APA Corp., Houston, discovered oil in Block 53 offshore Suriname.
Baja-1 was drilled using the Noble Gerry de Souza in water depths of about 1,140 m (3,740 ft) to a depth of 5,290 m (17,356 ft). It encountered 34 m (112 ft) of net oil pay in a single interval within the Campanian. Preliminary fluid and log analysis indicates light oil with a gas-oil ratio (GOR) of 1,600-2,200 scf/bbl, in good quality reservoir, the company said in a release Aug. 23. The discovery at Baja-1 is a down-dip lobe of the same depositional system as the TotalEnergies-operated Krabdagu discovery (APA, 50%), 11.5 km to the west in Block 58. Evaluation of open-hole well logs, cores, and reservoir fluids is ongoing.
Baja is the sixth oil discovery Apache has participated in offshore Suriname, and the first on Block 53, said John J. Christmann, APA chief executive officer and president. “This result confirms our geologic model for the Campanian in the area and helps to de-risk other prospects in the southern portion of both Blocks 53 and 58,” he continued.
APA recently received regulatory approval regarding an amendment to the Block 53 production sharing contract (PSC), which provides options to extend the exploration period of the PSC by up to 4 years. The company is currently progressing formalization of election of the first 1-year extension, for which work commitments are complete, it said.
APA is operator of the block with 45% working interest. Partners are Petronas (30%) and CEPSA (25%).
The drillship will move to Block 58 after completion of current operations, where it will drill the Awari exploration prospect, about 27 km north of the Maka Central discovery.
Also in Block 58, operations have concluded on the Dikkop exploration well where water-bearing sandstones were encountered in the targeted interval. The well has been plugged. The Maersk Valiant drillship will move to Sapakara field to drill a second appraisal well at Sapakara South, where the TotalEnergies-APA joint venture conducted a flow test late 2021 with preliminary analysis indicating 34-degree API gravity oil in a proved connected resource of 325-375 million bbl of oil in place in a single reservoir.
GOR
In an Aug. 4 call with investors following second-quarter results, Christmann said the company envisions a centralized hub in the Sapakara South and Krabdagu area, noting that the company is still targeting “predominantly a black oil, lower GOR development,” but adding the belief that a “significant amount” of gas also has been found in the block. Longer term, he said, the company “will want to look at gas alternatives and gas options because there’s quite a bit of resource.” But currently, he reiterated, the company’s focus “has been predominantly on a hub that would be a lower GOR FPSO.”
