Exploration and appraisal activity in the U.K.'s harsh West of Shetlands offshore sector ought to be rejuvenated by the government's recent awards of acreage in the 19th Licensing Round, says global consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. As a result of the license awards, at least seven exploration wells will be drilled in the short term, accompanied by acquisition of additional 2-D and 3-D seismic data. Eight of the 12 blocks awarded lie within the highly prized Judd Basin. Amerada Hess won operatorship of five blocks; Texaco, BP and Phillips were awarded one each. The basin, lying some 150 kilometers west of Shetland, is a proven hydrocarbon province. To date, 27 exploration and 18 appraisal wells (including sidetracks) have been drilled there, with a 48% success rate. The Judd Basin already contains Foinaven, Foinaven East, Schiehallion, Suliven and Loyal oil fields. As of March 2001, Foinaven, Schiehallion and Loyal were producing 178,000 barrels of oil per day. Foinaven East, a 38-million-barrel satellite accumulation, is scheduled to come on stream in fourth-quarter 2001, and reach a peak rate of 18,000 barrels per day, notes Woodmac. In addition, participants in the round were also attracted to the gas-prone plays to the north and northeast of the Judd Basin. Texaco, which took almost half of the acreage in the entire round, also won two licenses covering four blocks to the west of the Laxford and Torridon gas discoveries. 1 Canada Westminster Resources Ltd. and Gauntlet Energy Corp. , both of Calgary, jointly own a Devonian-aged Slave Point gas discovery in Hamburg Field, northwest Alberta, across the provincial border from the prolific Ladyfern Slave Point play in British Columbia, reports Calgary-based consulting firm Canadian Discovery Ltd. The Gauntlet et al. Hamburg 16-34-98-11W6 was placed on production in late March 2001 at a rate of 9- to 10 million cu. ft. of gas per day, the current capacity of the facilities. The companies say they are looking for ways to increase the well's rate to more than 20 million cu. ft. per day. In-place gas reserves for the dolomitized reservoir, which has permeabilities exceeding one darcy, are estimated at 30 billion cu. ft. Six drilling locations are being licensed in the area, but will not be drilled until winter 2001-02 due to restrictions on surface access. 2 Canada Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. , through its subsidiary, Canadian Forest Oil, and partner Magin Energy of Calgary, have been successfully exploiting sweet gas reserves in the Grande Cache area of west-central Alberta, says Canadian Discovery. The pair have five wells delivering approximately 20 million cu. ft. of gas per day, and a further four wells due for tie-in during the third quarter of 2001. Located along the foothills, production is derived from fracture-enhanced sandstone reservoirs of the Cretaceous Cadotte and Cadomin formations. Additional potential is contained in the Falher, Bluesky and Gething intervals. The partners shot a 3-D seismic program in the second half of 2000, and intend to drill a deeper exploratory test in early 2002, perhaps to the sour-gas-prone Triassic and Mississippian zones. 3 Canada Calgary-based Velvet Exploration Ltd. , recently acquired by El Paso Energy Corp. , has also enjoyed a string of exploratory successes in the fold and thrust belt of the west-central Alberta foothills. The company selected locations in the Copton area off 110 square miles of 3-D and 1,200 line miles of 2-D seismic, targeting fracture-enhanced Cretaceous Cardium sandstones, reports Canadian Discovery. During underbalanced drilling operations, Velvet's four exploratory wells flowed back at rates between 9- and 20 million cu. ft. of gas equivalent per day. The wells are expected to produce at between 2- and 5 million cu. ft. per day. Four additional wells will be drilled prior to year-end, and more than 90 additional locations remain to fully develop the discovery. 4 Canada St. John's, Newfoundland-based Canadian Imperial Venture Corp. has released production test results on Port au Port #1, the Garden Hill Field discovery well on the Port au Port Peninsula in western Newfoundland. The well, which was drilled in 1994 by Hunt Oil Canada and PanCanadian Petroleum , produced 10,202 bbl. of 51-gravity at a 33% water cut, along with 48 million cu. ft. of gas, during a nine-day period. Initially, the company plans to truck about 2,000 bbl. of oil per day to the Come-by-Chance refinery. Within 24 months, it hopes to be loading 10,000 bbl. of oil per day onto tankers via a planned pipeline and marine loading terminal. 