Area Drilling

Publication

Oklahoma Oil and Gas Production by Field and County 1992-95, published by Oklahoma Geological Survey, 100 E. Boyd Room N-131, Norman, Okla. 73019-0628. 439 p., $12 plus postage.

This book has field names, codes, naming date, field boundaries, counties, acreage, 1979-95 cumulative production, and production by year during 1992-95.

Canada

Canadian 88 Energy Corp., Calgary, plans a $20 million drilling program for 10 deep natural gas wells in the southern Alberta foot-hills. Projects include drill- ing in the Burmis, Alta., area near Crowsnest Pass. The company will spend about $7 million drilling the Burmis well that has already intersected Upper Mississippian and Devonian.

Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. acquired 153,000 acres on the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range in northern Sas-katchewan at the province's October sale of crown lands.

The company identified the lands as having shallow multizone gas potential in 1995 and acquired 110 miles of seismic data last winter.

CanOxy the past 18 months has added more than 700,000 net undeveloped acres in Canada, including at Primrose, Stoddart in Northeast British Columbia, and the heavy oil belt of west central Saskatchewan.

Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board plans to issue to Imperial Venture Corp., St. John's, Newf., in January 1997 a 9 year exploration license on 399,000 acre Parcel No. 8 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Rocky Harbour, Newf.

The award, subject to ministerial approval and other requirements, follows Imperial's $55,555 bid.

Colombia

Emerald Energy plc, London, is to farm into Colombia's Apulo Block, currently owned outright by Petroleos del Norte, a unit of the country's Santo Domingo industrial group.

Emerald will spend $3 million to drill Chawina-2 well in the northern part of the Upper Magdalena basin. Emerald reckons the target could hold 1.3 billion bbl of oil, of which 260-450 million would be recoverable. Drill- ing is expected to begin by year end, and target depth is 8,000 ft.

Mozambique

Scimitar Hydrocarbons Corp., Calgary, won rights to negotiate a production sharing agreement on the 4.2 million acre Inhaminga Block.

The block adjoins on the north Scimitar's existing PSA on the 2.1 million acre Buzi-Divinhe Block, which contains undeveloped Buzi gas/ condensate field.

Pakistan

Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Pakistan Oil & Gaas Development Corp. surrendered blocks in Pakistan.

Oxy gave up blocks 3072-1 at Kamalia, 2872-1 at Bahawalnagar, and 3073-1 at Sahiwal without establishing prospectivity. It also let go Balochistan blocks 2869-4 in Samurdan and 2767-1 in the Mehar region, where it had been unable to start seismic surveying.

OGDC surrendered north- ern province Block 3170-1 in Dera Ismail Khan, where seismic indicated no prospectivity, and Block 2869-2 at Risalder, where tribal feuds prevented field work.

Philippines

Socdet Production Pty. Ltd., Sydney, took a farmout from an Alcorn (Production) Philippines Inc. group under which it hopes to earn a 35% interest in Service Contract 14 off northwest Palawan Island. Socdet will acquire a $6 million 3D seismic survey, to start late this year, and can earn a further 25% stake if it drills a well following data intepretation.

Qatar

Operators will drill some 400 wells in Qatar the next 5 years, said Rashed al Sulaiti, manager, upstream exploration and development, Qatar General Petroleum Corp.

He placed Qatar's reserves at nearly 4 billion bbl of oil and 236.6 tcf of gas at end 1995, Opecna reported. Oil production capacity is about 400,000 b/d.

Al Shaheen oil field will have about 70 new wells the next few years. Maersk, operator, will drill appraisal, development, and water injection wells to produce oil and gas and determine areal extent of five reservoirs.

Idd el Shargi South Dome and Al Karkara oil fields will host 30-40 wells, four are planned at Elf's Al Khalij oil field, and five at ARCO's Al Rayyan oil field.

U.S. royalties

Minerals Management Service proposed changes in the current regulations to determine the value, and therefore the royalties, paid to Indian tribes and allottees for natural gas produced from Indian leases.

The proposed rule, published in the Sept. 23 Federal Register, would value most production on the basis of published index prices, but could include factors such as the highest price paid or offered for a major portion of gas at the time royalty payments are due.

Gulf of Mexico

Stone Energy Corp., Lafayette, La., plans to drill three wells and rework two others by yearend and might set another platform in Vermilion Block 46 field, where it acquired from a major oil company the 62.5% working interest Stone did not already own.

The field, in 30 ft of water 10 miles offshore in federal waters, has produced about 120 bcf of gas and 1.1 million bbl of oil since 1956 from reservoirs at 3,000-15,500 ft. Production was 3.8 MMcfd of gas and 100 b/d of oil on Sept. 27.

Stone Energy plans to drill three wells and recomplete four wells next year following a 3D seismic evaluation of Vermilion Block 131 field. It paid a major oil company $5.1 million for the 50% working interest and is now operator.

Discovered in 1960, the field has produced 482 bcf of gas and 8.5 million bbl of oil from 65 commercial completions in 19 wells in 27 sandstone reservoirs at 4,800-14,300 ft. The field, in 60 ft of water 30 miles offshore, flowed 9.6 MMcfd of gas on Aug. 1. It has six producing and six shut-in wells.

Seagull Energy Corp., Houston, hopes to start production by yearend from a gas discovery on Galveston Block 420.

The 2 OCS-G-14146 well 30 miles south of Freeport, Tex., cut a combined 52 ft of productive gas sands in four zones. A completion test on three zones flowed 10.4 MMcfd of gas. Interests are Seagull 75% and Barrett Resources Corp. 25%.

