Houston-based Far East Energy Corp. is making solid progress on its coalbed-methane projects in China. In Yunnan Province in southwestern China, the company has drilled three wells in its 2004 exploratory program. The initial well was drilled on Laochang Block to 825 meters, and the second was drilled on Enhong Block to 420 meters. The former test encountered 29.4 meters of coal and the latter, 16.7 meters. The third 435-meter well, on Enhong, cut 42.8 meters of coal. Gas content for the coals has ranged between 280 and 650 standard cubic feet per ton. Next, the company plans a horizontal test. Far East's Yunnan projects comprise between 159,000 and 265,000 net acres; its partner in the project is the government firm China United Coalbed Methane Corp. Ltd. Estimated gas in place is 5.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), with 50% to 65% of that total expected to be recoverable. The independent has also received government approval of its farm-out agreement with ConocoPhillips for the Dragon project in Shanxi province in east-central China. The farm-out covers Shouyang Block, near Taiyuan City, and Qinnan Block near Jincheng and Qinshui. The blocks comprise more than a million acres and each is astride a major pipeline project. Estimates peg gas in place on the two Dragon blocks at between 13 to 19.5 Tcf, with an overall recovery of 50% of that resource. -Peggy Williams 1 Canada EnCana Corp. reports that its Weymouth wildcat offshore Nova Scotia is a dry hole. The Weymouth A-45 well was drilled in 5,250 ft. of water in Exploration License 2380 to a depth of 21,392 ft. It is the deepest well yet drilled in Atlantic Canada. Participants were EnCana, the operator, Shell and Ocean Rig. EnCana says it plans to drill another well at its Crimson prospect near the Annapolis deepwater discovery, later this year. Annapolis was discovered in 2002 on EL 2377 in 5,500 ft. of water. 2 Canada Alberta's May sale of 130,000 hectares of Crown oil and gas rights drew C$50.63 million in bonus bids. The high bid was C$2.12 million, offered by Canadian Coast Resources Ltd. for a 1,164-hectare license in the West Pembina area. Standard Land Co. Inc. also paid C$1.1 million for a 2,688-hectare license about 20 kilometers southeast. According to Nickle's Petroleum Explorer, the Alberta government has taken in C$400.21 million on the sale of 1.14 million hectares of land so far in 2004, 65% more than the money it received last year at this time for a similar amount of land. 3 Canada This year, Canadian junior Result Energy Inc. plans to spend about C$2 million exploring its 30,000-acre Worsley project in the North Peace River Arch area, about 100 kilometers north of Grand Prairie, Alberta. The Calgary-based firm plans to drill up to seven gross wells at Worsley, and to acquire 3-D seismic. The area offers multiple targets, is still underexplored, especially in the deeper horizons, and has existing infrastructure with excess capacity. 4 Canada Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. is developing a shallow gas play in the Fort St. John area of British Columbia. The Calgary-based firm is prospecting in the Notikewin formation, where it has up to 450 potential drilling locations. A C$150,000-well can produce at rates of up to 750,000 cubic feet per day, said the company. 5 Trinidad & Tobago Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee Corp. has been awarded Block 3(b) offshore Trinidad in the Angostura trend. The 160,000-acre license is in water depths between 130 and 3,000 ft. The company will own a 75% interest and CL Financial Ltd. will have the remaining 25%. The partners plan to acquire and evaluate 3-D seismic on the license. In separate activity, Canadian Superior Energy Inc., Calgary, was awarded Block 5(c), an 80,000-acre continental shelf block in water depths greater than 500 ft. The block offsets Dolphin Field, operated by BG Group. In addition, Canadian Superior also has a joint-venture project offshore the east coast with Petrotrin. There, the partners have 55,000 nearshore acres in the Mayaro Bay/Guayaguayare area. 6 Colombia The Tayrona block, offshore Colombia's Caribbean coast, will be explored by Petrobras, ExxonMobil and Ecopetrol. The 11-million-acre block will be operated by Petrobras during the exploration phase and by ExxonMobil during the development phase, if discoveries are made. Water depths range up to 5,000 feet. Ecopetrol says that it has been 20 years since a well was drilled in the area, which stretches from Cartagena to north of La Guajira. 