Offshore Mauritania ended 2003 with some excellent drilling results. Woodside Petroleum reports that its West Tiof C-4-7, a stepout to its Tiof discovery, was drilled to a depth of 2,991 meters in offshore PSC Area B, Block 4. It encountered 122 meters of gross oil column, overlain by a four-meter gas column. The reservoirs appear to be in pressure communication with those found in the Tiof C-4-6, eight kilometers east and drilled earlier in 2003. It encountered 88 meters of hydrocarbon column in a Miocene channel system. The strong results from the West Tiof well could raise recoverable reserves for the Tiof accumulation to more than 200 million barrels of oil, says IHS Energy. Woodside's partners in PSC Area B are Agip, Hardman Resources Ltd., Fusion Mauritania B Ltd. and Roc Oil (Mauritania) Co. Agip recently agreed to sell its 35% interest to the other participants. In separate activity, U.K. independent Dana Petroleum reported success at its Pelican-1 wildcat, in Block 7 some 150 kilometers north of Chinguetti Field. The well, drilled in 1,700 meters of water to a total depth of 3,825 meters, encountered 300 meters of gross hydrocarbon column-mainly gas-bearing-in Tertiary sediments. The Pelican-1 is the first well to be drilled in Block 7, which covers 13,469 square kilometers. Dana operates Block 7; its partners are GlobalSantaFe, Roc Oil (Mauritania) Co. and Hardman Resources Ltd. 1 Canada Chevron Canada Resources, Imperial Oil Resources and ExxonMobil Canada have been jointly awarded exploration rights on eight deepwater parcels covering 5 million acres in the Orphan Basin by the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board. The companies proposed to spend C$673 million exploring the blocks, which are in water 2,000 to 3,000 meters. Chevron will own a 50% interest in the blocks, and Imperial and ExxonMobil will each hold 25%. Operatorship for each block has not yet been announced. The Orphan Basin is a frontier area north of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin, where all of Newfoundland's production is currently. 2 Canada EnCana Corp. is working on a new plan for its Deep Panuke Field development offshore Nova Scotia. The company recently drilled two exploration wells near the field. The Margaree well, seven kilometers northeast of Deep Panuke on Exploration License 2378, encountered 70 meters of gas-bearing pay in the Abenaki carbonates and flowed at a rate of more than 53 million cu. ft. of gas per day. The MarCoh well, four kilometers farther northeast on Production License 2901, encountered 100 meters of gas-bearing reservoir. It was not flow-tested. EnCana owns a 100% interest in the Margaree well and a 24.5% interest in the MarCoh well. Its partners in the latter project are ExxonMobil, with 51%, and Shell Canada, with 24.5%. 3 U.K. ExxonMobil Corp. has made a gas discovery in Block 53/2 in the southern sector of the North Sea five miles southeast of Camelot Field and about 32 miles east of Bacton, England. The well encountered gas in the Rotliegendes reservoir and tested at 65 million cu. ft. per day on an 80/64-inch choke. ExxonMobil operates the discovery and has a 70% interest, and EOG Resources Inc. holds the remaining 30%. Additionally, ExxonMobil participated in the production of first gas from Carrack Field. The Shell-operated field is also in the southern North Sea, close to U.K.-Netherlands border. Carrack is estimated to contain 300 billion cu. ft. of gas. ExxonMobil has a 48% interest in the project and Shell holds 52%. 4 U.K. EnCana and its partners have gotten the go-ahead from the U.K. government to begin development of Buzzard Field in the Moray Firth, 55 kilometers off the coast of Scotland. Buzzard, located on licenses P928 and P986, was discovered in 2001 on Block 20/6. It could eventually produce more than 400 million bbl. of oil, with an anticipated plateau rate of 180,000 to 190,000 bbl. per day. Three platforms are planned, hosting 27 production wells and 16 injection wells. First oil is expected in late 2006. Buzzard is operated by EnCana; its partners are Intrepid Energy North Sea Ltd., BG Group and Edinburgh Oil & Gas Plc. 5 The Netherlands NAM has made a gas discovery in the Dutch sector of the North Sea in Block K15, some 65 kilometers northwest of Den Helder. The exploration well, which was drilled from the K15-FG platform, encountered a reservoir in the Rotliegendes sandstone at a depth of approximately 4,000 meters. It is expected to produce at a rate of more than 70 million cu. ft. of gas per day. NAM operates the K15 license; its partners are Energie Beheer Nederland BV, Clam Petroleum BV, Wintershall Noordzee BV and Oranje-Nassau Energie BV. The block contains five gas-producing fields; the first came into production in 1979. 