Area Drilling

Libya

Total of France and Saga Petroleum Mabruk AS have boosted production to 10,000 b/d at Mabruk field in the western Sirte basin.

Production is expected to rise to 12,000 b/d by early 1997 and approximately double by 1998. Field development is to proceed in stages (OGJ, Mar. 20, 1995, p. 117).

The companies are using single and multiple leg horizontal wells to exploit the complex, compartmentalized reservoir using single and multiple leg horizontal wells.

Gulf of Mexico

Minerals Management Service issued a proposed notice of sale and draft environmental impact statement for central gulf Sale 166, set for early March 1997.

MMS proposed to offer 5,040 blocks covering about 27.06 million acres. The blocks are 3-220 miles from shore in 3-3,200 m of water.

Vastar Resources Inc., Houston, said it is still optimistic about the subsalt play's potential after plugging its 1 Ship Shoal 350 wildcat. Drilled to 16,422 ft at a cost of $15 million, the well confirmed the presence of a series of stacked sands below a salt sheet, but the sands were nonhydrocarbon bearing. Vastar's working interest is 100%.

Vastar is participating in a Louisiana Land & Exploration Co.-operated subsalt wildcat on Ship Shoal Block 357.

California

ARCO Western Energy believes giant Yowlumne field, which produced its 100th million bbl of oil in September 1994, may have 10-15 years of life left.

The field, now 24 years old, makes about 4,000 b/d of oil and 2.7 MMcfd of gas from 49 wells. ARCO hopes to hike output by 1,100 b/d from Miocene Stevens sand, which produces 32 gravity oil from 11,200-13,300 ft.

Focus is on the distal margin of the field's northeast fan, characterized by lateral thinning of individual sand lobes and lateral deterioration of reservoir properties. Oil trapped in such locations cannot be recovered economically using conventional technologies.

ARCO, in a 6 year project cost shared by the U.S. Department of Energy, is to drill and test by first quarter 1997 a 55 angle well. The angled well bore will contact about 1,000 ft of gross sand at a point where the Stevens is only 285 ft thick.

Then ARCO will apply as many as three hydraulic fracs about 25 ft apart and install an advanced electric submersible pump. The fractured slant well is modeled to recover 745,000 bbl of oil equivalent and replace three conventional vertical wells.

Dowell, UC Santa Barbara, and California's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources are participating in the project.

Louisiana

KCS Resources Inc., Houston, staked five wildcats in Tensas Parish. The locations, selected from 3D seismic data, are 2-3 miles west of Holly Ridge and Lake Fortune oil fields, PI reported.

The sites and projected depths are: 2-11n-9e, 9,050 ft; 36-12n-9e, 6,100 ft; 26-12n-9e, 6,100 ft; 19-12n-10e, 8,400 ft TVD; and 20-12n-10e, 6,100 ft.

Mississippi

Midcoast Energy Resources Inc., Houston, paid Koch Hydrocarbons Co. $3.5 million for the Harmony gas processing plant and pipeline system in southeastern Mississippi.

The system gathers gas from Bishop Cooley, West Nancy, Lake Como, and other fields in Jasper, Wayne, Green, and Clarke counties and is the area's only sour gas gathering, processing, and sulfur extraction facility.

The package includes more than 150 miles of high and low pressure gathering lines with 4,620 hp of field and inlet compression.

A 20 MMcfd refrigerated propane natural gas liquids extraction plant in Clarke County has sulfur extraction and full fractionation facilities and markets propane, butanes, natural gasoline, condensate, and sulfur.

Montana

Vastar Resources Inc., Houston, staked its second Mississippian Lodgepole reef wildcat in Montana.

The 1 Blue Moon, in 34-23n-53e, Richland County, is to go to 9,200 ft. The spot is 7 miles west-southwest of Enid North oil field.

This location is 13 miles east-southeast of Vastar's first Montana Lodgepole attempt, 1 Black Dog, in 2-23n-51e, plugged after failing to cut a mound buildup.

North Dakota

Armstrong Operating Inc., Dickinson, N.D., will try to confirm a discovery in Dunn County 31/2 miles southeast of Little Knife oil field.

The 1 Beaudoin, in 36-144n-97w, flowed 283 b/d of oil through a 24/64 in. choke with 190 psi FTP from perforations in the top 35 ft of the Fryburg member of Mississippian Mission Canyon (Madison), PI reported.

Oklahoma

Bengalia Exploration Co., Oklahoma City, staked a rank wildcat along the Ouachita Thrust Belt.

The 1 Koi Chush, in 20-2s-12e, Atoka County, is projected to 13,500 ft. The location is 3 miles northwest of abandoned, one well Southeast Atoka Townsite field. That well, in 35-2s-12e, produced small amounts of oil and gas in 1981-82 from Mississippian-Devonian Arkansas Novaculite at 7,101-19 ft.

Utah

Equitable Resources Energy Co. staked a fifth rank wildcat in the Snake Valley of western Utah.

The 43-22 Mamba-Federal, in 22-16s-19w, Millard County, is projected to 5,000 ft or Paleozoics.

PI noted that Equitable has drilled the 31-22 Mamba Federal, in 22-16s-19w, also proposed to 5,000 ft. Its 12-36 Cobra-State, in 36-15s-19w, was dry at 3,764 ft. Equitable also staked in 12-16s-19w to 6,000 ft and 35-15s-19w to 5,000 ft.

The area is 100 miles northeast of Railroad Valley oil fields in Nevada.

Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.