Area Drilling

Australia

E&D spending is forecast at $2.7 billion (Australian) the next 12 months, with more than half the total targeted at development.

Of the total, $2.3 billion is to be spent offshore, says Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.

Operators expect to drill 56-76 wildcats and 8-20 appraisal wells offshore and 77-92 wildcats and 17-30 appraisals onshore. They expect to acquire 23,806 line km of 2D and 7,325 sq km of 3D seismic data.

Indonesia

Pertamina plans to open five areas for production sharing contracts and four areas for technical assistance contracts this year.

The PSC areas are Arguni, an onshore/offshore area at the head of Irian Jaya's Berau Bay; Ketapang, north of Madura Island; and the Batu Ampar, Palmerah, and Muara Beliti areas near Jambi on South Sumatra.

The TAC areas are Kariorang, on Kalimantan Island northeast of Balikpapan; and the Kaya, Selo, and Ibul Tenggara areas west of the Jambi area on South Sumatra.

Northwest Territories

Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp., Inuvik, N.W.T., plans to supply Inuvik with gas from a Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. 1986 discovery well.

IPC and a consultant, North of 60 Engineering Ltd., plan to test the Ikhil K-35 well, 50 km north of Inuvik, which flowed 3.5 MMcfd of gas from 1,125 m, Canada's Northern Oil & Gas Directorate reports. Reserves are estimated at 18-40 bcf.

Inuvik generates power by burning diesel hauled more than 1,300 miles by rail and barge from Edmonton.

Philippines

Philippine National Oil Co. Exploration Corp., through an alliance with Schlumberger Overseas Ltd., let a contract to Frigstad Offshore Ltd., Singapore, for a rig, marine vessels, and logistics for an extended well test of the Calauit 1B well on GSEC 77 off Palawan Island.

Coplex Resources NL, Hobart, Tasmania, said the multimonth test is to start this month with initial rates as high as 8,000 b/d of oil.

Frigstad said the job likely will include drilling a horizontal well. It will continue to manage the Pioneer Driller semisubmersible, acquired from Cophil Drilling Ltd. by Coplex's Galaxy Drilling Ltd. and renamed Galaxy Driller.

Frigstad was negotiating with Forum Pacific Inc. (Philippines) to provide the Galaxy Driller for drilling planned in Manila Bay.

Following the Calauit EPT, Coplex plans to drill a large structure on SC40 in the Tanon Straits west of Cebu Island.

Queensland

The Santos Ltd. Group tested a Permian Patchawarra gas/condensate discovery in the Cooper/Eromanga basin.

The Judga North-1, 25 km east of Ballena gas center, flowed 8.02 MMcfd of gas with 216 b/d of 59.1° gravity condensate on a 1/2 in. choke from 2,344-71 m.

This is the best flow rate to date in the region and the area's first well to flow condensate.

U.K. North Sea

Amoco (U.K.) Exploration Co. plans to drill within 12 months a prospect on U.K. North Sea Block 49/30c, awarded to the operator on Jan. 24 as the first out-of-round license in U.K.'s southern gas basin.

The block was offered for bidding by U.K. Department of Trade & Industry to companies with licenses bordering the block. Amoco is operator of Block 49/30a, where it developed Davy field.

An Amoco official told OGJ Block 49/30c contains a prospect named Browne, which lies 2.5 km from the minimum facilities platform in Davy field. Amoco intends to probe Browne prospect with an extended reach well drilled from Davy, with a jack-up rig operating in cantilever mode alongside the platform.

Last year Amoco developed Beaufort field with a single extended reach well drilled from Bessemer field, which was developed at the same time and using the same platform design as Davy (OGJ, Aug. 19, 1996, p. 47).

The Amoco official said the company has identified a number of prospects in the vicinity of Davy and Bessemer, and Indefatigable field to which these are tied back.

North Indefatigable was drilled last year and classed as a discovery, though Amoco is still assessing its commerciality.

The company has no plans yet to drill West Davy, though seismic data are being evaluated, and is considering drilling Bell pros- pect this year (OGJ, Mar. 27, 1995, p. 30).

Colorado

The Bureau of Land Management designated about 33,000 acres of Raton basin leases held by Evergreen Resources Inc., Denver, as the Sangre de Cristo Unit.

The area is in Las Animas County generally west of Evergreen's 67,000 acre Spanish Peak Unit (see map, OGJ, Nov. 11, 1996, p. 101).

New Mexico

Conoco Inc. completed a Devonian discovery in giant Maljamar field.

The 1 Elvis, in 20-17s-32e, Lea County, flowed 674 b/d of 51.6° gravity oil with 874 Mcfd of gas and 432 b/d of water on a 24/64 in. choke with 675 psi FTP from perforations at 13,771-774 ft, Petroleum Information reported.

California

JP Oil Co., Lafayette, La., plans a fieldwide geologic engineering review, return to production/recompletion program, and facilities optimization at Russell Ranch field, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

JP acquired the field from Magness Petroleum Co., Taft. It produces 320 b/d of oil and 600 Mcfd of gas from 49 wells in four main reservoirs. Another 72 wells are shut-in.

