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1. The US arm of MedcoEnergi International of Indonesia bought a 43.75% working interest in Mustang Island Block 758 in the Gulf of Mexico from Rampant Lion Energy of Louisiana. Rampant Lion retains an interest in the field, according to Ogilvie's E&P Daily . The Indonesian firm plans an evaluation and development drilling program on the block with plans to start its first well in the third quarter this year. The company now has interests in four leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
2. Apex Oil & Gas completed an apparent Miocene discovery on Galveston Block 355 . The company tested its 1-OCS-G-23181 wildcat after drilling to 9,201 ft (2,806 m). The northwest corner location on the block is in 88 ft (27 m). The company's exploration plan said it could drill as many as three additional tests from the same surface location, according to IHS Energy. One of those locations may hit bottom beneath adjoining Block 356 .
3. Hunt Oil Co. registered a discovery with its 1 State Lease 18287 wildcat on West Cameron 9 off the coast of Cameron Parish, La. The well tested at 10.57 MMcf/d of gas, 686 bbl of condensate of 15 bbl of water from Cristellaria perforations between 17,410 and 17,554 ft (5,310 to 5,351 m). The company drilled the well to 18,576 ft (5,666 m) and plugged by to 17,828 ft (5,438 m). The company also has taken out a permit for the 2 State Lease 18287 about a half-mile (.8 km) to the northeast.
4. Veteran Gulf of Mexico independent Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. plans a wildcat on the northwestern quadrant of Garden Banks 302 . The site of the 2-OCS-G-24479 is in 2,315 ft (706 m) of water. The well is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of the 1-OCS-G-24479 that will begin producing oil to the Baldpate platform in October. That well was drilled to 12,651 ft (3,858 m). Plans filed for the block allow up to three more wells from separate surface locations, all in the northwest quadrant.
5. Gas flowed from an untested zone at a Helis Oil & Gas Co. LLC wildcat offshore Louisiana in northwestern Ship Shoal 53 . The test rate was not disclosed. This well, the 1 OCS-G-26051 , drilled in 13 ft (4 m) of water to a total depth of 15,100 ft (4,609 m), is the only test proposed for the block. The only previous well on the block was abandoned. The nearest production is nearly a mile (1.6 km) to the north-northeast at the only producer on Block 34 . That 1980 well produced 1.56 Bcf of gas, 278 bbl of condensate and 97,762 bbl of water until 1993 from Montgomery perforations between 3,814 and 3,824 ft (1,163 and 1,166 m), according to IHS Energy.
6. Hess Corp.'s preliminary analysis of its Pony prospect shows a discovery in Green Canyon 468 . The well reached some 300 ft (92 m) of net pay, based on logging-while-drilling data, on its way to 32,500 ft (9,912 m). The company also is testing deeper potential that the discovered pay zone. Preliminary analysis indicates reserves between 100 million and 600 million boe. Based on early results, the company plans appraisal wells, has started conceptual studies for production and could move to the engineering, procurement and construction stage as early as 2007, according to Ogilvie's E&P Daily .
7. Australia's BHP Billiton approved development of its Shenzi field using a tension-leg platform in 4,300 ft (1,311 m) of water. The company designed the platform to handle up to 100,000 b/d of oil and 50 MMcf/d of gas. The Green Canyon 609, 610, 653 and 654 field initially will produce from seven wells, but that number will grow to 15 under full development. BHP has estimated the cost of the project through 2015 at US $4.4 billion to produce estimated reserves between 350 million and 400 million boe. The company also will test the surrounding area for addition reserve potential. BHP anticipates first oil by mid-2009.
