More operators are being drawn to explore shales and other formations known to or suspected of holding petroleum liquids in the northern San Joaquin basin in California.

The Davy Jones-1 ultradeep shelf wildcat on South Marsh Island Block 230 has begun to flow natural gas from the Wilcox D sand at an undetermined rate, said operator McMoRan Exploration Co., New Orleans.

Hydraulic perforating equipment malfunctioned during initial attempts to perforate and flow-test the Wilcox F sand at the Davy Jones indicated discovery well on South Marsh Island Block 230 in the Gulf of Mexico, said operator McMoRan Exploration Co., New Orleans.

Lundin Petroleum AB, Stockholm, said the 16/2-11 Johan Sverdrup appraisal well in PL501 in the North Sea offshore Norway encountered a 54-m gross oil column in Upper and Middle Jurassic sandstone reservoir and will now be sidetracked eastward to probe lateral thickness and establish oil-water contacts.

An Eni-led group said the results of the Mamba Northeast-1 exploratory well offshore Mozambique increase the resource base of Offshore Area 4 by at least 10 tcf of which 8 tcf are contained in reservoirs exclusively located in Area 4.

Approval of seven new development leases in the Faghur basin has enabled Apache Corp. to add 5,200 b/d of production in Egypt's Western Desert.

Talisman Energy Inc. said it has confirmed the presence of oil and gas-condensate at its Kurdamir-2 redrill well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

BG Group and Ophir Energy PLC have declared a fourth gas discovery offshore Tanzania for a total mean gross recoverable resource of nearly 7 tcf of gas in the four wells.

Tullow Oil PLC said it has recovered movable oil of greater than 30° gravity at the Ngamia-1 exploratory well in Block 10BB in a rift basin in Turkana County of northwestern Kenya.

PetroQuest Energy Inc., Lafayette, La., said the Thibodeaux-1 discovery well on the La Cantera prospect in Vermilion Parish, La., has gone on production at 470 b/d of oil, 23 MMcfd of gas, and 875 b/d of natural gas liquids.

The gas flow rate from an upper zone at the Barryroe appraisal well in the North Celtic Sea basin offshore Ireland exceeded expectations, said Providence Resources PLC.

A Statoil ASA group has made a small oil discovery in PL053 in the Oseberg Area Unit in the North Sea offshore Norway.

An appraisal well in the North Celtic Sea basin has turned in the first commercial oil flow rate offshore Ireland.