Algeria
Petroceltic International PLC said its AT-8 appraisal well in Ain Tsila gas-condensate field in eastern Algeria flowed a combined 15.4 MMscfd of gas from three Ordovician zones without stimulation, the highest prefrac flow rate to date in the field.
The AT-8 well was designed to appraise a pop-up feature with a mapped fault system and to test the extent of the hydrocarbon column on the field's north side. TD is 1,662 m. The wellsite is 5 km northeast of the AT-1 discovery well and 4.5 km northwest of the AT-5 well in an undrilled section of the field.
The well penetrated a 121-m gross Ordovician interval with 33 m of net sand and 24 m of interpreted net pay. It is being prepared for fracture stimulation in the upper zone.
The company spudded the AT-9 horizontal appraisal well on Sept. 12 near the center of the field and 7.8 km southeast of AT-1.
Petroceltic operates the Isarene permit covering blocks 228 and 229a with a 56.625% interest. Sonatrach has a 25% interest, and Enel has 18.375% pending government ratification.
Australia
Westside Corp. Ltd., Sydney, has spudded Glenlyon-1 in the Galilee basin 70 km south of Richmond, Qld., as the first of as many as four coalbed methane exploratory wells.
Glenlyon-1, in ATP 974P, is to determine the gas content and composition of the Permian Betts Creek and Aramac coal measures starting at about 1,000 m and present throughout the basin.
WestSide has a 51% operating interest in ATP 974P and ATP 978P in joint venture with Mitusi E&P Australia Pty. Ltd. which has a 49% interest in both. The two blocks total more than 14,000 sq km.
The other planned wells in the initial program are Essex Downs-1 in ATP 974P and Dunluce-1 and Malakoff-1 in ATP 978P.
Brazil
HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA, Rio de Janeiro, said its 1-HRT-1-AM well in Brazil's Solimoes basin is being logged after penetrating five crude oil intervals in aeolian sandstones in the Devonian Marimari Group and three gas intervals, two in the Jurua formation and one in the Marimari Group.
The 1-HRT-2-AM is at 2,829 m enroute to zones of interest expected at 3,060-3,500 m.
The 1-HRT-3-AM well tested geological structures adjoining the structure already drilled by the 1-GAV-01-AM well, which detected gas in the Jurua formation. Intermediate casing is being set. Gas was detected while drilling in three geological intervals and evidence of liquid hydrocarbons was found in the deeper intervals. Crude oil was detected in the drilling mud during logging.
HRT is setting 7-in. liner. The company decided not to run formation tests at 1-HRT-3-AM at this time. This well and the hydrocarbon accumulations in the 1-CI-1-AM, 1-MR-1-AM, and 1-IP-1-AM wells on the SOL-T-168 block will be part of a future assessment plan.
After setting liner, the rig will move to the 1-HRT-1-192 well in Block SOL-T-192 about 65 km southwest of 1-HRT-3-AM. The 1-HRT-4-AM well is at 1,675 m enroute to zones of interest expected at 2,360-2,700 m.
China
Sino Gas & Energy Holdings Ltd., Perth, has spudded the SJB1 coalbed methane appraisal well on the 1,100 sq km Sanjiaobei production sharing contract in the Ordos basin in China.
Sino Gas, operator in partnership with PetroChina CBM, shot 410 line-km of seismic on the PSC and selected the drillsite to evaluate and confirm the potential extension of productive pay zones encountered elsewhere on the acreage.
The well will be drilled to a total depth of around 2,100 m, logged, and cased in a process expected to take 30 days. Weather permitting, the rig will drill as many as two more wells on the Sanjiaobei PSC in 2011.
Equatorial Guinea
White Rose Energy Ventures has taken a farmout to earn a 48.75% operated interest in Block H off Equatorial Guinea, where an exploratory well is to be drilled in 2012.
White Rose is acquiring its interest from Atlas Petroleum International and ROC Oil (Equatorial Guinea) Co. and becomes technical manager of activities on the block, where the current period of the production sharing contract has been extended until February 2013. The block contains several prospects, including Aleta to be drilled, and leads.