7 Brazil BG Group has acquired a 100% interest Block BM-S-13 in the deepwater Santos Basin from El Paso Corp. for $23.4 million. The block, thought to be gas prone, lies on trend with Petrobras' 2003 giant Mexilhao gas discovery in Block BS-400. BG already holds interests in the Petrobras-operated BM-S-9, BM-S-10 and BM-S-11 exploration blocks. 8 U.K. Paladin Resources Plc, London, says its 22/17-2 well is a significant extension of Montrose Field, on Block 22/17 in the U.K. sector of the North Sea. The well encountered 400 ft. of Forties sandstone, and the company says the well appears to be in pressure communication with the nearest Montrose well some 1.8 kilometers south. Additionally, the oil/water contact at the new well is the deepest yet seen in the field. Paladin purchased both BP and Amerada Hess' interest in Montrose, Arbroath and Arkwright fields, and assumed operations in May 2003. Montrose began production in 1976, and at the time of the purchase was making 1,500 bbl. of oil per day. Paladin now plans to install a modular drilling rig on the Montrose platform and begin a multi-well infill and stepout drilling program. Its partner in the block is Energy North Sea Ltd. 9 The Netherlands Wintershall plans to begin a development program on F16-E Field offshore the Netherlands. Wintershall, the operator, will drill five production wells and install a platform and pipeline. First gas is expected in January 2006 at rates of 150 million cu. ft. per day. Proved and probable reserves for the field, originally discovered in 2001, are estimated at 450 billion cu. ft. of gas. Partners in the project are EBN, Gaz de France, Clam, Goal Petroleum and Dana Petroleum. 10 Morocco Vanco Energy, Houston, has spudded the first deepwater well offshore Morocco. The Shark B-1 is on the Ras Tafelney license in 2,100 meters of water. In addition to Vanco, interests are owned Eni, CNOOC and Onarep. Meanwhile, Norsk Hydro has taken a contract for the Northwest Safi block. The company signed a year-long investigation contract, which gives it the right to study seismic data before committing to a full exploration program. The 6,542-square-kilometer block is in water ranging from 300 to 3,000 meters deep. 11 Sao Tome & Principe ChevronTexaco has won a highly desirable block in the Joint Development Zone between Sao Tome and Nigeria. The U.S. firm was awarded operatorship and a 51% interest in Block 1; ExxonMobil was awarded a 40% interest; and Norwegian firm Equity Energy Resources took the remaining 9%. Last year, ChevronTexaco bid $120 million for the right to explore the block. 12 Malaysia A production-sharing contract has been signed by Talisman Energy Inc. for offshore Block PM-314, adjacent to the PM-305 Block on which the Calgary-based company discovered South Angsi Field. The new concession covers 2.3-million acres in water depths between 30 and 70 meters, 70 kilometers off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. During the five-year exploration term for Block PM-314, Talisman will acquire 3-D seismic data and drill four wells. Interests in the block are held 60% by Talisman, the operator, and 40% by Petronas Carigali. Last year, Talisman drilled seven successful wildcats in the Malay Basin. 13 Malaysia Murphy Oil's latest appraisal well on its Kikeh discovery offshore Sabah has confirmed the downdip limits of the accumulation and also encountered some deeper oil pays. The Kikeh-7 well was drilled and sidetracked on Block K in 4,217 ft. of water to a total depth of 14,899 ft. It encountered the oil/water contact in all of the main pay sands. The El Dorado, Ark.-based company has sanctioned the Kikeh Field development plan, which the government is currently reviewing. Recoverable reserves are estimated in the range of 400- to 700 million bbl. of oil equivalent. The Kikeh-7 is the deepest well yet drilled in the deepwater basin. 14 Australia BHP Billiton has made an apparent discovery at its Eskdale-2 wildcat, drilled about two kilometers southwest of the noncommercial Eskdale-1 in permit WA-225-P offshore Western Australia. Partner Woodside Petroleum reports that wireline log data from the Eskdale-2 indicates a 24-meter gas column and 13-meter oil column with no oil/water contact encountered. The well was drilled in 824 meters of water to a total depth of 2,942 meters.