.

Turkey

Sherritt Oil & Gas Ltd. plans to spud the Durusu-1 wildcat on the western Black Sea shelf off Turkey in early July.

The 125 bcf gas prospect is to be drilled by a group led by Sherritt with 21%, HEMA Energy 33%, Toreador Resources Corp. 25%, and Soeul City Gas 21%.

Newfoundland

Vulcan Minerals Inc., St. John’s, is moving in a rig to drill a deep well in the Bay St. George basin onshore western Newfoundland.

Vulcan Minerals plans to drill Robinson’s-1 to 3,600 m in a joint venture with Investcan Energy Corp.

The site is on Permit 03-106 about 40 km southwest of Stephenville. The basin’s deepest well to date is Hurricane-2 to 935 m in 2005.

Louisiana

Energy XXI USA Inc., Houston, identified several pay zones at the McIlhenny-1 well sidetrack 2 in Vermilion Parish, La., said interest owner Yuma Exploration & Production Co., Houston.

Lower Miocene Cris A sands at 21,500 ft measured depth stabilized at 15.8 MMcfd of gas at 14,873 psi on an 11⁄64-in. choke. Initially, the zone also produced oil at nonstabilized rates between 800 b/d and 2,000 b/d.

No other zones were tested, and the well is shut-in pending installation of production facilities and flow lines. TD is 23,300 ft MD, 23,329 ft TVD.

Yuma’s working interests are 6.25% before payout and 23.44% after payout in the well, on Yuma’s Cote de Mer prospect.

Nevada

Empire Petroleum Corp., Tulsa, is preparing to drill a second exploration well in western Nevada’s Gabbs Valley.

The company applied for a federal drilling unit with the Bureau of Land Management in Reno. Approval is expected by early fall.

The next well is to be drilled to 6,000 ft or a depth sufficient to penetrate 500 ft into the Triassic formation, which the company believes is the source of the oil shows encountered in the first well 3⁄4 mile away. Geochemical imaging validates the new location.

Empire Petroleum has a 57% working interest in the well and 85,145 acres of federal leases in the prospect area and is evaluating options to fund its share of the drilling cost.

New Mexico

Completion work started on the Eumont State-2 well in Lea County, the first development well in Urssey Tank (Seven Rivers) field, said Saxon Oil Co. Ltd., Dallas.

It offsets the KPI Eumont State-1 discovery well, which has produced more than 60,000 bbl of oil since completion in May 2008. Eumont State-2 encountered the same subsurface zones of interest as Eumont State-1, said Saxon Oil, which has 15% working interest in the field.