The block group consists of White Rose, Atlas 25%, ROC Oil 20%, and PA Resources AB 6.25%.
Greenland
Cairn Energy PLC is plugging the Delta-1 well on the Napariaq block off western Greenland after it encountered no hydrocarbon shows.
The Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilled Delta-1 to 2,977 m in Tertiary volcanic in 293 m of water 365 km off Aasiaat. The well had targeted the Cretaceous section beneath Tertiary volcanics.
Meanwhile, the Ocean Rig Corcovado semisubmersible has spudded the AT2-1 well in 1,045 m of water on the Atammik block 198 km off Nuuk. It is the fifth well in the 2011 program.
The Leiv Eiriksson rig will reenter the AT7-1 well in 909 m of water on the Atammik block 198 km off Nuuk and drill to the planned total depth. The well had been temporarily suspended while the rig drilled Delta-1 to optimize drilling time in the West Disko area.
Indonesia
Pan Orient Energy Corp., Calgary, expects to spud the Jatayu-1 well in late November 2011 as first of a three-well exploratory program on the Citarum PSC in West Java, Indonesia.
The Jatayu location is built and the road 50% complete. Pan Orient will drill Cataka-1 and Geulis-1 back to back, said Sound Oil PLC, which has a 20% interest in the block.
Ireland
Providence Resources PLC and the Star Energy Group PLC subsidiary of Malaysia's state Petronas plan to drill an exploratory well in the Kish Bank basin off eastern Ireland and have applied to convert the LO 08/2 license to a standard exploration license.
The Dalkey Island prospect is in 25 m of water 10 km off Dublin. Providence recently commissioned a third party geochemical study on residual oil samples from a nearby well that confirmed the presence of a highly mature Paleozoic marine oil prone source rock in the Kish Bank basin. Drilling depth is 1,700 m.
Considerable exploratory risk remains, but the geochemical studies "provided significant encouragement as a similar interval is considered to be the source for the prolific producing oilfields in the Liverpool Bay Area, offshore UK," said Providence.
Kazakhstan
Tethys Petroleum Ltd. said drilling and log data indicate that the Doris AKD06 appraisal well in Kazakhstan encountered oil in the Cretaceous sandstone and Jurassic limestone reservoirs.
The Cretaceous sandstone was encountered above prognosis and at a higher elevation than in the AKD01 Doris discovery well and is of good quality with similar net pay thickness to AKD01, which flowed more than 5,400 b/d of oil from this unit.
The Jurassic limestone was also encountered above prognosis and slightly higher than in the AKD01 well and has similar character to the recently drilled AKD05 well that flowed more than 1,500 b/d of oil from this zone.
Production liner has been set, and more geophysical data will be obtained to tie the well into the new 3D seismic dataset. The well will then be connected to the test production facility and two production tests are planned on the reservoir units.
Papua New Guinea
Talisman Niugini Pty. Ltd. has recommended plugging the Siphon-1 exploratory well on PPL 269 in Papua New Guinea, said participant New Guinea Energy Ltd., Sydney.
Wireline logging of 23 m of the Elevala member of the Ieru formation and Toro formation sandsones confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons, but pressure measurements indicated 6% porosity compared with 10-20% porosity in nearby Stanley field.
A detailed analysis of the results will be undertaken to further the understanding of the reservoir's properties and its relevance to other nearby targets, NGE said.
Peru
Clontarf Energy PLC was awarded exploratory blocks in the Ucayali and Maranon basins.
Block 188 covers 595,809 hectares near the Camisea gas-condensate fields in Ucayali. Clontarf believes the block has Camisea-type potential and is also prospective for medium-size shallower fields. The wider area has three main producing reservoirs and an undeveloped oil discovery at La Colpa.
Block 183 has 396,826 hectares in the Maranon basin near oil and gas fields on Block 183. Triassic-Jurassic and Cretaceous are the main source rocks, the leads and prospects identified from reprocessed seismic include four-way closures on the Yurimaguas anticline.
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