U.K. North Sea

Amoco (U.K.) Exploration Co. declared its Block 30/12b Halley find commercial after testing a third well there but did not disclose estimated reserves.

Amoco said the appraisal well's lower zone flowed 4,700 b/d of 43° gravity oil on a 32/64 in. choke, while an upper pay yielded 4,530 b/d of 33° gravity oil on a 32/64 in. choke. Amoco will to develop the field using nearby infrastructure.

Alaska

Marathon Oil Co. will shoot a 2D seismic survey by yearend in Cook Inlet west of Kasilof, Alas., where it has two tracts that cover about 11,000 acres. The company hopes to select a location for drilling in 1997, Petroleum Information reported.

Marathon also plans a 3D seismic survey in early 1997 over Sterling gas field on the Kenai Peninsula.

California

Saba Petroleum Co., Irvine, Calif., is completing a second horizontal well and drilling a third in West Cat Canyon field of Santa Barbara County.

Its 151 Saba-Bell has averaged more than 200 b/d of oil since late September through 1,400 ft of slotted liner from Miocene Sisquoc S1b sand at 2,521 ft TVD and is believed capable of much higher rates with improved pumping equipment. Ten Sisquoc zones below the S1b are candidates for horizontal completions using reentries.

Saba operates 40 vertical wells producing from Sisquoc or deeper Miocene Monterey shale on 1,774 contiguous mineral acres with 100% working interest and 99.7% revenue interest.

Louisiana

Chesapeake Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, completed a discovery 11 miles from production on the Louisiana Austin chalk trend.

The horizontal 1 Lawton, in 25-1n-5w, Vernon Parish, flowed 4,200 bbl of oil and 11 MMcf of gas in 2 days on a 24/64 in. choke with 7,400 psi FTP. The discovery is 11 miles west of Masters Creek field.

Chesapeake plans to start production from a second lateral at its second productive well in Masters Creek field.

The 1 Cloud, in 9-1s-3w, Rapides Parish, averaged 1,950 b/d of oil and 6.8 MMcfd of gas from the first lateral.

Chesapeake had six rigs running in the South Brookeland, Masters Creek, St. Landry, and Baton Rouge sectors of the trend (see map, OGJ, Aug. 12, p. 86), and other operators had 11 more rigs running along the trend in Louisiana.

Numerous companies have committed to more than a combined $125 million in pipelines, gas processing plants, and expansions in the area the past 6 months, and more may be needed, Chesapeake said.

Mescalero Energy Inc., San Antonio, plans to drill three more wells the next 6 months in Abbeville field.

The 1 Brookshire et al., in 66-12s-3e, Vermilion Parish, flowed at rates as high as 7.035 MMcfd of gas and 51 b/d of condensate from Miocene at 10,700 ft.

Mescalero is drilling the 1 Villiam-Gooch, a southwest extension attempt for the field.

Mississippi

Coho Energy Inc., Dallas, is pursuing Cretaceous Rodessa, Sligo, and Hosston reservoirs on the highly faulted Martinville structure in Simpson County.

During September the program, which began with a 20 sq mile 3D seismic survey completed in 1995, yielded seven new producing wells, two other wells now being completed, and a dry hole.

The 2 Martinville 22-10 exploratory well, in 22-2n-5e, flowed 500 b/d of oil with 1 MMcfd of gas on a 12/64 in. choke with 2,700 psi FTP from a Hosston reservoir at about 12,000 ft.

Coho has established incremental production of 150 b/d from Sligo, 200 b/d from Rodessa, and 1.5 MMcfd and 900 b/d from Hosston.

Other objectives are deeper Jurassic Cotton Valley and Smackover and shallower Cretaceous Paluxy and Washita-Fredericksburg.

Texas

Offshore

National Energy Group, Dallas, staked the 1 State Tract 895-S, as an 18,000 ft wildcat near Mustang Island, PI reported.

The spot is just off Nueces County and 13/4 miles north-northeast of depleted Mustang Island Block 904 Oligocene Frio gas/condensate field.

South

Four wells in large Bob West North field of Zapata County have confirmed the presence of another shallower Eocene Wilcox reservoir related to a separate structure within the field, said TransTexas Gas Corp., Houston.

The field has produced so far only from the deeper L1 to L3 Lopeno and Roletta A and B series of Upper Wilcox sands.

Electric logs indicate the TransTexas 9 Palmyra encountered 123 ft of pay in L1, L2, and L3 plus 100 ft of pay in shallower LZ sands. This is the field's thickest total pay section yet.

The company had five rigs running in the field in early October.

East

East Texas Jurassic Cotton Valley exploration continues to unfold.

Sonat Exploration Co., Houston, plans to begin sales in November from its third pinnacle reef discovery in the play.

The 1 Blanton, in the Bear Grass area of Freestone County, topped at 14,166 ft 520 ft of reef development with very active gas shows througout. Completion is pending.

Broughton Associates Joint Venture, Houston, paid $520/acre at an Oct. 1 Texas state lease sale for tracts in the play in Anderson County along the Trinity River bordering Freestone County, PI reported. Broughton is affiliated with Zackson Resources Inc., Houston, not Marathon Oil Co. as previously reported (OGJ, Aug. 5, p. 58).

Seagull Mid-South Inc., Houston, was spudding a 15,000 ft Cotton Valley lime test, the 2 T-Bar-X/Roach Gas Unit, in Freestone County 4 miles northeast of McSwane gas field.

And Clayton Williams Energy Inc., Midland, assigned an exploration team to the reef play.