Albania
Petromanas Energy Inc., Calgary, said it has drilled the Shpirag-2 well in Albania's Berati thrust belt to 4,230 m in the flysch shale and expects to encounter the target carbonate at about 5,000 m.
After setting casing to 3,414 m and reaching a depth of 4,465 m, the well experienced instability resulting in a sidetrack. With recent tectonic activity in the area affecting the stability of the flysch shale, the company is evaluating options including the optimal depth to set casing to put the unstable zone behind pipe.
Petromanas planned to penetrate 1,100 m of carbonate to reach a target depth of 6,100 m sometime in early 2013. Tests will follow.
Geotec SPA is shooting a test line to determine final shot parameters for the planned program of 400-500 line-km of 2D seismic to be completed in 2013 on blocks 2 and 3. Under the terms of the Petromanas farmout agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Shell will carry the first $20 million of the seismic program with any excess amount shared equally by both parties.
Petromanas spudded the 100% owned Juban-1 well on Block A and plans to drill to 2,600 m at a cost of $9 million. The firm's shallowest prospect, Juban will enable Petromanas to begin assessing the potential of the carbonates in northern Albania outside areas of current production.
Petromanas is awaiting Albanian government approval of an extension to Dec. 25, 2013, to complete its obligations on Blocks D and E. The firm will use data from Shpirag and Juban to determine how best to meet its commitments for the extension period. Petromanas considers the blocks to be of higher risk than Blocks 2 and 3 and relatively costly to explore based on the lower prospective resource volumes allocated to the Papri prospect.
New Zealand
Apache Corp.'s New Zealand affiliate has informed TAG Oil Ltd., Vancouver, BC, that it will elect not to undertake the Phase 2 program under the East Coast basin farmout dated Sept. 1, 2011.
The farmout between Eastern Petroleum (NZ) Ltd., Orient Petroleum (NZ) Ltd., and Apache New Zealand Ltd. related to drilling in the East Coast basin. Eastern and Orient are indirect subsidiaries of TAG.
TAG intends to continue and complete the Phase 1 program. Under the farmout, ANZ is obligated to pay all costs and expenses actually incurred or committed in respect of the Phase 1 program.
TAG Chief Executive Officer Garth Johnson said, "We look forward to executing our long-term goal for the East Coast; to drill and hopefully prove the concept of unconventional oil potential in this frontier basin."
Alberta
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co., through its wholly-owned subsidiary Arcis Seismic Solutions, has begun shooting a 180 sq km 3D multiclient onshore survey at Ille Lake, between Sylvan Lake and Drayton Valley, in the deep basin of Central Alberta, Canada.
The survey is optimized and designed to evaluate multiple zones from the Cardium and the Upper and Lower Mannville (Glauconite, Ostracod, and Basal Quartz oil), through to the newly emerging Duvernay unconventional play.
In addition to the survey's optimal acquisition parameters, Arcis provides proprietary tools that will enhance imaging and rock property assessments for even greater assistance with the placement of horizontal wells.
Arcis will process the information, and final data will be available in the first quarter of 2013. The survey is supported by industry funding.
Alaska
Buccaneer Energy Ltd., Sydney, said the Kenai Loop-4 well on the east side of Alaska's Cook Inlet tested gas to surface at 3 MMcfd on a 12/64-in. choke with 3,365 psi flowing tubing pressure. No water was detected, and gas was flared.
The test was carried out through perforations in a 10-ft section of the uppermost sand at 10,300 ft measured depth. This sand, one of seven stacked pay sands with gas shows encountered in Kenai Loop-4 to a depth of 13,000 ft, correlates to the 9,700-ft sand in the Kenai Loop-1 well.
Buccaneer, which has a 100% working interest in 9,308 acres in the development project area, plans to run a four-point test and disclose the results.
California
AmRich LLC, private Santa Maria, Calif., operator, has closed a farmout from Underground Energy Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., under which AmRich will earn as much as a 75% working interest from Underground and its joint operating partners' interest in 1,063 gross acres of the central southern part of the Zaca field extension project in Santa Barbara County, Calif.
AmRich is to drill three wells back to back and complete them to production and will carry 100% of Underground's interest (OGJ Online, Nov. 8, 2012). Two are reentries of wells drilled by Texaco Inc. in the mid-1980s.
Operations at the first well are to begin by Mar. 1, 2013. This farmout initially targets the Upper Monterey, historically Zaca's main producing zone.
AmRich also has the option to secure rights to the deeper subthrust play discovered by Underground by drilling at least one of its three obligation wells to a depth sufficient to test the subthrust play or by drilling a fourth obligation well to test the subthrust play by Dec. 31, 2014.