8. Shell Offshore Inc. plans a test well in 9,576 ft (2,921 m) of water on Walker Ridge 508 where BP drilled its Stones prospect a year ago. That well reached 28,638 ft (8,735 m) total depth, or a true vertical depth of 28,560 ft (8,711 m). Shell was an interest holder in the well and said at the time additional appraisal was needed to determine the potential of the prospect, which includes blocks 507, 508, 509, 551, 552, 553, 596 and 597 . The latest papers show Shell as 70% owner of the tract with Marathon as a 30% interest owner. Meanwhile, BP submitted an exploration plan for Stones Southwest in Walker Ridge 595 . It may drill up to three wells on that property.
9. ExxonMobil filed an exploration plan to drill up to four wildcat wells at its Hal prospect on Walker Ridge 848 . The wells would be drilled from separate locations to evaluate Eocene and Paleocene zones at 27,560 ft (8,406 m) and 27,920 ft (8,516 m). ExxonMobil is half owner and operator of the block with Statoil holding the remaining half. The exploration plan describes the Hal prospect as a subsalt, four-way closure under blocks 847, 848, 849, 891 and 892 on the Paleogene fold-belt play, according to IHS Energy. The location is some 13 miles northeast of ExxonMobil's Montana prospect on undrilled Block 977 , another subsalt four-way closure trap on Walker Ridge 933, 934, 976, 977, 978 and Amery Terrace 9 , also on the fold-belt play.
10. New Orleans, La.-based Taylor Energy Co. brought home an oil discovery in the Upper Miocene in Mississippi Canyon 65 . The company drilled the B-4 OCS-G-21742 from a surface location in the southeastern part of adjacent Block 21 in 665 ft (203 m) of water. It perforated the 15, 185-ft (4,631-m) well from 14,930 to 15,000 ft (4,554 to 4,575 m). The total vertical depth of the well is 10,095 ft (3,079 m). The whole block was designated part of Block 20 field in 1993 by the lease expired in 1996 with no production. Taylor installed the B platform on Block 21 in 2005 and brought the B-3 well on stream on that platform to recover 444.77 MMcf of gas, 9,394 bbl of condensate of 90 bbl of water during January 2006. A production rate for the B-4 discovery was not disclosed.
11. Noble Energy claimed success as it drilled its Raton prospect in Mississippi Canyon 248 . It isn't claiming commerciality for the project yet, but the well reach 90 ft (27 m) of pay in three zones. Noble plans delineation work on the site in 3,400 ft (1,036 m) of water in the fourth quarter this year. The company drilled the well to 20,106 ft (6,128 m). Noble's Redrock discovery is 5 miles (8 km) to the north and probably will be part of a joint development plan if Raton's economics work out. The company and partners Samson Offshore and Energy Partners Ltd. picked up blocks adjacent to both Raton and Redrock at the March lease sale.
12. Murphy Oil Corp. discovered oil at its Thunder Bird prospect in Mississippi Canyon 819 . It hasn't yet decided on development options for the discovery, but it probably will be tied back to a nearby production platform. The company didn't disclose production potential or reserves for the discovery. Murphy, the operator, has a 37.5% working interest in the block. Dominion Resources and Hydro Gulf of Mexico LLC own 25% each and Marubeni Offshore Production (USA) Inc. has the remaining 12.5%.
13. Newcomer Norsk Hydro of Norway has joined Spanish-Argentine Repsol YPF and India's ONGC Videsh to find and develop oil offshore north of Cuba. Repsol YPF has exploration rights on six of the 59 blocks Cuba has offered. The three companies each will take a third of blocks 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 36 . It found oil in one 2004 well but said the oil was not commercial quality.
14. Mexico's premier deepwater discovery tested for 9 MMcf/d. Pemex reported initial gas flows from its Noxal-1 well were substantially better than similar wells onshore in the Burgos Basin of northeastern Mexico or onshore wells in Veracruz state. Earlier this year, Carlos Morales, head of the Pemex exploration and production arm called the Deep Coatzacoalcos area where the Noxal well was drilled "Mexico's first oil province in deep water," in an interview with the Reforma newspaper. If the economics prove up in feasibility studies, the company could bring the near-shore well on line as early as 2008, probably using a temporary floating production platform.
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