Area Drilling

Gabon

Vanco Energy Co., Houston, signed a production sharing contract on the 1.6 million acre Anton Marin permit adjacent to the Congo.

The permit, 45 miles off Gabon in 1,000-2,500 m of water, is a northern extension of and on trend with a deepwater play off Congo where several fields, each with reserves on the order of 500 million bbl of oil, have been discovered, Vanco said.

Vanco, formerly Van Dyke Energy Co., plans to acquire at least 1,500 km of seismic and drill at least two wells. It has identified a number of large structures that are analogs to those producing in Angola and Congo.

Tanzania

Tanganyika Oil Co., Vancouver, B.C., said it may consider drilling a second well on the Mita prospect about 8 km west of Mita-1 in the Mandawa basin (OGJ, Oct. 7, 1996, p. 109).

Mita-1, spudded Oct. 3, 1996, went to TD 7,300 ft. It encountered oil and gas shows while drilling at 5,589 ft, and oil shows continued below the lower Jurassic salt seal. A drillstem test through casing liner of sandstone zones below the salt seal failed to indicate hydrocarbon flow, and the well was plugged.

Lab analysis of mud and core samples proved to contain light oil in reservoir rock.

A second well, East Lika-1, spudded Dec. 24, 1996 at 43 km southwest of Mita-1, was classified as a dry hole. TD is 6,568 ft.

Sands Petroleum AB, Stockholm, acquired 25% of Tanganyika Oil's rights and obligations on the Mandawa and Rufiji concessions.

California

JP Oil Co., Lafayette, La., sees substantial enhancement potential in three fields acquired with the assets of United Ray Ore Gas Inc. The fields are:

Russell Ranch field, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, producing about 300 b/d of oil from multiple Miocene sand reservoirs with cumulative production of 68 million bbl.

Rio Bravo field, Kern County, cumulative output 114 million bbl from four main reservoirs with several shallower gas sands known.

West Bellevue field, Kern County, with 7 million bbl cumulative from multiple Miocene sand reservoirs.

Colorado

Harris Oil & Gas Co., Denver, staked two exploratory tests on the southwestern edge of the San Juan sag in southwestern Colorado.

The 1-14A and 2-14A Hughes-Federal, in 13-33n-2e, both in Archuleta County, are projected to 2,100-2,200 ft to evaluate Cretaceous Dakota and Jurassic Morrison, PI reported. They are just northwest of idle Price Gramps field, which produced 6.8 million bbl of oil since 1935 from the two zones (OGJ, Nov. 25, 1985, p. 109)

Louisiana

Seagull Energy Corp., Houston, plans to develop a dual Jurassic Gray sand and Cotton Valley discovery in Lincoln Parish.

The 4B Colvin, in 24-19n-3w, in the Ruston field area, encountered 117 ft of productive gas sands in the two zones.

A 40 ft Gray sand flowed 3.5 MMcfd of gas on a 10/64 in. choke with 7,100 psi FTP. This sand is producing 3.5 MMcfd.

A 77 ft productive Cotton Valley section will be developed later in a separate drilling program. More drilling to Gray sand is planned this year. Seagull's working interest is 100%.

Louisiana Land & Exploration Co. plans to drill at least one more well this year near an exploratory well west of Paradis field.

The 1 LL&E Fee, in 12-14s-19e, St. Charles Parish, flowed 4 MMcfd of gas with 74 b/d of condensate on a 14/64 in. choke with 3,853 psi FTP from an undisclosed zone at 11,374-390 ft. Two other zones will be tested and produced later.

The well cut 53 ft of net hydrocarbon pay in the three zones. The prospect was generated from interpretation of a 92 sq mile 3D survey acquired near Des Allemands, La., in mid-1994 for LL&E, DDD Energy Inc., and Goodrich Energy LP.

Michigan

JAF Properties Inc., Haslett, Mich., staked an Ordovician Prairie du Chien well that would bottom beneath Saginaw Bay.

The 2-18 State Fraser, a stepout from Fraser Sec. 9 field in Bay County, is projected to 14,616 ft measured depth, PI reported.

Prairie du Chien has produced gas and condensate in the area.

New York

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, will accept bids until Apr. 3 for hydrocarbon leases on four tracts totaling a combined 3,617.39 acres in the Towns of Wheeler and Urbana in Steuben County.

Oklahoma

Amoco and others plan at least one offset near a fault block discovery in West Cement field.

The 1 Maria, in 1-5n-10w, Caddo County, flowed 12 MMcfd of gas at 3,000 psi flowing pressure from 110 ft of lower Boatwright sands in Pennsylvanian Springer. The well, drilled to 14,820 ft MD, penetrated 267 ft of net pay in three formations. Amoco did not reveal the other two formations.

Amoco identified the prospect on proprietary 3D seismic survey shot over the complex, highly faulted field. Interests in the well are Amoco 50%, Apache Corp. 40%, and Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co. 10%.

Texas

Gulf Coast

Scope Operating Co. and First Texas Hydrocarbons, Dallas, staked two more wells near a shallower zone Oligocene Frio discovery in Victoria County.

The 1 Giles, in Blue Bayou field near Bloomington, Tex., flowed 1.040 MMcfd of gas with 4.8 b/d of condensate on a 10/64 in. choke from perforations at about 4,850 ft. CAOF is 17.6 MMcfd.

Development drilling is to start in May in cooperation with Signa Engineering, Houston.

Seagull Energy Corp., Houston, plans to start production at midyear from two Eocene Yegua discoveries near Vidor in Orange County.

The second discovery, 2 Vastar Fee, flowed 3.2 MMcfd of gas and 120 b/d of condensate on a 9/64 in. choke with 7,602 psi FTP. TD is nearly 14,500 ft.

The same zone in the No. 1 well flowed 3.3 MMcfd and 77 b/d of condensate in mid-1996. More wells will be considered after production is established. Working interests are Seagull 75% and Venus Exploration Inc., San Antonio, and another private firm.

Nuevo Energy Co. completed a strong Austin chalk gas well in Giddings field.

The 2H Robinson, in Grimes County on the Turkey Creek prospect, flowed 21.8 MMcfd of gas on a 28/64 in. choke with 5,200 psi FTP from a single 3,440 ft lateral.

The first four wells on the prospect have recovered 5.3 bcf/well of cumulative production and flowed a combined 33.5 MMcfd during December 1996.

Nuevo has a 50% working interest in the adjoining, 1,180 acre Mancuso prospect. Baker Exploration Co. was drilling a well on Mancuso in early February.

East

Marathon Oil Co. added two more Jurassic Cotton Valley reef trend completions.

The 3 Riley Trust, in Robertson County, flowed 10 MMcfd of gas at 5,900 psi FTP. Working interests are Marathon 75% and Broughton Associates Joint Venture, Houston, 25%.

Marathon's 100% owned 2 Poth flowed 31.7 MMcfd of gas with 3,700 psi FTP. It is in the largest reef accumulation Marathon has encountered to date.

Gross production is nearly 140 MMcfd of gas from 10 trend wells in which Marathon holds interests. It has more than 90,000 acres containing a large inventory of reef prospects it is continuing to pursue.