Last year was lackluster for the U.K. offshore, reports Edinburgh-based consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. In 2002, 14 fields containing 400 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) started production on the U.K. continental shelf (UKCS). That was a 70% decrease from 2001, when 16 fields containing 1.34 billion BOE were brought onstream. In addition, 15 offshore fields received development approval in 2002, containing recoverable reserves of 443 million BOE. The tally fell 27% from 2001, when 19 fields containing 561 million BOE were approved. The average size of the fields that received regulatory go-ahead held steady at 32 million BOE, however. Drilling activity was also off, with 33 exploration and appraisal wells spudded, versus 45 in 2001. Of the 14 exploration wells completed in 2002, four discovered new accumulations. The largest was TotalFinaElf's Forvie North Field, estimated to contain reserves of 100 billion cubic feet of gas and 10 million barrels of liquids. Despite suffering a slack year, the UKCS is still a formidable producing province. WoodMac estimates that the 55 companies active in the sector produced around 2.3 million barrels of oil and more than 10 billion cubic feet of gas per day in 2002, consistent with the prior-year level. -Peggy Williams 1 Canada Calgary-based Crescent Point Energy says that it has successfully completed a four-day production test at the d-38-E/94-B-9 well, a deep-gas exploratory test drilled at the Chowade location in northeast British Columbia. The well tested in excess of 4 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Dynamic Oil & Gas is Crescent's joint-venture partner. Nearby, Crescent Point and Dynamic have cased three additional wells and are drilling a fourth test at Sikanni/Cypress. 2 Brazil El Paso Corp. has made a significant oil and gas discovery in offshore Block BM-CAL-4, off Bahia in the Camamu Basin. The company is currently testing the discovery to determine its size. To date, El Paso has spent $15 million on the block on seismic and drilling. Meanwhile, in the offshore Campos Basin, Petrobras has discovered a field. The 9-MLL-3 was drilled in 3,156 ft. of water near Marlim Leste Field. Preliminary testing shows that the oil's gravity is 20 degrees; reserves are estimated at approximately 150 million bbl. Petrobras plans to commingle production from the discovery and Marlim Leste Field, with first oil expected in 2006. Rates are anticipated to be 140,000 bbl. per day. 3 United Kingdom Nearly three decades after discovery, the Penguin Field complex has started producing oil. The fields are in blocks 211/13 and 211/14 in the northern sector of the U.K. North Sea. The $560-million development uses subsea completions tied back to the Brent Charlie platform. A 16-in. pipeline stretches for 65 kilometers, making it the longest subsea tieback on the U.K. continental shelf. The operator, Shell UK Exploration & Production, a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, estimates recoverable reserves at 175 billion cu. ft. of gas and 50 million bbl. of oil. Production levels from the Jurassic reservoirs are expected to reach 70 million cu. ft. of gas and 40,000 bbl. of oil per day. 4 Egypt The Tennin-1 exploratory well, drilled by partners ENI and BP in the East Delta Deep Block near the mouth of the Nile River, flowed gas at a rate of 24.7 million cu. ft. per day. The well, drilled in 984 ft. of water to a total depth of 6,693 ft., encountered a gas-filled sand interval of about 197 ft. ENI says that its preliminary estimates put the reserves between 530 billion and 1.06 trillion cu. ft. of gas. In activity onshore, Houston-based Apache Corp. has made a discovery on its Ras El Hekma Block, about 18 miles northeast of its Khalda Block in the Western Desert. The Emerald-1X logged 218 ft. of net pay in multiple Alem El Bueib reservoirs, and flowed at a rate of 4,285 bbl. of condensate and 16.9 million cu. ft. of gas per day on a 1-in. choke from perforations in two intervals between 11,848-92 ft. Apache operates the concession and holds a 100% contractor interest. 