REDEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE FOP ALBANIAN OIL FIELD

Fountain Oil Inc., Houston, is negotiating to drill a horizontal well in western Albania that could set off a multiyear redevelopment program in Gorisht-Kocul field.

Albania about mid-April granted Fountain the exclusive right to try to form a joint venture (JV) with state oil company Albpetrol. Under the framework being discussed, Fountain would finance the redevelopment program and serve as operator in return for 50% of the production increase achieved through JV activities in the field.

Gorisht-Kocul is in western Albania near the Adriatic port city of Vlora (see map, OGJ, Nov. 18, 1991, p. 85).

Fountain proposes to begin pilot phase activity upon completion of a definitive JV agreement.

Work in the pilot phase would focus on drilling two horizontal wells in the field for long term production tests. Plans could include reentering some vertical wells in an effort to recondition them and resume production.

Given a positive response during the pilot program to horizontal well technology, Fountain envisions a multiyear, $20 million redevelopment program that could involve drilling as many as 50 horizontal wells.

Fountain expects to finance redevelopment through a combination of project cash flow, Fountain's financial .resources, and nonrecourse funding from an international development organization such as the European Bank for Reconstruction or World Bank.

The pace of full scale redevelopment will depend on the mix of funding used. Obtaining nonrecourse funding would allow the company to speed redevelopment.

GORISHT-KOCUL FIELD

Gorisht-Kocul field, a 1965 discovery, went on stream in 1966.

Production peaked in 1974 at more than 24,650 b/d of oil. Recent figures show about 160 of the field's 234 wells were producing about 1,200 b/d of oil. Cumulative recovery is estimated at about 80 million bbl.

Gorisht-Kocul field consists of a double anticline structure in upper Triassic and lower Eocene dolomitic limestone below 1,000 m. Reservoir thickness averages 400 m and porosity 10%, a large share of which is accounted for by nearly vertical fractures through the limestone that have proven to be effective conduits for water from below. Fracture permeability is greater than matrix permeability

The reservoir's main energy comes from an aquifer.

Fountain said Albania's petroleum industry, plagued by substandard equipment, has acquired little in the way of field modeling capabilities. Efforts in the 1970s by Gorisht-Kocul operator Albpetrol to sustain high rates of production apparently damaged the reservoir, and field production fell rapidly.

Albpetrol tried to stem water encroachment by setting successive cement plugs, starting at the bottom of each well. However, the company's cementing procedures only temporarily solved the problem, and when water again began to encroach into productive intervals, Albpetrol responded by retreating to a shallower level and installing a new cement plug. Eventually, many wells in the field were shut in when water content of the production streams topped 90%.

During the pilot phase, expected to last about 1 year, Fountain might rework some wells but maintain its focus on drilling horizontal wells.

The company estimates Gorisht-Kocul's remaining reserves at 22-29 million bbl.