Exploration/Development Briefs

The government has awarded ConocoPhillips two deepwater blocks in the Bay of Bengal off Bangladesh, the company's first presence in the country.

ConocoPhillips has 100% working interest in a production sharing contract with the government and state Petrobangla that covers the DS-08-10 and DS-08-11 blocks. The blocks total 1.27 million acres in 3,300-5,000 ft of water 175 miles off Chittagong in the Bangladesh portion of the Bay of Bengal, the world's largest submarine fan.

The deepwater area off Bangladesh is virtually unexplored. ConocoPhillips will shoot 2D seismic as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Santos Ltd. is gearing up to drill three to four wells in late 2011 on nearshore Block 16 in proximity to Sangu gas field (OGJ Online, May 27, 2011).

Black Hills Corp., Rapid City, SD, said its Mallon Oil Co. Sucursal Costa Rica affiliate is working with the Costa Rican government to execute six oil and gas concessions by yearend on 2.3 million acres in northern Costa Rica.

Mallon Oil, Denver, began working to obtain the concessions in 1999, and Black Hills continued the effort since acquiring Mallon in 2003 (see map, OGJ, May 12, 1997, p. 79). For years it appeared that the concessions would not be executed, but recent news reports from Costa Rica have indicated that the contract will be finalized, the company said.

The concessions cover a majority of the San Carlos and Limon North basins. In the US, Black Hills operates oil and natural gas producing properties in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming and has nonoperated interests in properties producing in California, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming.

A Chevron Corp. unit and Faroe Petroleum will abandon the frontier Lagavulin exploratory well after it found hydrocarbons and an active petroleum system but no workable reservoir.

The Atlantic margin Well 217/15-1z went to an undisclosed depth in 1,567 m of water. It was projected to 16,800 ft about 140 miles northeast of the Rosebank/Lochnagar area.

The Stena Carron drillship handled the drilling. Progress was slower than expected, Faroe Petroleum said, mainly because of poor weather and difficult formations. Cost overruns due to the difficult drilling will not hamper the future drilling program of 17 firm and expected wells through 2013, the company said.

Nevertheless, Lagavulin's results will greatly advance understanding of the geology and ability to unlock the high-potential basalt play in the Atlantic margin region, Faroe Petroleum said.

Ormat Technologies Inc., Reno, Nev., will construct a 45 Mw geothermal power plant in the Tikitere geothermal area near Rotorua, NZ, 120 miles southeast of Auckland, subject to regulatory approvals.

The field from which the energy will be drawn is owned by the Tiki Tere Trust, Paehinahina Mourea and Tiki Tere A (Aggregated), and the Manupirua Ahu Whenua Trust. The wells will be drilled on land owned by the Paehinahina Mourea Trust, and the plant will utilize steam and brine and reinject all fluids.

Ormat will explore, develop, supply, construct, and own the plant and operate it for 14 years following commercial operation and then transfer 100% ownership interest to Tikitere Geothermal Power Ltd., established as a joint venture vehicle for the various Maori trusts.

The project will utilize Ormat's generating units, similar to those deployed in 12 geothermal projects in New Zealand totaling 260 Mw.

Poland's first horizontal shale gas well has been drilled, logged, cased and awaits extensive stimulation in the third quarter of 2011, said 3Legs Resources PLC.

The company drilled and cased the Lebien LE-2H well from the same location as its Lebien LE-1 vertical well. Lebien LE-2H went to 4,080 m measured total depth including a 1,000-m horizontal section placed in a 5-m target zone in organic-rich Lower Paleozoic shales. The well encountered high gas saturations throughout the horizontal section, 3Legs said.

Well data support the company's existing regional geological interpretation.

The rig will move to drill the company's Warblino LE-2H horizontal well on its Damnica license, scheduled to spud in the third quarter.

Lukoil Uzbekistan said cumulative production has reached 10 billion cu m of gas at Khauzak-Shady field in the Bukhara step region of Uzbekistan and that the company has adopted a field development plan under which it will raise output to 4 bcm/year from 3 bcm/year by 2012.

Development of Khauzak-Shady is a part of the Kandym-Khauzak-Shady-Kungrad project, which Lukoil is implementing in conjunction with state Uzbekneftegaz under a 35-year production sharing agreement that took effect in November 2004.

