AFRICA

Chariot lines up next Namibian wildcat

Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd. has confirmed that its wholly owned subsidiary Enigma Oil & Gas (Pty) Ltd. has reached an agreement with Ocean Rig UDW Inc. to use the driller's Ocean Rig Poseidon drillship to drill a wildcat well offshore Namibia. The Kabeljou (2714/6-1) well will target the Nimrod prospect once the drillship arrives on location in July. The prospect is in the Orange basin in Southern Block 2714A, where Chariot has a 25% equity interest.

The Kabeljou well is expected to take approximately two months to drill. It will be drilled 77 km (48 miles) offshore Namibia in 360 m (1,181 ft) water depth with an estimated total depth (TD) of 3,100 m (10,171 ft) true vertical depth subsea.

BG's Tanzania trophy

BG Group has had more success with its latest deepwater well 45 km (28 miles) offshore southern Tanzania, which is 23 km (14 miles) from the 4.6 Tcf Jodari-1 discovery. The company has confirmed a fifth consecutive gas discovery with its Mzia-1 well in Block 1 that has the potential to act as a future production hub. The well, which was drilled in 1,639 m (5,378 ft) water depth, is BG's first discovery within the deeper Cretaceous section.

According to the company, Mzia-1 "opens an extensive new play fairway within the group's offshore acreage in Blocks 1, 3, and 4, to complement the now proven Tertiary fairway." Partner Ophir Energy has placed mean in place resources at an estimated 3.5 Tcf with significant potential upside. Preliminary evaluation of the results indicates 55 m (180 ft) of natural gas pay within a 178-m (584-ft) gas-bearing column in "good-quality" sands.

Ghana grants Tap Oil extension

Tap Oil Ltd. has been granted a one-year extension by the Ghana Ministry of Energy on its initial exploration period for its offshore Accra contract area. The initial period will now end on September 23, 2013, by which time a commitment well must be drilled. Tap says new 3-D seismic was acquired over the deepwater part of the permit area in early 2011, and interpretation of the data indicates multiple large prospects within both the post-rift Upper Cretaceous fan sands (the same play type as the Jubilee field) and pre-rift Lower Cretaceous rotated fault blocks (the same play type as the Espoir and Baobab oil fields). To date several prospects and leads have been mapped and have unrisked prospective resources of more than 3 Bbbl.

Anadarko ups Mozambique reserves by 20 Tcf

Anadarko Petroleum has increased its recoverable reserves for its giant field complex offshore East Africa's Mozambique by up to another 20 Tcf of gas. The company reported that the deepwater Golfinho exploration well discovered a new, major natural gas accumulation approximately 32 km (20 miles) northwest of the Prosperidade complex in the Rovuma basin. The discovery well hit more than 59 m (193 net feet) of gas pay in two "high-quality" Oligocene fan systems. The Golfinho discovery, which is entirely contained within the Offshore Area 1 block, has added an estimated 7 Tcf to more than 20 Tcf of incremental recoverable resources over a significant areal extent, according to Bob Daniels, Anadarko senior vice president, worldwide exploration.

Giant ultra-deepwater find in offshore Mozambique

Eni has confirmed another giant ultra-deepwater gas discovery in the East African exploration hotspot of Mozambique, extending its estimated total reserves in place for the Mamba complex to as much as 52 Tcf of gas. The operator said the Coral-1 exploration well in the southern part of Area 4 is estimated to contain 7 Tcf to 10 Tcf of gas in place. With these new results at Coral-1, the company also estimates resources exclusively in Area 4 range between 15 Tcf and 20 Tcf of gas in place, which further increases the total potential of Eni's Mamba complex in the offshore Rovuma basin to between 47 Tcf and 52 Tcf of gas in place. The well, which is 65 km (40 miles) off the Capo Delgado coast in 2,261 m (7,418 ft) water depth, reached TD of 4,869 m (15,975 ft) and encountered a total of 75 m (246 ft) of gas pay in single, "high-quality" Eocene sand.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel potential draws interest

On the back of major finds made by Noble Energy and ATP in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, interest in the area's potential has been substantially heightened. Exploration outfit Israel Opportunity has reported it has potentially 6.7 Tcf of natural gas and 1.4 Bbbl of oil within its Pelagic fields offshore Israel, with a relatively high probability for geological success. The estimate comes from a resources report by Texas-based petroleum consultants Ryder Scott that covers five different as-yet-undrilled sites about 170 km (106 miles) offshore. Israel Opportunity has a 10% stake in the licenses, with the field operator AGR of Norway holding 5%. Israeli billionaires Benny Steinmetz and Teddy Sagi each control a 42.5% stake. The consortium hopes to begin drilling at the first Pelagic site in 4Q 2012.

