EXPLORATION

EGYPT

Egypt added five oil exploration blocks to its annual bid round.

The blocks are in addition to five that Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. put up earlier this year. Bid deadline was extended to Sept. 29.

Combined area of the five blocks put up earlier this year is 123,400 sq km, more than one tenth of Egypt's total surface area.

Four of the five new blocks have already seen extensive exploration, especially the Shoab Ali area in the south of the Gulf of Suez area, close to Egypt's most productive oil fields, OPEC News Agency reported.

The other new blocks are Burg al Arab, on the north coast west of Alexandria and close to western desert oil fields; South Khalda, adjoining Burg al Arab to the west; Darag, at the north end of the Gulf of Suez, and Ras Kanaysis, in the northwestern corner of the Burg al Arab block.

Meanwhile, Mobil Exploration Egypt Inc. signed its first production sharing contract with EGPC after a 12 year absence. It obtained rights to the 90,000 acre South Belayim block in the Gulf of Suez.

Mobil agreed to spend at least $16 million during 7 years, and the first well is to spud later this year. The block, 240 km southeast of Cairo, lies among several giant oil fields that produce a combined 400,000 b/d of oil, about 45% of Egypt's production.

ISRAEL

Israel's oil commissioner extended for 3 months an Isramco Inc. exploration venture's Negev Nirim license on which it drilled the 1 Bessor well in 1993 94.

During the extension period the joint venture will submit plans for a program to continue exploration on the license. Based on those plans a further extension may be granted, Isramco said.

NAMIBIA

Namibia plans to announce in July 1994 blocks to be included in the 6 month second licensing round starting Oct. 1, 1994.

The area to be offered is the unlicensed offshore area between 22 30 S. Lat. and the Angolan border. This corresponds to the Namibe basin, Walvis ridge, and Luderitz basin.

A new study commissioned by National Petroleum Corp. of Namibia and undertaken by PGS Nopec, Naersnes, Norway, show that the area north of 22 30 S. Lat. has good potential for having generated and accumulated hydrocarbons.

The study is based on all available data, including new seismic data that support the idea of carbonate buildups being present along the Namibian shelf, Nopec said. It said traps are abundant both structural and stratigraphic, ranging in age from Permo Carboniferous to early Tertiary.

NOVA SCOTIA

Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board accepted Nova Scotia Resources (Ventures) Ltd.'s bid for a 55,000 acres exploration license 25 km north of Sable Island in the Atlantic Ocean.

The license term is 5 years and may be extended to 9 years by drilling. The bid was for a proposed work expenditure of $1 million.

LOUISIANA

More development opportunities exist in the area surrounding a gas/condensate well in giant West Cote Blanche Bay field in St. Mary Parish, says Benton Oil & Gas Co., Oxnard, Calif.

A group led by Texaco Exploration & Production Inc., the field's operator, completed the 831 well flowing 15.5 MMcfd of gas with 178 b/d of condensate through an adjustable choke with 8,740 psi flowing tubing pressure from 86 ft of perforations at 11,201 298 ft in Lower Miocene Marginulina A sand.

The zone flowed at rates as high as 20.7 MMcfd of gas with 218 b/d of condensate through an adjustable choke with 8,563 psi FTP. Flowing bottomhole pressure was calculated to be 10,545 psi with a 1% drawdown.

Field production facility modifications are expected to allow the well to produce at rates of 20 25 MMcfd by mid June.

Drilled to 11,330 ft measured depth, the 831 well logged 229 ft of net pay from 15 zones.

Before this completion the field was producing 2 MMcfd of gas and 1,700 b/d of oil. Texaco has a 50% working interest, Benton 43.75%, and another company the rest.

The completion is the result of a 51 sq mile 3D seismic survey the companies ran over the field. Survey data are being integrated with subsurface geologic data from many of the field's more than 700 previously drilled wells.

OXY USA Inc. will attempt to complete a remote Cretaceous Austin chalk horizontal well in Rapides Parish.

The 1 Monroe, in 30 1n-2w, just south of one well Masters Creek Lower Tuscaloosa field, was drilled to 19,100 ft measured depth, 14,800 ft true vertical depth, Petroleum Information reported.

It is about 60 miles northwest of Union Pacific Resources Co. 1 LaCour, in 41-3s 8e, completed earlier this year flowing 1,654 b/d of oil, 734 Mcfd of gas, and 113 b/d of water from Austin chalk at 14,750 22,364 ft MD.

BRUNEI

Brunei Shell Petroleum plans to shoot a 100 sq km seismic survey over Champion oil field off Brunei, reports OPEC News Agency.

The company wants improved images of the geology to 1,000 m below the sea floor to support development drilling. Shell acquired 3D data over Champion in 1983, but the complexity of the shallow targets requires further analysis, it said.

A high resolution technique will be used in which the seismic energy source and recording methods are specially designed to acquire higher frequency data than normally obtained. A similar technique is often used in a 2D mode to detect shallow gas hazards prior to drilling, but this is the first time that Brunei Shell will have applied the method to obtain 3D data.

The survey, to be acquired by Schlumberger Geco-Prakla, is to be completed by June 30.

U.S. GULF

Hardy Oil & Gas USA Inc., Houston, plans a subsea completion of a discovery well on Garden Banks Block 240 about 150 miles southeast of Galveston.

The 3 OCS G 10342 well is likely to come on line at 20-30 MMcfd in third quarter 1995. It logged 130 net ft of gas pay in three Pleistocene sands at 9,400 11,520 ft. Production will be piped 12 miles to the Chevron Corp.-operated platform at Garden Banks Block 236.

Hardy has a 33 1/3% interest in the block and Samedan Oil Corp. has 66 2/3%.