MOBIL SLATES 429 WELLS IN CALIFORNIA

Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. has begun a drilling program that calls for 429 wells this year in four giant heavy oil fields in California. With six drilling rigs under contract and a seventh to join soon, Mobil is the most active operator in the state, where other major petroleum companies have slashed upstream programs in favor of non-U.S. investments. The wells are planned for Midway-Sunset, South Belridge, and Lost Hills fields in the San Joaquin Valley and San Ardo field in the

April 5, 1993

2 min read

Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. has begun a drilling program that calls for 429 wells this year in four giant heavy oil fields in California.

With six drilling rigs under contract and a seventh to join soon, Mobil is the most active operator in the state, where other major petroleum companies have slashed upstream programs in favor of non-U.S. investments.

The wells are planned for Midway-Sunset, South Belridge, and Lost Hills fields in the San Joaquin Valley and San Ardo field in the Salinas Valley. They mainly involve steamflood expansions.

The program calls for:

187 wells in Midway-Sunset targeting 13 gravity oil at average depths of 1,100-1,800 ft.
153 wells in South Belridge targeting 12 gravity oil in the Pleistocene Tulare sand at an average depth of 1,000 ft and 25 gravity oil in Miocene diatomite at an average depth of 3,100 ft.
51 wells in Lost Hills targeting heavy crude at an average depth of 550 ft and lighter crude at 2,700 ft.
38 wells in San Ardo targeting 9-13 gravity crude in Miocene Monterey Aurignac and Lombardi at average depths of 2,250-2,600 ft.

The 1993 program continues a big heavy oil development effort Mobil began in late 1988. The company's production from the four fields jumped to about 86,000 b/d at yearend 1992 from about 48,000 b/d in late 1988. Oil & Gas Journal estimated production from the four fields at a combined 341,627 b/d in 1992 (OGJ, Jan. 25, p. 80), more than one third of the state's total.

As of yearend 1992, Mobil was putting away 273,000 b/d of water equivalent in steaming operations in the four fields, broken out as 226,000 b/d for steamfloods and 47,000 b/d for cyclic steaming.