5 U.K. North Sea Talisman Energy Inc. has discovered oil in an exploration well adjacent to Ross Field in the Central North Sea. The 13/29b-7 exploration well, five kilometers northeast of Ross Field's FPSO, encountered oil in Jurassic-age Ross and underlying Parry formations. The well flowed 2,200 bbl. of oil per day on a test. Talisman holds an 80% interest in the 13/29b block, and Paladin Expro Ltd. holds the remaining 20%. 6 Tunisia Dallas firm Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has farmed into acreage in Tunisia held by Eurogas Corp. Pioneer will earn a 50% participating interest in the Bazma, Jorf and El Hamra permits, encompassing 2.7 million acres in the TAGI sand play of the Ghadames Basin. The company will drill two wells during the next two years for an estimated cost to Pioneer of approximately $5.2 million. The first exploratory well, the Douz #1, is currently drilling in the Bazma permit. 7 Mauritania Australian firm Woodside Petroleum has confirmed positive results at its offshore Chinguetti-1 well. The 2,620-meter well, drilled in 791 meters of water, found a gross hydrocarbon interval of 90 meters. Potential reserves are estimated between 100- and 180 million bbl. of oil. Woodside operates the 39,200- square-kilometer Area B offshore Mauritania and holds a 35% working interest; Eni unit Agip , 35%; Australian firms Hardman Resources and Elixir Corp. , 18.6% and 2.4%, respectively; UK independent Fusion Oil & Gas , 6%; and Planet Oil (Mauritania) , 3%. The group's second well, Courbine-1, encountered drilling problems and was abandoned. Presently, the partners are at work on the Courbine A-1. This test is targeting a separate structure about 15 kilometers from the discovery. 8 Equatorial Guinea Triton Energy Ltd. , Dallas, has made a pair of oil discoveries on offshore Block G. At its Okume find, the company's 7,064-ft. G-5 exploration well encountered 407 ft. of gross oil pay, with 200 ft. of net pay in one pool. The well, which was drilled in 1,604 ft. of water, is nine miles northeast of Ceiba Field. The company made another discovery at Oveng, where its G-6 exploration well cut 443 ft. of gross and 168 ft. of net oil-bearing pay in two zones between 4,533 and 5,124 ft. This discovery, drilled to a total depth of 5,325 ft. in 896 ft. of water, is 12.5 miles northeast of Ceiba Field. Triton plans an appraisal program to confirm the discoveries. It has an 85% working interest in blocks F and G, and Energy Africa , based in South Africa, has the remaining 15%. 9 Nigeria Shell Nigeria E&P Co. says a discovery in the southwest Niger Delta is large enough to warrant a new deepwater development. The Bonga SW find, drilled in a water depth of 1,245 meters to a total depth of 4,160 meters, encountered 66 meters of net oil pay in seven sands. The test, in the OML 118 deepwater block, lies 10 kilometers southwest of Bonga Field. Shell is spending $2.35 billion to develop that find, which is estimated to have recoverable reserves of 580 million bbl. of oil. First oil from Bonga is slated for year-end 2003. Shell operates OML 118 and owns a 55% working interest; Exxon Mobil, 20%; Agip , 12.5%; and TotalFinaElf , 12.5%. 10 South Africa Forest Oil Corp. has completed the fourth well in its 2001 drilling program in its offshore Ibhubesi Field. Three zones in the A-Y1 well were tested at an aggregate rate of 71.4 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,376 bbl. of liquids per day. Three of the four tests drilled in the program were successful, notes the company. The wells targeted 10 anomalies, based on 3-D seismic; all of the anomalies were high-quality reservoir rock, and eight were gas bearing. Forest operates and holds a 70% working interest; its partners are The Anschutz Overseas Corp. and Mvelaphanda Holdings . 11 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has signed deals with international oil companies to develop three gas projects. A consortium comprising Exxon Mobil Corp. , Royal Dutch/Shell Group , BP , and Phillips Petroleum will develop South Ghawar, with an estimated investment value of $15- to $17 billion. Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum were awarded the $2- to $5-billion Red Sea project. The $5-billion Shaybah project was awarded to a consortium of Shell, TotalFinaElf and Conoco Inc. 12 Vietnam Conoco Inc. says it will accelerate development of Sutu Den (Black Lion) Field, after a second appraisal well flowed at the rate of 11,032 bbl. of oil a day. Recoverable reserves for Sutu Den have been estimated at 250 million bbl., and the field is initially expected to produce 30,000 bbl. per day into an FPSO. First oil is planned for third-quarter 2003. The partners plan to spend $200 million for the first phase of development. Block 15-1 is operated by Conoco, which holds a 23.25% interest; KNOC holds a 14.25% share; SK Corp. , 9%; Geopetrol, 3.5%; and PetroVietnam , 50%.