Exploration has continued, Lukoil said, including the shooting of 500 sq km of 3D seismic and drilling two exploratory wells that resulted in the increase of C1 and C2 category reserves by more than 21 bcm.

Corridor Resources Inc., Halifax, NS, will revise its 2011 capital budget to include expenditures to drill two appraisal wells to evaluate the Frederick Brook shale in the Elgin area in New Brunswick.

Corridor's current 2011 capital budget is $8 million. The company's website provides an update on Corridor's three prospects in the Elgin area of New Brunswick, on Anticosti Island, and on the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Apache Corp. Canadian unit elected at the end of May 2011 not to continue a farmout from Corridor to exploit the Frederick Brook shale, but Corridor chose to proceed with efforts to unlock the formation's unconventional gas resources (OGJ Online, June 1, 2011).

Shoal Point Energy Ltd. plans to case an exploratory well in western Newfoundland and attempt to produce unconventional light oil in a thick section of fractured Green Point shale, said Canadian Imperial Venture Corp., St. John's.

Petrophysical analysis by NuTech Energy Alliance Ltd. indicates that the 3K39 nearshore well encountered a thick section of hydrocarbon shows over a gross interval between the surface casing shoe at 400 m measured depth and current drilled depth of 1,745 m. The well is on the 150,000-acre EL 1070 license.

"The analysis of the 3K-39 logs reflects NuTech's previous analyses of unconventional potential in the Green Point shales from the Shoal Point 2K-39 and Long Point M16 wells. It shows a similar thick section of hydrocarbon pay and, for the first time has enabled interpretation of an abundance of fractures throughout the borehole," CIVC said.

About 26 m of core is being shipped to Houston for 3D image analysis, which will provide valuable information on porosity, permeability, and hydrocarbon saturations as well as images of the internal geometry of fractures. Other core-based studies including rock properties, pyrolysis, and porosity-permeability are being concluded and incorporated in the data set.

A series of open hole tests are being conducted prior to completion and stimulation to assess the natural producibility of the formation. The shows include gas chromatography, indicating the presence of liquids over roughly 70% of the drilled section, blue-white fluorescence (indicating light oil) in drill cuttings and cores, particularly after application of a solvent, and mobile, visible oil in fractured core.

Operations have been made difficult by the tectonized and fractured nature of the reservoir and therefore considerable effort and time has gone into keeping the borehole open and in good condition for coring, logging, and testing.

Dejour Energy Inc., Denver, has cased its initial vertical Mancos/Niobrara exploratory well in western Colorado and plans to attempt completion this year.

The well encountered 90 ft of hydrocarbon-bearing siltstone in Lower Mancos C sands enroute to a total depth of 3,863 ft on the company's South Rangely leasehold in Rio Blanco County, Colo. Test results will be forthcoming in the third quarter of 2011.

Dejour has a 30% working interest in the well and an average 56% working interest in the surrounding 8,000 acres. This leasehold sits on the western flank of the Douglas Creek arch that separates the Piceance and Uintah basins (OGJ Online, Apr. 26, 2011).

Primary Petroleum Corp., Calgary, has amassed 290,000 net acres under lease and option in Pondera and Teton counties, Mont. The lease position is within the currently defined Southern Alberta basin Bakken fairway and begins at the southern border of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

To date, early indications from previous drilling have identified early production rates in line with expectations in the Del Bonita area along the Montana-Alberta border, Primary said. On the northwest Montana portion of the basin, production has been confirmed but not quantified. Drilling is under way less than 10 miles from the company's northern land holdings.

Primary has outlined four key areas on which it intends to shoot 3D seismic better identify and evaluate the Sunburst, Madison, Lodgepole, Bakken, Three Forks, and Nisku formations. To date the company has collected data that confirm the presence of these formations over its acreage and that they are oil bearing. Primary is close to completing the permitting phase on its Northeast Marias River and Northwest Dupuyer Creek programs and anticipates surveying to start later in June. Crews will then move to the Southwest Deep Creek and Central Eureka Lake seismic programs. Vertical drilling to the Lodgepole, Bakken, and Three Forks formations should start by yearend.

More Oil & Gas Journal Current Issue Articles
More Oil & Gas Journal Archives Issue Articles
View Oil and Gas Articles on PennEnergy.com