Offshore Angola continues to delight the industry, layering two more deepwater oil discoveries on its already formidable successes. ExxonMobil Corp. has made yet another find on prolific Block 15, bringing the total discoveries on that concession to 14. The latest well, the Clochas-1, encountered an oil-bearing reservoir that flowed at a rate of 1,764 barrels per day. It was drilled in 4,250 feet of water to a total depth of 10,300 feet. In 1998, the company drilled the Hungo, Kissanje, Marimba and Dikanza discoveries; in 1999, it added the Chocalho and Xikomba; the next year, it found Mondo, Saxi and Batuque; in 2001, Mbulumbumba, Vicango and Mavacola; and, last year, Reco Reco. ExxonMobil reports that Block 15 is now estimated to contain more than 4 billion barrels of potentially recoverable oil. First production from the block is expected later this year, when the 100-million-barrel Xikomba project comes onstream. Separately, BP has hit a second discovery in ultradeep water on Block 31. The Saturno-1, drilled in 5,919 feet of water to a total depth of 15,444 feet, tested 5,000 barrels of oil per day. The find is nine miles northeast of last year's Plutao discovery. BP operates Block 31; its partners are ExxonMobil, Sonangol, Statoil, Marathon and Total. The group is now drilling the Marte prospect, also on Block 31, some 15 miles north of the Plutao discovery -Peggy Williams 1 Canada Canadian Superior Energy, Calgary, has successfully commenced a multi-well drilling program in the Drumheller area of Alberta. The company has scored two oil and two gas discoveries on the first four wells of a 40-well, year-long drilling program. The oil wells, at LSD 11-20-29-14 W4M and LSD 09-20-29-14 W4M, tested at initial combined production rates of 660 bbl. of oil per day. The two gas discoveries, at LSD 12-02-33-17 W4M and LSD 04-21-31-17 W4M, are currently awaiting completion. Canadian Superior owns a 100% interest in the wells; it holds 106,693 net acres in the Drumheller area. 2 Canada Husky Energy, Profico Energy Management, Cavell Energy Corp. and others are acquiring acreage and drilling shallow Upper Cretaceous Milk River gas wells in the Bayhurst area of southwestern Saskatchewan. This new area lies northeast of the Shackleton Reserve area, which is currently undergoing intensive development of shallow Milk River gas. Estimates are that the Shackleton area will add 500 billion cu. ft. to the province's reserves. 3 Brazil Brazil held its fifth round of bidding for exploration acreage in August, awarding 101 blocks out of the 908 blocks that were originally offered. Petrobras walked away as the overwhelming winner, taking 85 blocks, including concessions in the offshore Campos, Santos, Jequitinhonha and Espirito Santo basins. It also picked up 35 onshore blocks. Newfield Exploration, Houston, was awarded two blocks in the Santos Basin; Maersk Oil & Gas, Denmark, also took two Santos Basin blocks. Brazilian firm Aurizonia took two onshore blocks in the Potigua Basin. 4 U.K. North Sea Talisman Energy Inc. has made an oil discovery in Block 15/16a, adjacent to the Tartan platform. The TNT-B exploration well encountered a 302-ft. oil column in Jurassic Piper sandstones, and tested at rates up to 8,100 bbl. per day. The company notes that the flow was constrained by surface testing equipment. The well will be produced as a subsea completion tied back to the Tartan platform. First production is slated for mid-2004. Talisman holds a 100% interest in the Block 15/16a, which contains both Tartan Field and the discovery well. 5 U.K. North Sea Houston independent ATP Oil & Gas was awarded two licenses in the UKCS 21st Licensing Round. The company will receive a 100% equity interest and operatorship of a portion of blocks 2/10 and 3/11b, which contain Emerald Field and several undeveloped discoveries. The company plans to redevelop Emerald Field, which was discovered in 1978 in 150 meters of water, and produced between 1992 and 1996 from an upper Jurassic reservoir. ATP will also receive a 50% equity interest in North Sea Block 50/26b, which will be operated by Tullow Exploration Ltd. That block also includes part of an undeveloped gas discovery in approximately 25 meters water depth. 