5 Algeria Anadarko Petroleum has made a discovery at its Hassi Berkine NE prospect, on Block 404 in the Berkine Basin. The HBNE-1 was drilled to a total depth of 10,827 ft. five kilometers east of Hassi Berkine Field. The discovery well encountered 52.5 ft. of net oil pay in the Tagi reservoir, and has tested at a rate of 4,092 bbl. of oil and 6.7 million cu. ft. of gas per day through a 36/64-in. choke. Anadarko's partners in the block are Sonatrach, Maersk Olie and ENI. 6 Angola ChevronTexaco has made another discovery in deepwater Block 14. The discovery well for Negage Field was drilled in 4,738 ft. of water, some 50 kilometers southwest of the existing Gabela discovery. The well encountered more than 320 ft. of hydrocarbon column and produced at the rate of more than 8,630 bbl. of oil per day during a drillstem test. Negage joins the Kuito, Landana, Benguela and Belize, Tomboco and Lobito, Tombua, and Gabela finds on Block 14, which contains more than 3 billion bbl. of recoverable reserves. ChevronTexaco operates Block 14 and holds a 31% interest; Sonangol, Agip and TotalFinaElf each hold 20%; and Petrogal holds 9%. 7 India U.K.-based Cairn Energy has made an oil and gas discovery in the onshore Block RJ-ON-90/1 in Rajasthan. The RJ-E-1 was drilled to a total depth of 3,476 meters and encountered four hydrocarbon-bearing intervals. One interval flowed at the rate of 2.2 million cu. ft. of gas per day, and another at the rate of 200 bbl. of oil and 7.3 million cu. ft. of gas. Initial estimates are that the find contains recoverable reserves of approximately 155 million bbl. of oil, plus an undetermined amount of gas. The discovery is Cairn's third on the block. 8 China Two new oil fields have been discovered in the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Uygur, Autonomous Region, by PetroChina. The finds are near the company's Pen-5 discovery in 2001 in the Maqiao area. According to PetroChina, the Shinan-24 and the Cai-43 wells each discovered fields containing more than 750 million bbl. of oil. Last year, PetroChina reported that its Shidong-2 also discovered a large field in the same area. 9 Malaysia Two production-sharing contracts have been awarded to Murphy Oil Corp. in the deep waters off Sabah. Blocks L and M are adjacent to Block K, the site of Murphy's recent Kikeh oil discovery, which is estimated to contain 400- to 700 million bbl. of oil. Murphy will have 60% and 70% stakes in blocks L and M, respectively. Petronas Carigali, the company's partner in the Kikeh discovery, will hold the remaining 40% and 30% interests in the new blocks. The companies will acquire 500 sq. kilometers of 3-D seismic data and drill two exploration wells to a minimum depth of 7,000 meters on each block. 10 Brunei The Block B joint venture, operated by TotalFinaElf, has made a significant gas and condensate discovery. The MLJ1-06 well, which was drilled as a deeper-pool test in Maharaja Lela Jamalulalam Field, encountered a 100-meter hydrocarbon column at a true vertical depth of around 4,400 meters. TotalFinaElf operates Block B and holds a 37.5% interest; Shell has 35%; and local partners hold the remaining 27.5%. 11 Papua New Guinea Santos Ltd. has made its first onshore oil discovery in Papua New Guinea. During a drillstem test, the Bilip-1 flowed oil at the rate of 2,000 bbl. per day from the interval 2,445-48 meters in the Iagifu sandstone. The well, on the Barracuda unit in Block PPL 190 in the Southern Highlands, is about 10 kilometers southeast of Southeast Gobe Field. Santos operates Block PPL 190 and holds a 31.278% interest; Oil Search also holds 31.278%; Murray Petroleum has 26.497%; and Cue PNG Oil Co., 10.947%. Additionally, some 60 kilometers west of Gobe Field, Santos has begun drilling the Bosavi-1 on PPL 206. The company says the prospect could contain 150 million bbl. of oil. Horizon Oil NL is a 20% participant in the well, and Aviva Petroleum of Dallas owns a 2% carried working interest in the license. 12 Australia Australian firm Origin Energy Resources says its Jingemia-1 discovery in onshore Block 413, in Western Australia's Perth Basin, produced at an average rate of 1,850 bbl. of oil per day during a 10-day flow test. The well is currently shut in for a long-term pressure build-up test. The well encountered an oil column of approximately 30 meters in the Dongara Sandstone. Additionally, 43 meters of potential reservoir were encountered in the Wagina formation. Origin operates Block EP 413 and holds a 49.189% interest. Its partners include Hardman Oil & Gas, AWE, Victoria Petroleum, Voyager Petroleum and Pancontinental Oil & Gas.