Porto pursues Lusitanian onshore targets in Portugal

Jan. 31, 2012
Porto Energy Corp., The Woodlands, Tex., expects to receive interpreted results in 3 months from a 240 sq km 3D seismic program over the Montejunto anticline on its Torres Vedras concession onshore Portugal.

Porto Energy Corp., The Woodlands, Tex., expects to receive interpreted results in 3 months from a 240 sq km 3D seismic program over the Montejunto anticline on its Torres Vedras concession onshore Portugal.

Montejunto is the fourth and final 3D program that in total has given the company more than 1,600 sq km of new data on its five concessions that cover a combined 5,844 sq km.

The company will use data from Montejunto and from the 24,000 sq km aeromagnetic survey completed in July 2011 to identify drill sites that target multiple stacked pay intervals including Jurassic reefs on the eastern side of the basin, the presalt, and shallower targets.

Using prestack time migration processing from the 160 sq km Aljubarrota 3D seismic survey shot last year, Porto has identified a large Triassic four-way closure in presalt sandstones beneath the gas charged Lower Jurassic Brenha formation. The structure’s crest is estimated to be 800 m updip of gas shows in Triassic sandstones in the company’s ALJ-2 Brenha gas discovery (OGJ, Dec. 8, 1997, p. 67).

The entire prospect and surrounding area appear to have a thick salt topseal imaged from the seismic data set. Shallower targets have been identified in the mapped four-way closure, and the company is seeking a partner to participate in a 3,000-m presalt well that would be spudded by June 1, 2012, pending funding requirements and partnering efforts.

Porto is working toward a definitive agreement with Sorgenia International BV of the Netherlands and Rohol-Aufsuchungs AG of Austria to jointly evaluate the unconventional resource potential of the Lower Jurassic (Lias) stratigraphic interval on 450,000 acres of Porto’s concessions. Porto’s Mohave Oil & Gas subsidiary has applied for two new concessions in an effort to further consolidate Lias holdings.

About the Author

Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration

Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.

Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.