6 Equatorial Guinea A gas discovery has been made by Marathon Oil on offshore Block D. The Bococo well was drilled in 238 ft. of water to a total measured depth of 6,110 ft. approximately six miles west of Alba Field. It encountered 185 ft. of net gas pay, and has been suspended for reentry at a later date. The company plans to develop the discovery through a proposed liquefied natural gas project on Bioko Island. Marathon operates Block D and holds a 90% interest; SK Corp. holds the remaining 10%. 7 Sudan China National Petroleum Corp. has made a 600-million-bbl. oil discovery in Sudan's Malut Basin. Oil-in-place is estimated at 2 billion bbl. The discovery was made at blocks 3 and 7, near the Palogue structure, in which CNPC holds a 41% stake. The remaining stakes are held by Qatari Gulf Petroleum Co. and two Sudanese companies. First production is anticipated in 2005. 8 South Africa Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has commenced production from Sable Field, offshore South Africa. The company put three of four producing wells onstream, at rates of more than 22,000 bbl. per day. Peak rates are anticipated at 35,000 to 40,000 bbl. per day. Pioneer holds a 40% working interest in the field and is the first foreign company to produce oil in South Africa. PetroSA, the Petroleum Oil & Gas Corp. of South Africa, is the operator of the field with a 60% working interest. The oil is being processed on a floating production, storage and offloading vessel and will be transported to shore via shuttle tanker. 9 China CNOOC Ltd. reports that it has made two significant gas discoveries in the Pearl River Mouth of the South China Sea. The appraisal results of the Panyu 30-1 and Panyu 34-1 finds, made late last year, confirm that the fields contain 1.5 trillion cu. ft. of in-place gas. CNOOC estimates its initial capital expenditure to bring the gas to market will be around $500 million. It owns 100% of both discoveries. 10 Vietnam A 1,000-meter oil column was encountered by Soco Vietnam Ltd. in its appraisal well to its 2002 Ca Ngu Vang discovery on offshore Block 9-2. The company drilled the CNV-2XA approximately two kilometers southwest of the discovery well. It penetrated basement at a depth of 3,940 meters, and was still in basement at its total vertical depth of 5,009 meters. The operator notes that the oil column in the appraisal well was twice the thickness of that encountered in the discovery well. Soco now plans to drill a horizontal lateral from the upper section of the CNV-2XA. The firm holds a 25% working interest in Block 9-2; its partners are Petrovietnam and PTTEP. 11 Indonesia Unocal has made a significant gas-condensate and oil discovery on a deepwater prospect in the Ganal production-sharing contract area, in the Kutei Basin offshore East Kalimantan. The Gehem-1, drilled 3.5 miles south of Ranggas Field, is the first of a series of deeper-pool tests the company plans to drill in its deepwater fields. The well, drilled in 5,981 ft. of water to a total vertical depth of 15,241 ft., encountered 617 ft. of net gas and gas-condensate pay and 18 ft. of net oil pay. The Gehem structure covers nearly 8,000 acres, and has an unrisked resource potential of 2- to 3 trillion cu. ft. of gas equivalent. 12 Australia The Ginger-1, an exploration well drilled by Apache Corp. in license TL/1, offshore Western Australia, encountered 21 meters of gross gas column in the Jurassic at a depth of 2,413 meters. The 2,497-meter well did not intersect a water contact, so further appraisal drilling will be required to determine the downdip extent of the field. Apache's partners in the discovery are Kufpec Australia Pty. Ltd. and Tap Oil. 13 Australia BHP Billiton has made a discovery at its Ravensworth-1 in permit WA-155-P(1) in the Exmouth Sub-Basin, offshore Western Australia. The 1,432-meter well encountered 43.5 meters of net pay in the Lower Barrow Group. The Ravensworth-1 was drilled in 209 meters of water in an area of brisk industry activity, about 10 kilometers south of the recent Vincent oil and gas discovery made by Woodside Petroleum. BHP Billiton owns a 39.9% interest and is the operator of WA-155-P(1); Apache has 31.5%; and Inpex, 28.5%.