The field has produced 68 million bbl of oil and 46 bcf of gas since discovery by Richfield in 1948.

The U.S. affiliate of Windsor Energy Corp., Calgary, completed a highly deviated well that extended giant Rincon field in Ventura County.

The well, drilled at a 100° angle to vertical, is producing a sustained 600 b/d of oil. It cut more than 1,000 ft of Pliocene Miley A sand. This is the second successful completion of a 19 well 1997 development program that will further develop the Miley A sand and confirm the B and C sands.

California operators revealed plans to drill as many as 1,982 wells this year, a 29.6% increase from the 1996 total. Most of the focus will be on Kern County fields in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Kern County will host 1,759 new wells, 88.7% of the state total and a 30.3% gain on the year.

Ten operators revealing their plans to the American Association of Drilling Engineers were Bakersfield Energy Resources Inc., Bechtel Petroleum Operations, Berry Petroleum Co., CalResources LLC, Chevron Western Business Unit, Mobil Oil Corp., Monterey Resources Inc., THUMS Long Beach Co., Tidelands Oil Production Co., and Torch Operating Co.

California also has about 44,000 producing wells and 25,000 shut-in wells and hopes 1996 oil price increases will result in many idle wells being restored to production, a state spokesman said.

Highlights of the expected drilling include a trilateral well Torch Operating Co. plans in Dos Cuadras field. THUMS Wilmington field plans include 15 new wells, 24 redrills, 548 workovers, and fracs of 25-40 wells averaging 2 stages/well.

Texas

Texas School Land Board approved 2,020 oil and gas tract nominations for its Apr. 1 sale, up 152% from October 1996 sale nominations. The tracts cover nearly 1 million acres.

The board noted an unprecedented number of multiple nominations of tracts, including several quadruple nominations. For the first time, five companies nominated one tract. Nominations exceeded 3,100.

Key areas are Galveston and East Bays, northern Brazoria County offshore, Matagorda Island area, and some tracts in Freestone County.

North

AFE Oil & Gas Consultants, Dallas, has an apparent 12 mile east extension of Mississippian Barnett shale gas production in the Fort Worth basin.

The 1 Callejo, just northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, would be Dallas County's first commercial production. TD is 8,630 ft. The well cut more than 500 ft of Barnett shale. A frac job is set for late February. The well site is 150 ft from a gas pipeline.

The well also had a 60 ft gas show in a 2,500 ft detrital zone at 7,100 ft. This zone is thought to be sediment that originated in the Ouachita Overthrust to the east and is similar to one found in a 1955 Magnolia Petroleum well 4 miles to the south, the operator said.

Newark East field, mostly in Wise County, has produced 91 bcf of gas, 106,973 bbl of condensate, and 2 million bbl of water from Barnett since discovery in 1981, PI reported.

Gulf Coast

Marathon Oil Co. and Comstock Resources Inc., Dallas, are discussing plans to drill an offset in first quarter 1997 to a pool discovery in giant East White Point field.

The 1 State Tract 707, in Nueces County, flowed 162 b/d of oil with 77 Mcfd of gas on a 10/64 in. choke with 660 psi FTP from Brigham sand perforations at 7,361-66 ft. Catahoula sand has 23 ft of net gas pay behind pipe.

Comstock, with a 29.4% working interest in the well, said the newly discovered Brigham sand structure could have about 625,000 bbl of oil net to its working interest.

Cox & Perkins Exploration Inc., Houston, and Parallel Petroleum Corp., Midland, Tex., completed an Eocene Yegua discovery in Wharton County.

The 1 Priesmeyer flowed 2.2 MMcfd of gas with 25 b/d of condensate on an 8/64 in. choke with 5,523 psi FTP from perforations at 8,360-96 ft.

CAOF is 96.9 MMcfd, and the well was producing in mid-January at 3 MMcfd of gas and 35 b/d of condensate.

E&P subsidiaries of Coastal Corp. plan to drill several offset wells this year to develop significant 1996 extensions in Jeffress field in Hidalgo County.

The company is running three rigs in the area, 15 miles northwest of McAllen.

Coastal drilled 14 wells last year, all successfully completed in Oligocene Vicksburg at 13,000-14,000 ft. The wells hiked its production to 180 MMcfd of gas from 20 MMcfd and to 2,100 b/d of condensate from 480 b/d.

Offshore

Seagull Energy Corp., Houston, plans to start production within 4 months at a rate higher than the initial test at a discovery on High Island Block 9-L.

The No. 1 well cut 55 ft of Miocene Lentic jeff sands at 11,200 ft that flowed 4.4 MMcfd of gas and 883 b/d of condensate on a 12/64 in. choke with 7,324 psi FTP. More drilling will be considered after production is monitored.

Washington

Hunt Oil Co. and Phillips Petroleum Co. plugged a rank wildcat in the Morton area of Lewis County.

The 1-36 State, in 36-13n-4e, was permitted to 15,000 ft. Depths and logs are confidential until 1998, notes Northwest Oil Report, Portland.

Copyright 1997 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.