Exploration interest high in Peru's Ucayali basin

The lineup in Ucayali Basin, Peru [138,405 bytes] Peru's Ucayali basin is experiencing so much interest that it ranks as one of South America's busiest exploration areas. Fourteen exploration contracts are in force in the basin. The operators are Shell, Chevron, Phillips, Elf, Ana- darko, ARCO, Pan Energy, Pluspetrol, Coastal, Quintana, Repsol, Perez Companc, and Pangaea Energy.

July 6, 1998

3 min read

The lineup in Ucayali Basin, Peru [138,405 bytes]

Peru's Ucayali basin is experiencing so much interest that it ranks as one of South America's busiest exploration areas.

Fourteen exploration contracts are in force in the basin. The operators are Shell, Chevron, Phillips, Elf, Ana- darko, ARCO, Pan Energy, Pluspetrol, Coastal, Quintana, Repsol, Perez Companc, and Pangaea Energy.

Pangaea, Calgary, is finalizing contracts for drilling supplies and services in preparation for exploring Block 71 in east central Peru. The company is to spud its first well on the 2.5 million acre block in third quarter 1998, subject to rig availability.

The initial target will be the Shahuinto prospect. A total depth of 7,900 ft is projected in order to drill through Upper Paleozoic sediments.

Pangaea is operator of Block 71 with 88% interest. Murphy Oil Corp. holds the rest.

Pangaea's program

Pangaea (Peru) Energy Ltd. said Block 71 is believed to offer reserve potential of billions of barrels of oil. This is due to the rare combination of well-defined structures in proximity to organic rich oil source rocks.

It's believed the potential size, assuming maximum fill-up on the larger of the two closures, the approximately 100 km long Shahuinto anticline, could be greater than 2 billion bbl of oil recoverable from multiple reservoirs, Pangaea said.

Seismic mapping indicates an area of closure for Shahuinto of 57,000 acres. Three other large, well defined anticlinal structures have been delineated by seismic on the block.

Pangaea Energy recently acquired about 565 line km of 2D seismic data on Block 71. It is evaluating that data along with 220 km of reprocessed seismic data acquired by other companies. The company also has acquired new Landsat and Radarsat satellite remote sensing imagery of Block 71.

Meanwhile, David R. Martin, a geologist and veteran of 34 years with Occidental Petroleum Corp., was elected chairman of Pangaea. Martin directed Oxy's highly successful Peruvian operation in the Maranon basin.

The southern boundary of Pangaea's block is about 90 miles north of the large Camisea gas and condensate fields. Units of Shell and Mobil that have been appraising those fields have until July 15 to decide whether to go ahead with a $2.5 billion development project (OGJ, May 25, 1998, p. 23).

Fields in the Camisea project are giant Cashiriari and San Martin fields, with mainly Cretaceous reservoirs, and smaller Mipaya field with Permian reservoirs. Cashiriari and San Martin also have minor reserves in Permian Ene sandstones, according to AAPG Memoir 62.