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1. Stratic Energy Corp., Toreador Resources and national Turkish oil company TPAO are installing their first production tripod off the Turkish coast in the South Akcakoca Sub-basin of the Black Sea . This is the first of three production platforms that will be installed in Phase 1 of development on the Akkaya structure. Toreador also said the Bayhanli-1 well on the Dogu Ayazli structure on the same fault trend tested for 7.2 MMcf/d of gas for 48 ft (14.5 m) of perforations on a 32/64-in. choke with 1,100 psi of flowing wellhead pressure. The rig has moved on to drill the Kuzev Akkaya prospect to the north of the Akkaya structure. First production from the offshore properties should begin by the end of this year. The Bayhanli-1 well reached 82 ft (25 m) of sands ready for testing and another 82 ft (25 m) as a perforation candidate after initial intervals are produced. The sands are between 2,494 ft and 3,659 ft (760 m and 1,115 m) in the Kusuri formation. One previous well, the Akkaya-3 found 75 ft (23 m) of net pay and tested at 6.2 MMcf/d of gas from 26 ft (8 m) of perforations through a 32/64-in. choke with 936 psi of flowing pressure. The companies plan to perforate the reminder of the section when they bring the well on line after tying it back to the Akkaya tripod platform. The companies plan up to four of the platforms in the area.
2. Transeuro Energy Corp. completed the study phase of its exploration project in Armenia and has contracted the local seismic acquisition company, AESP to gather another 81 miles (131 km) of 2-D seismic in the Oktemberian region in western Armenia where it has identified two gas prospects. Transeuro also has signed a letter of intent for a drilling rig to drill three exploratory wells and a rig has been committed for the first location by Feb. 1 next year. The first well will be on the Karmir prospect and is scheduled to 8,202 ft (2,500 m) to the Lower Sand Clay and Lower Multi-colored Suite where previous wells have found gas. It will use underbalanced drilling. The second well will be updip on the Karmir structure at the Southwest Oktemberian prospect
3. Transmeridian Exploration Inc. started production from its SA-11 well in South Alibek field in northwestern Kazakhstan at a rate of 1,400 b/d. The new well raises current field production to approximately 2,600 b/d of oil. The company plans to bring the SA-12 well on line after perforating and acidizing to boost field production to more than 3,000 b/d of oil. Drilling has started on the SA-16 and SA-13 wells and newly arrived rigs will begin work on the SA-21 and SA-K1 wells. The company plans to mobilize a fifth rig in the third quarter to drill KT2 development wells. A sixth rig, due to arrive before the end of the year, will work on KT1 development. Transmeridian set a field record with the SA-11 well, reaching total depth of 12,400 ft (3,782 m) in 84 days.
4. Russia 's Gazprom outlined ambitious plans to increase natural gas production with a focus on the Barents Sea . Some time between 2006 and 2010 the world's largest gas reserve holder and producer expects its offshore shelf reserves to increase by 81 Tcf (2.3 Tcm) of gas and 1.4 billion bbl (191 million metric tons) of oil. Among key projects are 330 million bbl (45 million tonnes) in reserves, or 903,698 b/d in production, from Prirazlomnoye field in the Barents Sea and another 1.07 billion bbl (146 million tonnes) of reserves, or 2.9 million b/d from Dolginskoye block in the Pechora Sea , north of Siberia . On the gas side the Yamburg field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area will provide 21.2 Tcf (600 Bcm) of gas reserves, and promising areas north of the mouth of the Ob River in Siberia may offer another 25.4 Tcf (720 Bcm). It also plans to add 10.6 Tcf (300 Bcm) of gas on the Privamal shelf in the South Kara Sea in the Russian Arctic by 2010. Since the state gas company started work in the north, it has opened gas fields at the mouth of the Ob and Tazov rivers in West Siberia with a total 30.37 Tcf (860 Bcm). It also plans to complete exploration of the 105-Tcf (3-Tcm) Shtokman field in the Barents Sea of the European side. It expects Shtokman reserves to grow by 24.7 Tcf (700 Bcm) by 2010. Gazprom also plans additional work in the Prirazlomnoye and Doginskoye fields, according to Ria Novosti.
5. Germany 's Wintershall and Russia 's Gazprom signed a contract giving Wintershall 35%, minus one share, in the 21.2-Tcf (600-Bcm) Yuzhno Russkoye gas field in Western Siberia . First gas probably will not flow until 2008. Wintershall already has a project working with Gazprom in Siberia . That's the ZAO Achimgas joint venture run by Wintershall and Gazprom's OOO Urengoygazprom. It has started drilling its first production well. That venture will produce 7 Tcf (200 Bcm) of gas and 293 million bbl (40 MMtonnes) of condensate from a part of Urengoy field over the next 40 years. The development plan from Achimgas calls for two rigs to drill two clusters of three wells each in the first phase. The companies will drill the first well vertically to 12,140 ft (3,700 m) and will add deviated wells to lengths up to 15,749 ft (4,800 m).
6. Sinopec plans an appraisal well on the Sakhalin III oil and gas project area offshore Sakhalin Island , Russia , in the Sea of Okhotsk . It will start the well this summer, according to Itar-Tass. Sakhalin III has estimated reserves of 5.9 billion bbl of oil and 29 Tcf of natural gas. The company plans to use the Kangtang platform, built in 1984, to produce the field.
