Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, Sept. 24 -- Tap Oil Ltd., Perth, has signed a gas deal and taken up a 40% interest and operatorship of a large onshore permit in Brunei.
In partnership with Brunei National Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd., it has won exploration rights to Block M, which contains 10-50 million bbl of oil and several hundred billion cu ft of gas in known resource accumulations, including those of Belait field, discovered by Shell in 1914.
Tap has agreed to spend $20 million (Aus.) on exploration and appraisal of existing discoveries over the next 5 years.
Block M, which covers 3,100 sq km in the Baram Delta, is considered underexplored and contains several trends having strong potential for additional resources.
Belait field has been produced from several wells, but Shell cast it aside in its quest for larger fields offshore.
Tap has agreed to drill at least three appraisal wells and shoot additional 2D and 3D seismic in the initial exploration phase. The field is 30 km from the Brunei LNG plant.
