Cakerawala OK heads Malay-Thai action

Semisubmersible drilling rig is shown drilling one of the many successful gas wells on Block A-18 in the Malay-Thai Joint Development Area in the Gulf of Thailand for a joint venture of Triton Energy Ltd. and Petronas Carigali. Photo courtesy of Triton.

The Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority (MTJA) has endorsed development of the first gas field in the Malay-Thai shared waters of the Gulf of Thailand.

Cakerawala was first of eight gas fields discovered by Carigali-Triton Operating Co. (CTOC), a 50-50 joint venture of Triton Energy Ltd., Dallas, and Malaysia's state exploration firm Petronas Carigali, on Block A-18 of the Joint Development Area (JDA).

Cakerawala is scheduled to start production in fourth quarter 2000 and is expected to be the first of a number of developments in the 7,250 sq km JDA.

Elsewhere in the JDA, a combine of Thailand's state-owned PTT Exploration & Production plc (Pttep) and Petronas Carigali has a hefty flow rate with an appraisal well of a gas strike on the Thai-Malay continental shelf.

In other action in the region, Unocal Corp. finalized two major accords with the Thai Industry Ministry that will boost its petroleum exploration and production activities in the Gulf of Thailand.

Meanwhile, Total SA has launched a $10 million water injection program to deal with mercury-contaminated discharges from its offshore Bongkot gas field into the Gulf of Thailand.

Cakerawala

Cakerawala has estimated reserves of almost 2 tcf of natural gas and will be developed with five platforms-three wellhead, one production, and one accommodation-plus a floating storage and offloading vessel.

Initial plans call for drilling 35 development wells and installation of facilities with combined capacity to produce 450 MMcfd of gas. CTOC expects conceptual design to be completed by mid-1998.

Development of Cakerawala follows an agreement of PTT and Petronas to purchase the JDA gas at the initial base price of $2.30/MMBTU beginning at a rate of 600 MMcfd by yearend 2000.

PTT and Petronas have also reached a basic joint venture agreement for a pipeline to transport gas from JDA fields to a terminal in Songkhla province, southern Thailand, and overland to the northern Malaysian state of Perlis. Other Block A-18 gas finds include Bumi, Bulan, Suriya, Senia, Samudra, and Wira.

New JDA well

The Muda-5 appraisal well is the 10th successful gas well drilled by Carigali-Pttep Operating Co. Sdn. Bhd. (CPOC) on Block B-17 in the JDA.

The well, drilled to total depth of 2,480 m, flowed gas on test at a rate of 11.8 MMcfd plus 128 b/d of 57.2° gravity condensate through a 56/64-in. choke from pay at 1,232-82 m.

CPOC drilled the appraisal to confirm reserves in the east-central portion of the Muda structure for the first phase of gas development in B-17.

The appraisal well is about 33 km north of the Muda-1 discovery well. It is about 268 km east of Songkhla, Thailand, and 182 km northeast of Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

CPOC is moving the Marine 500 drilling rig to drill another appraisal well, Tapi-2, on Block-17.

Unocal plans

Unocal secured a supplementary concession agreement that restores its right to assess hydrocarbons in the gas-prone Blocks 10A and 11A.

The company was granted an exploration license by Thai officials in 1968, but these blocks were subsequently claimed to be in the territorial waters of Thailand, Cambodia, and Viet Nam.

Now Unocal can resume exploration in the area following the solution of boundary claims in the gulf by the three governments.

A further agreement extends Unocal's exploration license for Block B10/32A for 3 years. The accord calls for the firm to conduct a 3D seismic survey and drill one exploratory well.

Bongkot project

The Total-led Bongkot joint venture has begun to inject all mercury contaminated fluids, produced naturally in the gas and condensate stream, into an old gas well.

The group expects to spend almost $10 million in 1997-98 on the scheme, which Total said is the only effective solution to eliminate a problem raised by environmentalists.

Total and Unocal have been targeted by green groups for discharging mercury-contaminated waters into the sea. Environmentalists have played up the hazard of mercury discharged in produced water, although tests conducted in 1997 by independent specialists for Total showed that mercury levels in fish caught nearby are well below Thai official standards.

Herve Chagnoux, business development manager of Total for Thailand and Burma, said the water volume now being reinjected into the well at Bongkot is 5,000-6,000 b/d. The quantity of mercury contained in the water is estimated at 2 l./year.