Western firms press Georgia E&D work

Western companies have reported progress with oil and gas operations in the Kura basin of eastern Georgia. CanArgo Energy Corp., Calgary, drilled Georgia's first horizontal well, N97. It is near T'bilisi in Ninotsminda field, which is producing about 1,700 b/d of light crude. CanArgo was preparing to test the N98 vertical well, TD 3,013 m, in the same field. The company plans to drill at least three development wells and rework five existing wells at Ninotsminda in 1999, possibly

Nov. 23, 1998

2 min read

Western companies have reported progress with oil and gas operations in the Kura basin of eastern Georgia.

CanArgo Energy Corp., Calgary, drilled Georgia's first horizontal well, N97. It is near T'bilisi in Ninotsminda field, which is producing about 1,700 b/d of light crude. CanArgo was preparing to test the N98 vertical well, TD 3,013 m, in the same field.

The company plans to drill at least three development wells and rework five existing wells at Ninotsminda in 1999, possibly boosting production to 5,000 b/d by the end of next year.

CanArgo holds a 13.3% interest in Georgian American Oil Refinery at Sartichala, 30 km east of T'bilisi. GAOR, Georgia's only western oil refinery, started up in July 1998 producing naphtha, diesel, and fuel oil. Ninotsminda crude is processed in a plant adjacent to the refinery.

The company plans to participate in a capacity expansion and diversification of the product stream to include kerosene and jet fuel, eventually boosting its interest to 24%.

CanArgo intends to become a private power producer in Georgia. It set up CanArgo Power Corp., which plans to install a 3 MW generator fueled by gas from Ninotsminda field. The company would use the electricity for drilling and producing operations and sell excess power to the state grid.

CanArgo and local partners won a tender for blocks 1 and 3 in the Caspian Sea off Dagestan, Russia (see map, OGJ, Dec. 29, 1997, p. 29). The company is negotiating for the licenses and approaching partners.

Meanwhile, Frontera Resources Corp., Houston, sold the first shipment of crude oil from a rehabilitated field on 1.3 million acre Block 12 in southeastern Georgia (see map, OGJ, July 14, 1997, p. 29).

The oil was to be shipped by rail westward to the Black Sea port of Batumi, Georgia. The crude is light, high gravity, low sulfur, and uncontaminated by heavy metals. Frontera said it anticipates that it will have the option of selling future loads of crude oil at Batumi, other Black Sea ports, and in the Mediterranean.

Frontera produces oil from Block 12 in Georgia, expects to start production later this year from the 116,000 acre Kursangi-Karabag* Block in Azerbaijan, and has started geophysical studies on the Akstafa Block in western Azerbaijan.