Buru Energy Ltd., Perth, plans to restore oil production from the West Kora-1 well in the onshore Canning basin of northwest Western Australia following the grant of a production license.
The new L15 license area contains West Kora field, discovered and briefly produced by Esso Australia in 1984.
The discovery well produced 20,000 bbl at an initial rate of 350 b/d and a water cut of 35%. However, the water cut increased rapidly to 85% and Esso shut it in.
Anzoil NL, Perth, reperforated the well and unsuccessfully attempted to isolate the water production with a tubing bridge plug in 1992.
Buru intends to use new technology in a workover program for the well and upgrade the existing production facility. It is hoped that this, along with higher oil prices, will enable commercial redevelopment of West Kora field.
Buru has 17% of the license area. Pancontinental Oil & Gas NL has 12%, Empire Oil & Gas NL 49%, First Australian Resources Ltd. 12%, and Indigo Oil LLC 10%.
Brazil
HRT Oil & Gas, Rio de Janeiro, signed a letter of intent with a unit of Tuscany International Drilling Inc., Calgary, to drill in northwestern Brazil's Solimoes basin. A definitive agreement is expected within 45 days.
HRT Oil & Gas operates 21 blocks in the basin in Amazonas state (OGJ Online, Nov. 23, 2009). The basin contains Brazil's largest light oil producing field, Urucu, operated by state Petroleo Brasileiro.
HRT Oil & Gas signed farm-in deals to buy a 51% stake in the blocks from Petra Energia SA and M&S Brazil. HRT Oil & Gas is funded with $275 million raised pursuant to a brokered private placement.
Colombia
Calculated absolute open flow rate is revised to 18 MMcfd, up 5.5 MMcfd, at the Petrolifera Petroleum Ltd. Billante SE-1X exploratory well in Colombia's Lower Magdalena basin.
The upward revision resulted from recovery of the bottomhole pressure data recorded during flow and shut-in periods of a production test run Apr. 17-20, 2010. Data from the production test replaced assumptions used in the earlier estimate.
Measured flow from the well, on the Sierra Nevada license, was 8.4 MMcfd from Cienaga de Oro.
Guatemala
Quetzal Energy Ltd., Calgary, found 36° gravity oil in the overpressured Coban C-12 reservoir at Atzam-3A, a possible new pool oil discovery in the 1-2005 exploration and production contract area in Guatemala's Peten basin.
The well, cased to 1,506 ft, found the C-12 reservoir structurally higher than in surrounding wells. Top of Upper Coban C-12 is at 1,330 ft, 330 ft high to Atzam-2 and 650 ft high to Atzam-1A.
Atzam-3A's C-12 reservoir section is a series of thin dolomite beds with about 20 ft of potential net oil pay. The well flowed 4 bbl/hr, 50% oil and 50% drilling mud, during open hole logging.
Quetzal Energy is considering drilling Atzam-4 to 4,000 ft to evaluate the oil potential down to and including the Coban C-19.
India
Oil India Ltd. and GeoGlobal Resources Inc., Calgary, have spud Rachan-1, first well on the RJ-ONN-2004/3 (Block 21) exploration block in Rajasthan, India.
Rachan-1 is to be drilled vertically to 1,500 m to test the Jodhpur sandstone and the Upper Carbonate Group. GeoGlobal's interest is 25%.
Production sharing contracts for blocks 20 and 21 were signed on Mar. 2, 2007. The adjacent blocks are located onshore in Northwest India in the Rajasthan basin and surround OIL's producing Baghewala oil field. The blocks cover a combined 871,293 acres.
The companies shot, processed, and interpreted 1,300 sq km of 3D seismic. Rachan-1 is the first of 20 exploratory wells to be drilled on the blocks.
Romania
Zeta Petroleum Ltd., London, is processing 51.3 sq km of full fold 3D seismic shot on its 100% owned Bobocu license in Romania.
Main focus is to enhance imaging of flow barriers and help study discrete facies changes in the deltaic sedimentary environment on Bobocu gas field. A secondary focus is to identify bypassed gas.
Bobocu is in the outer Carpathian foredeep 20 km northeast of Buzau and 125 km northeast of Bucharest.
Kansas
Castle Resources Inc. has spud the Clark-3 well targeting the Topeka and Lansing-Kansas City formations in western Kansas.
The well, in 32-8s-28w, Sheridan County, is projected to 4,200 ft in 7-10 days, said 53% working interest owner AusTex Oil Ltd., Sydney.
The Clark-1 well encountered oil in two formations and was completed for an initial flow on test of 250 b/d of oil from Topeka. Tests of Lansing-Kansas City formation yielded oil at the rate of 230 b/d with water. The operator plans to produce the well from both formations now that the water disposal system is in operation.
Louisiana
Questar Corp.'s E&P unit has built its position in the Haynesville shale play to more than 48,000 net acres, mostly in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, and Red River parishes, La.
The company is running seven rigs and is participating in 10 Haynesville wells now being drilled. It has participated in 18 Haynesville completions in 2010, eight wells under completion, and 17 wells awaiting completion. Net proved reserves were 592 bcf at the end of 2009.
Assuming 80-acre spacing, the company estimates its position could accommodate more than 1,000 gross additional unbooked locations.
Utah
Hewitt Petroleum Inc., Salt Lake City, has spud the Liberty-1 exploratory well in the Central Utah thrust belt as a proposed 5,000-ft test to the Jurassic Twin Creek and Navajo formations.
The Liberty prospect is in Juab County on the Paxton thrust 6 miles west of the Gunnison thrust, where Wolverine Gas & Oil Co. discovered Covenant and Providence oil fields (see map, OGJ, Jan. 17, 2005, p. 44).
Nostra Terra Oil & Gas Co. PLC has a 7% working interest before payout and 5% working interest after payout in the well. Freedom Oil & Gas Inc., Salt Lake City, also participates in the well.
Surface geology, seismic, geochemical, and gravity data were acquired and interpreted to validate the potential sourcing, reservoir quality, and structure of the Liberty prospect, Nostra Terra said.
Wyoming
Questar Corp. said its E&P unit estimates that with six operated rigs at Wyoming's Pinedale anticline gas field it could complete 95-100 new wells by the end of 2010.
The company, which has completed 21 new wells in 2010, has 25 wells under or awaiting completion.
Questar drilled a 14,165-ft directional well from spud to TD in 12.8 days in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the prior Pinedale record of 13 days in the 2009 fourth quarter. Completed well cost now averages less than $4.5 million.
Questar E&P has a 60% working interest in its operated Pinedale acreage. Its yearend 2009 proved reserve estimate included 427 gross proved developed producing Pinedale wells and 432 gross proved undeveloped locations based on a combination of 5, 10, and 20-acre density. The company estimates that it could have as many as 960 gross additional unbooked locations at Pinedale.
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