Unocal Exploration Corp. has tested a hefty natural gas discovery in the Mobile area off Mississippi, extending the Jurassic Norphlet plan, south and west.
The 1 UXC Mobile Block 904 OCS-G 5749 flowed 97.6 MMcfd of gas through a 42/64 in. choke from Norphlet at 22,130-22,290 ft. It was drilled to 22,400 ft in 60 ft of water about 45 miles southwest of Mobile.
Unocal said it is the biggest Norphlet flow rate disclosed in the Mobile Outer Continental Shelf area.
L. Carl Hebert, Unocal vice-president of the Texas/Southeast region, said it is the first production test of Norphlet in a high geopressured environment.
The wildcat was drilled and cased in 1988, but Unocal delayed testing due to high pressure and temperature and fear of high sulfur concentration (OGJ, Mar 6, 1989, p. 17).
Unocal has since developed safety valves and tubulars with special metallurgical, design, and manufacturing properties.
Unocal holds 100% interest in Mobile Blocks 904, 905, 948, and 949, covering 23,040 acres and 25% interests in a 16,576 acre area that covers Mobile Blocks 860, 861, and 862, north of the Block 904 discovery.
Block 916 is the site of a Unocal 41 MMcfd Norphlet discovery (OGJ, Dec. 30, 1991, p. 36). Chevron recently completed a Norphlet discovery on Block 861 (OGJ, Feb. 10, p. 47), a reentry of an earlier wildcat (OGJ, Mar. 6, 1989, p. 16). Chevron also is operator of a cased Norphlet discovery on Block 862.
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