CENTRAL ASIA/PACIFIC RIM

Condor taking flight in Kazakhstan

Condor Petroleum has reported that its Shoba-6 appraisal well in the Zharkamys West 1 Contract Territory onshore Kazakhstan has encountered 19 m (62 ft) of net oil pay and 10 m (30 ft) of net gas pay within the Triassic. A new oil zone in the Basal Jurassic also has been interpreted from petrophysical analysis with 3.5 m (11.5 ft) of net pay. Production casing has been set, and the well is scheduled to be produced as part of a trial production phase, which is expected to start in 3Q 2012. Additionally, the Shoba 9 well has hit 3 m (10 ft) of net oil pay within the Triassic. Production casing has been set, and the well is scheduled to be flow tested once regulatory approvals are obtained. One further Shoba appraisal well will be drilled this year, along with up to 10 exploration wells targeting multiple play types and depths.

BHP gets Philippines extension

The Philippines Department of Energy has approved a request from BHP Billiton for a year's extension for a frontier deepwater permit offshore the Philippines. The extension to the current Exploration Sub-Phase 4 of Service Contract (SC) 55 to August 5, 2013, was revealed by BHP's joint venture partner Otto Energy. The revised permit timing means the operator has until August next year to find an ultra-deepwater rig to drill one wildcat well in the license. It has to drill a further well in Sub-Phase 5 by August 2014. BHP requested the extension to secure an appropriate rig with specialized well control equipment that will promote safe drilling operations on the proposed Cinco prospect within SC 55, Otto reported in a statement.

SOUTH AMERICA

Brazil block a boon for Repsol consortium

Repsol Sinopec Brasil and partners Statoil and Petrobras plan to further appraise deepwater exploration block BMC-33 in the southern Campos basin offshore Brazil after confirming the block holds reserves that make it one of the world's top five finds so far in 2012. The company announced that well 1-REPF-12D-RJS, where the discovery of a new presalt hydrocarbon reservoir was recently announced, has indicated estimated recoverable volumes of more than 700 MMbbl of oil and 3 Tcm of gas (equivalent to 545 MMbbl) in the block. The well, P?o de A??car, which is 195 km (121 miles) from the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, was drilled in approximately 2,800 m (8,187 ft) water depth, encountering a hydrocarbon column around 500 m (1,640 ft).

Operator looks to exit Cuban offshore

Repsol YPF might exit Cuba's deepwater sector after the disappointment of its second wildcat well in the island's frontier Caribbean waters. Repsol chairman Antonio Brufau was quoted as saying it was "almost certain" the company would not drill in Cuba again, where it has spent an estimated US $150 million. The operator began drilling the well in February about 50 km (31 miles) north of Havana using Saipem's Scarabeo 9 rig.

A separate deepwater well is under way north of Cuba's Pinar del Rio province and about 161 km (100 miles) west of Havana and is being drilled by Petronas in partnership with Gazprom using the Scarabeo 9 rig. Following this well, there is a further option for Petr?leos de Venezuela SA to use the rig to drill a well to the west of the Petronas prospect.

Bem-te-vi hub plans on track

Petrobras and its partners are expected to proceed with plans for a new floating hub production facility centered on one of the consortium's major ultra-deep Santos basin pre-salt discoveries following the results of its latest appraisal well. The facility is likely to be sited centrally on the Brazilian operator's Bem-te-vi field.

The latest test data from the Carcar? prospect in Block BM-S-8 via well 4-SPS-86B (4-BRSA-971-SPS) have reinforced the quality of the discovery's oil, with a continuous oil column of 171 m (561 ft) in reservoirs of "excellent quality." New oil samples of approximately 32°API were collected from reservoirs at depths to 5,910 m (19,391 ft), also confirming the continuity of the discovery first reported earlier this year. The well, located 232 km (144 miles) off S?o Paulo state in 2,027 m (6,651 ft) water depth, is being drilled using the Sevan Driller rig.