6 Hungary Pogo Producing Co. scored a notable hit with its third well in its Hungary exploration program. The 7,372-ft. Szolnok-2 encountered a gross pay column of more than 200 ft. and was flow-tested at the rate of 14.2 million cu. ft. of gas and 150 bbl. of condensate per day. Flowing tubing pressure was 3,326 psi. Pogo reports that the well tested a structural feature covering about 1,100 acres. The company previously drilled the Szolnok-1 and the Tompa-1 wells in its program; it did run casing on each of these tests. Pogo operates the 782,000-acre Szolnok/Tompa license and holds a 100% working interest. 7 Egypt Shell and its partners Petronas Carigali and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. have made a deepwater discovery in the Mediterranean Sea. The KG45-1 well was drilled to a depth of 3,613 meters in the Northeast Mediterranean deepwater concession. No flow rates were released, but the partners are preparing to drill a second well at a site some 25 kilometers to the northeast. The concession covers 41,500 square miles. 8 Angola Sonangol and Total have begun producing oil from Jasmim Field in offshore Block 17. Jasmim is one of 15 fields found to date on Block 17 and the second to be brought onstream. It is in 1,400 meters of water, and has eight subsea wells tied back five kilometers to Girassol Field's FPSO. The addition of Jasmim will boost production at the FPSO to more than 230,000 bbl. of oil per day. Sonangol is the Block 17 concessionaire; Total operates the block and has a 40% participatory interest, ExxonMobil has 20%, BP holds 16.67%, Statoil has 13.33% and Norsk Hydro, 10%. In separate activity on offshore Block 16, Canadian Natural Resources reports its Zenza-1 has been abandoned. The well was drilled in 1,300 meters of water to a total depth of 3,998 meters. CNRL had a 50% interest in the project; its partners were Sonangol, with a 20% working interest, and Odebrecht Oil & Gas Angola Ltd., with 30%. A second well is planned on the block in late 2004 or early 2005. 9 China Far East Energy Corp., Houston, has reached total depth on its first exploratory well in its coalbed-methane project in Laochang Block, Yunnan province. The FCY-LC01 was drilled to 2,722 ft., and preliminary test results are excellent, the company reports. A total of 15 mineable coal seams were encountered with a total thickness of 97 ft. The company plans to begin drilling two additional wells shortly. Far East has a 60% working interest in the Enhong-Laochang production-sharing contract. The remaining 40% is owned by China United Coalbed Methane Corp. Ltd. 10 China CNOOC Ltd. has made two discoveries in the western portion of the South China Sea. The Weizhou 11-1N-1 was drilled on the WZ 11-1N structure, in the vicinity of existing Weizhou fields. It encountered approximately 164 ft. of oil pay. The Songtao 24-1-1 wildcat was drilled on the ST 24-1 structure. It also encountered oil and gas shows. CNOOC holds 100% interests in both discoveries. 11 Vietnam Talisman Energy Inc. says that its first well on offshore Block 46/02 is successful. The Song Doc-1X flowed at a rate of 7,300 bbl. of oil per day, but the company notes that the rate was constrained by testing equipment. Talisman holds a 30% interest in the project; PetroVietnam holds 40%; and Petronas Carigali holds 30%. Block 46/02 is adjacent to Talisman-operated Block PM-3 of the Malaysia-Vietnam commercial arrangement area, and the Song Doc discovery is 13 kilometers northwest of the PM-3 CAA Bunga Kekwa C platform. 12 Malaysia A joint venture of Shell and Petronas reports a major discovery offshore Peninsular Malaysia. The Bunga Kamelia-1 was drilled to a depth of 2,070 meters in Block PM 302, some 30 kilometers east of Bergading Field. It encountered two gas-bearing intervals with estimated recoverable reserves of 200 billion cu. ft. 13 Indonesia CNOOC Ltd. reports that it participated in three discoveries in the West Madura production-sharing contract, offshore East Java. Well KE 38-1 encountered 54.5 ft. of oil pay and 642.5 ft. of gas pay in the Kujung I carbonate. On a drillstem test, it flowed at the rate of 935 bbl. of oil and 340,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. Wells KE 54-1 and KE 32-1 also contained substantial oil and gas pays in the Kujung I carbonate, CNOOC reports. It holds a 25% interest in the West Madura PSC, which is operated by Kodeco Energy Co. Ltd.