[Editor's note: A version of this story appears in the July 2020 edition of E&P. Subscribe to the magazine here.]  

1. Mexico

Repsol announced two significant oil discoveries on the Polok and Chinwol prospects in Block 29 offshore Mexico. At the Polok-1 well, the venture found oil pay in an early Miocene reservoir of the Salina Basin, which is part of Sureste Basin. The Chinwol-1 well encountered oil in Pliocene pay at the Chinwol prospect. Wireline formation testing performed in both wells has shown good flow capacity in multiple stations in separate reservoirs. Water depth at both sites is about 600 m. The Polok-1 was drilled to 2,620 m and found more than 200 m of net oil pay in two zones. The Chinwol-1 was drilled to 1,850 m and encountered more than 150 m of net oil pay from three zones in Lower Pliocene. Both reservoirs show excellent petrophysi­cal properties, and 108 m of core sam­ples have been collected. Appraisal testing is being planned.

2. U.S.

Chesapeake Operating Inc. completed two Marcellus Shale wells from a pad in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna County. The Jessup Field pad is in Section 5, Auburn Center 7.5 Quad, Auburn Township. The Masso 101H well was drilled to 14,069 ft (7,013 ft true verti­cal) and flowed 44.44 MMcf of gas with no reported water per day. Produc­tion is from perforations at 7,618 ft to 14,040 ft with a shut-in casing pressure of 2,800 psi. To the southeast, Masso 6 was drilled to 14,458 ft (7,489 ft true vertical) and produced 45.56 MMcf of gas with no reported water per day and a shut-in casing pressure of 3,200 psi. Production is from perforations at 7,569 ft to 14,434 ft.

3. Trinidad

Columbus Energy Resources has reported the discovery of oil at the Saffron-1 exploration well in onshore Trinidad’s Southwest Pen­insula. The 4,634-ft well hit 2,363 ft of gross sands with six reservoir inter­vals of interest in Lower and Middle Cruse. It is in the Bonasse license area, which includes Bonasse Field. Three of the six intervals have been tested flowing 40°API oil from Lower Cruse, which is in line with pre-drill estimates of recoverable oil at 11.5 MMbbl. An appraisal well is planned for 2020.

4. Brazil

Petrobras has confirmed a presalt oil discovery in the southeastern part of Buzios Field. The Poco 9-BUZ-39DA-RJS is in the southeastern part of the field in the Santos Basin presalt region. Area water depth is 2,108 m. It was drilled to 5,400 m, and it hit a 208-m reservoir, with confirma­tion of the same quality as the oil produced in the Buzios Field. Addi­tional completion information is not currently available.

5. Brazil

In offshore Brazil’s Albacora Field in the Campos Basin, Petrobras reported results from a presalt dis­covery. The POCO 9-AB-135D-RJS is within the Plano de Avaliacao de Descoberta of Forno area. It encoun­tered about 214 m of reservoir with light oil. The venture was drilled to 4,630 m and area water depth is 450 m. Additional testing is planned. Petrobras is the operator (100%) of Albacora Field in the Plano de Avali­acao de Descoberta of Forno.

6. Gabon

Vaalco Energy announced results from appraisal drilling at its South East Etame 4P well drilled at the South East Etame North Tchi­bala platform in offshore Gabon. Located in the Etame Marin per­mit area, the venture encountered oil sands in Gamba. It hit about 20 ft of good quality sands with similar reservoir quality as the previously drilled South East Etame 2H. The appraisal well was drilled to 6,311 ft and has estimated gross prospective resources of 1 MMbbl to 2 MMbbl of oil in this newly discovered stepout area. No water was encountered in the reservoir. The planned South East Etame 4H development test is based on this successful appraisal. Expected IP rates are 1,200 to 2,500 bbl/d oil.

7. Norway

Lundin AB has received a drilling permit for wildcat well 7219/11-1 in PL533 B. The venture will be drilled from the West Bollsta drilling facil­ity. The area in this license consists of part of Block 7219/11. The well will be drilled about 35 km north­west of the 7220/11-1 Alta discovery well. This is the first well to be drilled in the license.

8. Norway

Spirit Energy has received a drilling permit for the 7321/8-2 S wildcat well in the Norwegian North Sea. The well will be drilled from the Leiv Eiriksson drilling facility. The area in this license consists of parts of blocks 7321/8 and 7321/9. The well will be drilled about 60 km west of the 7324/8-1 (Wisting) discovery. Spirit Energy is the operator with an ownership interest of 50% interest. This is the first exploration well to be drilled in the license.

9. Egypt

SDX Energy has provided an update from well testing operations at SD-12X in the South Disouq Exploration Permit in Egypt. During a drillstem test, the well produced 25 MMcf/d of gas on a 54/64-inch choke. It was followed by a three-hour period flow­ing at a stable rate of 15 MMcf/d of gas on a 28/64-inch choke and then a four-hour test on a 16/64-inch choke flowing 10 MMcf/d of gas. The well was then shut in for a 12-hour buildup period, during which pressure contin­ued to increase back to pretest levels. Additional testing is planned to deter­mine the recoverable volume in the discovery, which is currently estimated to be 24 Bcf of recoverable resource.

10. China

PetroChina has reported a major new oil and gas field discovery within the western portion of the Tarim Basin. The company announced that the Mashen-1 exploration well penetrated a fractured zone con­taining reserves of about 1.6 Bboe. The discovery initially flowed 3,925 bbl of oil and 13 MMcf of gas per day. According to the company, the discovery is a regional-level, oil-rich fracture zone and confirms the over­all contiguous oil-bearing in Tabei- Tazhong area in Xinjiang.

11. Australia

An independent, third-party review by RISC Advisory for Warrego Energy indicates that in the central area of the West Erregulla gas field, there are confirmed 2C contingent resources of 513 Bcf. An additional upside of the central area is 966 Bcf. The review also showed the prospec­tive resource of the northern area of the field is 102 Bcf. The West Erreg­ulla gas field is in EP 469 in Western Australia’s Perth Basin. The review confirms that West Erregulla is a sig­nificant gas discovery with low-risk exploration upside. The Kingia Sandstone is classified as a high-qual­ity, conventional gas reservoir. Addi­tional data and further testing of the High Cliff, Dongara and Wagina res­ervoirs will be undertaken with the planned wells West Erregulla-3 and West Erregulla-4 to make a more definitive determination. No wells have been drilled in the Northern Area, which has been classified by RISC as a prospective resource and has been given a 65% chance of geo­logical success. The Northern Area would become a contingent resource in the event of a successful well.

For more up-to-date information on the latest U.S. and international exploration wells visit Hart Energy’s online Drilling Activity Highlights database.