Brazil
A unit of HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA, Rio de Janeiro, has spudded the 1-HRT-11-AM exploratory well on the Cajazeira prospect on the SOL-T-172 block in Brazil's Solimoes basin.
The well in Coari municipality of Amazonas is 60 km northeast of Leste do Urucu field and will test an elongated, NE-SW domal structure that covers 17 sq km. HRT said the structure is similar to the Jurua/Tefe and Urucu trends.
The well's main objective is to identify the presence of hydrocarbons in Carboniferous reservoirs of the Jurua formation, expected at 2,035 m. The secondary target is to identify the Devonian reservoirs of the Uere formation expected at 2,080 m with hydrocarbon accumulations. Proposed total depth is 2,175 m.
HRT operates 21 Solimoes blocks in partnership with TNK-Brasil.
Germany
RWE Dea and EMPG, 50-50 partners in Becklingen gas field of Lower Saxony in north-central Germany, have completed and placed on production the Becklingen-Z2 well and have estimated the well's ultimate recovery at 35 bcf.
The companies spudded the Z2 well, now capable of flowing 8.5 MMcfd of gas, in mid-2012 near the Z1 well, which had been in production since 1986 and had recently exhibited a strong increase in water cut.
Becklingen-Z2 hit its target at 4,950 m and "will make it possible to systematically exploit the bottom part of the deposit, the so-called Havel sandstone formation, allowing RWE Dea to extract these proven reserves," said RWE Dea.
Sierra Leone
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. has begun shooting 9,191 km of 2D multiclient seismic offshore Sierra Leone.
The SL13 survey will infill the existing 5,784 km of 2D acquired in 2001.
TGS will process the survey and make data available in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Illinois
Strata-X Energy Ltd., Golden, Colo., plans to drill a horizontal well in the Illinois basin to test for oil in an undisclosed dolomitic formation below the Devonian New Albany shale.
The company doesn't reveal the precise location of its Vail oil project for competitive reasons but said it holds 100% interest in 46,300 net acres in what it interprets as an unconventional continuous oil accumulation. If an application to drill is approved, it would spud the well in this year's second quarter.
The company described the proposed well as to have a 4,300-ft horizontal leg at 4,500 ft true vertical depth and said it is acquiring seismic to help with geosteering.
The dolomitic reservoir is interpreted to extend over 500 sq miles at 3,500-5,000 ft based on an in-house analysis of 120 historic wells that intersected the reservoir, the company said.
It cited geologic studies that indicate that the New Albany shale has expelled more than 300 billion bbl of oil, of which more than 4 billion bbl have been produced from shallower formations.