7. Russia 's Lukoil Overseas is moving in to drill development wells in the Khauzak contract area in southwestern Uzbekistan 's Alatsky District in the Bukhara region. The development is part of the larger Kanym-Khauzak-Shady-Kungad massive 35-year development program. The program area has approximately 11.6 Tcf of gas in place. The company plans to begin production in the fourth quarter next year and reach peak production of 353 Bcf of gas. Total production could reach 7.3 Tcf of gas. The company has completed a 3-D seismic survey over the Khauzak block and set up an infrastructure plan. The company has started the workover of three wells and one new well. In all, it plans 37 new development wells in the Khauzak block. That's just one part of the planned 180 wells for the full program.
8. Louisiana, USA-based Stone Energy Corp. found a potential pay zone for oil in its first well as a participant in China's Bohai Bay. The company's CFD No. 22-2-1 , drilled by Kerr-McGee Corp., reached 9,065 ft (2,765 m). A drill stem test showed an average flow of 700 b/d of oil. The companies will complete appraisal work to delineate the discovery and determine commerciality. After providing money for one well each on two concessions, Stone can earn interests in the concessions.
9. Husky Energy chalked up the first deepwater discovery offshore China with its Liwan 3-1-1 wildcat on Block 29/26 about 155 miles (250 km) south of China in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea. Early estimates show reserves between 4 Tcf and 6 Tcf of gas, but the discovery opens a new offshore play for energy-hungry China . The company drilled the well to 4,920 ft (1,500 m) toward a structure with 23 sq miles (60-sq-km) of closure identified by 2-D seismic. The well reached 184 ft (56 m) of net gas pay in two intervals. Porosity in the pay zones averages 20%. Husky plans a sidetrack to better evaluate the discovery and a 3-D seismic survey to look at similar structures identified on 2-D seismic. China 's CNOOC has the right to back into the discovery for as much as a 51% working interest.
10. BP will take a look at offshore Pakistan with state oil company Oil & Gas Development Corp. as it plans to spend some US $20 million on exploration, according to a Reuters report on information from Pakistan 's Petroleum & Natural Resources Ministry. BP is no newcomer to the area. It produces approximately 12,000 b/d of oil from onshore Badin field.
11. Focus Energy discovered gas on its Rajasthan , India , Block RJ-ON/6 in the SGL-1 well in the Shahgarh area of Jaisalmer district. The company said the discovery could be one of India 's largest onshore gas deposits and is the first stratigraphic discovery on India 's side of the Indus Basin . It is on the same stratigraphic trend as fields that produce trillions of cubic feet of gas in Pakistan . Focus hasn't yet determined how much gas its discovery contains. The company plans additional exploration and development and will drill to deeper zones, as well. The discovery produces from Cretaceous sand at 10,171 ft (3,100 m). It tested at 15 MMcf/d through a 48/64-in. choke. In additional activity in the same area, India and Cairn have agreed on development plans for Cairn's Mangala, Aiswariva, Saraswati and Raageshwari fields in Block RJ-ON-90/1 in Rajasthan. Cairn is finalizing a $1 billion bank arrangement to finance its share of the project.
12. Hardy Oil & Gas has a 10% working interest in a two-well campaign in the Saurashtra Basin off the west coast of India in the fourth quarter this year. The rig will move into Block GS-01 (GS-OSN-2000/1) where the company has collected 3-D seismic and identified multiple prospects. On the east coast, Hardy also has a 10% interest in Block KG-DWN-2001 (D9) and operator Reliance Industries Ltd. plans to begin drilling on the block in the first quarter next year. The D9 block in the Krishna-Godavari Basin is adjacent to the D6 block in which Reliance made India 's largest gas discovery.
13. Canada 's Niko Resources made its first oil discovery in deep water in the D6 block off the east coast of India . That block already hosts the country's largest gas reserves. The MA-1 wildcat drilled to Cretaceous rock at 12,412 ft (3,783 m) finding oil and gas in two intervals. The lower oil-rich interval tested at 6,700 b/d of oil, restricted by testing equipment capacity. It also tested at 10.96 MMcf/d of gas. The well was tested on a 64/64-in. choke with 1,366 psi of wellhead pressure. The upper, gas-rich zone tested at a restricted flow of 32 MMcf/d of gas and 3,370 b/d of condensate through an 80/64-in. choke with 1,609 psi of flowing wellhead pressure. Also in the Krishna Godavari Basin , state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. made five gas discoveries of the Andhra coast. It plans to bring the discoveries on stream in 2009 and 2010. It estimated in-place resources of up to 3 Tcf.
14. South Korea 's Daewoo International, with India 's ONGC Videsh and Gail ( India ) Ltd., discovered gas flowing at a rate of 57.6 MMcf/d at their Mya-1 discovery well in Block A-3 offshore Myanmar . The discovery is adjacent to the A-1 block where Daewoo discovered a new field holding up to 6 Tcf in reserves. The Indian companies also are partners in that block.
15. India 's ONGC Videsh signed production-sharing contracts for blocks 127 and 128 offshore central Vietnam in the Phu Khanh Basin . If ONGC Videsh finds oil in commercial amounts on the tracts, PetroVietnam has the option of backing in for a 20% interest. During the 7-year exploration phase, the company will acquire 3-D seismic information and drill at least two wells, one on each block.
16. UK-based Premier Oil hit an oil and gas well with its Dua-4X well on Block 12E in Vietnam . The well is down the flank of a structure discovered by the Dua-1X well in 1974. Premier generated the prospect by interpreting a 3-D seismic survey. Premier followed up the new well with a sidetrack ( Dua-4X ST 1) to get more information about the reservoir and plans a second sidetrack.
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