NORTH AMERICA

Spartacus loses battle

An exploration well drilled on Anadarko Petroleum's Spartacus prospect in Walker Ridge Block 794 in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) has come up dry. Ernie Leyendecker, vice president, exploration, told analysts in an energy webcast that the company's net cost was approximately US $20 million, "so (its) exposure was relatively small." The well was targeting subsalt layers near the operator's Lucius project, which is currently under development. Anadarko is planning to drill up to eight exploration and appraisal wells in the GoM by year-end 2012.

TGS kicks off WAZ shoot

TGS is acquiring a 3-D multiclient wide azimuth (WAZ) survey covering more than 3,500 sq km (1,351 sq miles) in the deepwater GoM. The survey, Independence WAZ 3-D, continues the company's Constitution group of WAZ projects, including Freedom, Liberty, and Justice, which together total 27,622 sq km (10,664 sq miles) in the GoM. The new seismic data are being acquired by a four-vessel WAZ fleet and will be processed by TGS, with preliminary products expected to be available in 4Q 2012 and a final processed product expected in 2013.

Central GoM sale lined up

At press time, Central GoM Lease Sale 216-222 was expected to take place June 20, making available all unleased areas in the planning area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, including 7,276 blocks covering 38.6 million acres. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) estimates the sale could result in the production of more than 1 Bbbl of oil and 4 Tcf of natural gas. The blocks are located from 5 km to approximately 370 km (3 miles to 230 miles) offshore in water depths ranging from 3 m (9 ft) to more than 3,400 m (11,115 ft). BOEM also has increased the minimum bid in deepwater from US $37.50/acre to $100/acre to ensure taxpayers receive fair market value for offshore resources and to provide leaseholders with additional impetus to invest in leases they are more likely to develop.

EUROPE

Premier's Carnaby catch in UKCS

Premier Oil's latest North Sea exploration well has hit oil, with the find likely to be part of the operator's overall development plans for its Catcher field. The Carnaby exploration well 28/09-5A (Premier stake 50%) reached 1,431 m (4,695 ft) TD and encountered 15 m (51 ft) of net oil in the main Tay sandstone within an estimated 26-m (86-ft) oil column. A core was taken and confirmed oil in excellent-quality sandstones, according to Premier. Pressure data and sampling indicate the oil is 24°API and of similar quality to that established at the nearby Catcher discoveries. The well will be plugged and abandoned ahead of the rig moving to drill the high-risk Coaster prospect on Block 28/10a, immediately east of the Catcher acreage.

Record number of UK block bids received

Bids were received for more than 400 blocks in the UK's 27th offshore licensing round from oil and gas companies looking to bolster their UK North Sea portfolios amid government efforts to improve the sector's fiscal terms and stability. There was substantial interest in frontier licenses, most of which are in the West of Shetland area. A total of 224 applications were submitted to the UK government, with applications covering 418 blocks out of the 2,800 offered in the round. The number of applications is the highest ever received for an offshore round in the UK since the licensing process was launched in 1964. The bidding round saw 192 applications for traditional licenses; 25 for promote licenses; and seven for frontier licenses, which can be licensed for six or nine years.

North Sea survey expands to West of Shetland

TGS has started the acquisition of a 3-D multiclient survey covering 3,210 sq km (1,239 sq miles) in the Erlend basin, West of Shetland. This is the first multiclient survey in the basin and builds on the improved imaging shown by the reprocessed TGS North Sea Renaissance 2-D data. The survey also covers open blocks that were offered in the UK's 27th licensing round. The new 3-D data expands on TGS' Northern North Sea 3-D survey, making a total contiguous volume exceeding 10,000 sq km (3,861 sq miles). The contractor has chartered the M/V Polarcus Samur vessel for the first phase of the acquisition. The remaining acquisition will be completed during the 2012 season by the M/V Polar Duchess, already on charter to TGS. Processed data will be available for delivery and licensing in 2Q 2013.