Operators in India have been flush with success of late, reporting a string of large oil and gas discoveries. In the Krishna Godavari Basin, off the eastern coast, Reliance Industries says a new find has increased its gas-in-place estimates in D-6 Block to 9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Last year, the company found three separate fields, Dhirubhai I, II and III, in almost 3,000 ft. of water. The latest well tapped a new reservoir in the area, adding 2 Tcf to the Dhirubhai estimates. Reliance plans to start production from Block D-6 by the close of next year. Across the country, a major offshore discovery has been made by Oil & Natural Gas Corp. The B-22-5 well, drilled west of ONGC's giant Bassein Field in the Arabian Sea, flowed oil at a combined rate of 2,824 barrels per day from two intervals. The find follows on the heels of ONGC's discovery of East Bassein Field, an accumulation that contains 3.5 Tcf of gas. Also, U.K.-based Cairn Energy has made an onshore discovery in Rajasthan, on its Block RJ-ON-90/1. The RJ-E-1 was drilled to a total depth of 3,476 meters, and encountered four hydrocarbon-bearing intervals. The company says initial estimates are that the new field contains recoverable oil reserves of 155 million barrels, and an undetermined amount of natural gas. -Peggy Williams 1 Canada To date, 150 exploration and development wells have been completed on the Palliser Block coalbed-methane project in southern Alberta. Now, partners Quicksilver Resources and EnCana Corp. are terminating their joint venture and swapping assets, so that each firm can pursue an independent strategy. As a result of the new arrangement, EnCana will own most of the interests in the Palliser Block and Quicksilver will own a large acreage position outside the block. Overall, the area is prospective for CBM development from the Horseshoe Canyon and Belly River coals, which occur at depths between 1,000 and 3,000 ft. Quicksilver, based in Fort Worth, plans to drill 175 CBM wells in the area this year. 2 Ecuador Occidental Petroleum Corp. has discovered two fields in Block 15r in eastern Ecuador. The Yanaquincha Este-1 and Yanaquincha Oeste-1 encountered oil in the Hollin, Napo U and T sandstones, between 9,758 and 10,200 ft. Each well cut more than 90 ft. of net pay. The Hollin formation tested at a rate of 590 bbl. of oil per day on a 1¼2-in. choke; the U formation flowed up to 2,300 bbl. per day on pump; and the T formation flowed at rates up to 3,320 bbl. per day on pump. The discoveries were based on 3-D seismic data. Two delineation wells have already been drilled, and two additional ones are planned. Oxy expects to drill four to seven additional wells in the block this year. 3 Trinidad & Tobago Shell Exploration & Production has drilled one apparent discovery and plugged a second wildcat in a deepwater program. The Peppersauce-1 was drilled in 3,445 ft. of water to a depth of 9,206 ft. in the western end of Block 25a. Initially, the well was projected to a depth of 10,500 ft.; Shell reports that it is still being evaluated. Its next well, the Liszt-1, has been plugged and abandoned after reaching a depth of 8,081 ft. That test was drilled on the extreme eastern end of the same block in 4,265 ft. of water. In 1999, Shell drilled the Haydn-1 on Block 25a, encountering a field containing about 250 billion cu. ft. of gas. That find was not developed, due to its relatively small size, the great water depth and the long distance to markets. 4 Venezuela Statoil was awarded operatorship of Block 4 in the Plataforma Deltana area offshore eastern Venezuela. The acreage lies in water depths ranging from 656 to 2,625 ft. Statoil offered a $32-million signature bonus and committed to drill three exploration wells, at an estimated $60 million cost, in the next four years. The Norwegian firm currently has interests the Sincor heavy-crude project in the Orinoco Belt and in Lake Maracaibo's LL 652 Field. ChevronTexaco has also picked up a license in the Plataforma Deltana area. The company will operate Block 2, which contains Loren Field, an undeveloped gas discovery that dates from 1982. The company owns a 50% interest in adjoining Block 6d in Trinidad & Tobago, which contains an extension of Loran Field. 5 Norway Three new fields operated by Statoil will begin production on the Norwegian continental shelf this year. Mikkel Field, in which Statoil holds 41.2%, is expected to reach peak production rates of 53,400 bbl. of oil equivalent per day in 2004. Fram Vest, in which the company has a 20% interest, will produce 60,000 bbl. per day by 2005. The third field, an extension of Vigdis Field, will produce 46,100 bbl. of oil per day by 2004. Statoil holds a 28.22% interest in that venture. 6 Tunisia Calgary-based Centurion Energy International Inc. has started operations on its Sidi Mehrez #1 exploration well on the Grombalia Permit in northern Tunisia. The test will be drilled approximately 45 kilometers southwest of Al Manzah Field, to a depth of 1,440 meters. The primary objective is Paleocene Bou Dabbous reservoir, at approximately 1,320 meters. Centurion notes that it has identified five similar prospects on its lands. 7 Equatorial Guinea New York-based Amerada Hess Corp. has confirmed its G-13 discovery made last year on Block G in the offshore Rio Muni Basin. The G-13-2 well encountered 397 ft. of net oil pay. It was drilled to a total depth of 12,565 ft. in 2,625 ft. of water, at a location 2.3 miles southeast of the discovery well. Hess operates and owns an 85% interest in the block; Energy Africa Ltd. of South Africa has a 15% interest. 8 Uganda Canadian independent Heritage Oil & Gas has apparently made Uganda's first oil discovery. The Turaco-1 well, drilled in Block 3, reached a total depth of 8,160 ft. The operator is currently analyzing results. Energy Africa Ltd. is a 50% owner in the block, which comprises 1.1 million acres in western Uganda, where the Semiliki River empties into Lake Albert. 9 Azerbaijan The Japanese Azerbaijan Oil Co., an international joint venture, has made a gas discovery at Atashgah Field, offshore Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. JAOC's second well on the field struck gas. Atashgah Field is believed to contain in excess of 500 million bbl. of oil. Partners in the JV, which holds an exploration and production license for the Atashgah, Yanan Tava and Mugan Daniz prospects, are Japan Exploration, Teikoku Oil, Indonesia Petroleum, and Itochu, in association with Socar. 10 Kazakhstan Lukoil and KazMunayGas will jointly explore and develop the Kurmengaz Block in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. The block contains Kurmangazy Field, which is believed to contain approximately 710 million bbl. of oil. Lukoil will finance all exploratory work on the block, and KazMunayGas will share in the expense of joint development. 11 Kazakhstan A significant gas field has been discovered in eastern Kazakhstan's Zaisan Block by U.S.-based Gulf Star Investments and its Kazakh partner KUAT Holdings. The discovery well Sarybulak-2 was drilled to a total depth of 8,202 ft., some 500 meters from a well drilled in 1988 by a Russian exploration company. The well, which was targeting clastic reservoirs in the Triassic, encountered several gas-bearing zones. It is currently being tested. The partners plan to drill a second well, the Karabulak-1, to appraise the discovery. A third venture, the Karabulak-2, is planned at a location approximately 25 kilometers east of the Sarybulak discovery site. 12 Australia Operator BHP Billiton says that it has made an oil discovery on its first well in an exploration program on its WA-255-P license, in the Exmouth Sub-basin offshore Western Australia. The 2,477-meter Stybarrow-1 was drilled in 825 meters of water. It encountered a 23-meter oil column, and logged 18.6 meters of net pay in a Macedon sandstone reservoir. After the Stybarrow well is completed, the operator plans to drill the Eskdale-1 at a location 13 kilometers north. BHP Billiton and Woodside Energy Ltd. each own 50% interests in the license.