Partners in a Sudanese block are preparing to step up exploration after a Comprehensive Peace Agreement is signed and the National Petroleum Commission formed, since the end of a 21-year civil war that left an estimated 2 million people dead. The northern part of the country, dominated by Muslims, was fighting the southern part, dominated by Christians and animists. Now that peace is tentatively established, the partners in Block 5B have approved a budget for field operations. Petronas operates Block 5B and holds a 39% interest; its partners are Lundin Petroleum, 24.5%; ONGC Videsh, 23.5%; and Sudapet, the national oil company, 13%. The 20,119-square-kilometer block is in the Muglad Basin, the main oil-producing region in Sudan. The partners plan to acquire 1,100 kilometers of 2-D seismic data in first-half 2006 and drill up to three wells in late 2006. So far, the companies have reprocessed and reinterpreted existing seismic data, and since the signing of the peace treaty, have conducted scouting trips to the block. Sudan's oil production has risen steadily since an export pipeline was put in service in July 1999. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, oil production averaged 343,000 barrels per day in 2004 and was expected to increase to 500,000 barrels per day in 2005. 1 Guatemala U.K. independent Taghmen Energy has swabbed oil at a rate of 100 bbl. per day on the first test of its Las Casas 3X well, Las Casas Field, License 6-93, in the Peten Basin. The 3X was drilled to 2,836 meters and encountered three pay zones, but only one interval has been perforated. The company will treat the well with acid and install a progressive-cavity pump for a long-term production test. Taghmen also plans to drill a sidetrack to its 1X well in the field early this year. Additionally, the company has acquired licenses 7-98 and 6-98 in Guatemala, and a new license in Belize. 2 Venezuela Venezuela has awarded 30-year licenses off its western Caribbean coastline under the second phase of the Rafael Urdaneta tender. The Vinccler Oil & Gas subsidiary of Canada's PetroFalcon paid $7.38 million for Castillete Noreste 2 block; Brazil's Petrobras, with Teikoku of Japan, purchased the Moruy 2 block for $19.5 million; and Italy's Eni and Spain's Repsol YPF bought the Cardon 4 block for $34.4 million, according to Business News Americas. The Urumaco 3 and Cardon 2 blocks received no offers. If the companies prove commercial reserves, PDVSA can back in for up to 35%. Chevron and Russia's Gazprom were awarded blocks in the first phase of licensing. The Rafael Urdaneta project consists of 29 blocks in the Gulf of Venezuela offshore northern Falcon state that contain estimated resources of 26 trillion cubic feet of gas. Petrobras says it plans to invest some $20 million in initial exploration on its block, immediately north of Lake Maracaibo. 3 Brazil Royal Dutch Shell has found more oil with its latest appraisal test on the BC-10 Block, in a cluster of discoveries near the Whale Park area of the Campos Basin. The company's 4-SHEL18-ESS was drilled in 1,544 meters of water. This is one of a series of wells designed to establish the commerciality of the block by the end of 2005. Contractors are already working out details for front-end engineering and design concepts for a 100,000-bbl.-per-day FPSO vessel for the block, according to Ogilvie's E&P Daily. Wells drilled to date have established heavy-oil reserves on the block at approximately 500 million bbl. of oil. 4 Norway Italy's ENI found oil and associated gas off the northern tip of Norway at its Goliat appraisal well in 7122/7. Pre-drill estimates, offered by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate after ENI drilled the discovery well, reached 50 million bbl. of oil, but the company plans further evaluation to get a more specific number. To date, Golait is the only oil discovery in the Barents Sea. Statoil and DNO are partners in the license. Farther south in the Norwegian Sea, Statoil has started producing from its $3.3-billion Kristin oil and condensate field. The Norwegian operator has installed four subsea templates tied to a floating platform. It planned 12 wells for the field, eight of which will be highly deviated high-temperature/high-pressure subsea completions. Kristin holds an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 240 million bbl. of condensate. 5 Mali Australian firm Baraka Petroleum is forging ahead with work in Mali. The company has completed reprocessing and interpreting data for its five blocks in the Taoudeni Basin in Mali (blocks 1 to 4 and 9). At Baraka's request, Mali authorities have extended Year Two of the Mali work programs from 12 to 18 months, following the completion of airborne surveys. That time will allow Baraka to drill shallow stratigraphic holes to confirm the source and reservoir quality and distribution at the end of 2006. 6 Cameroon Kosmos Energy has acquired interests in a block in Cameroon. The Dallas-based firm, which was set up to target acreage in West Africa, has taken a 35% working interest in the Kombe-N'sepe Block. France-based private firm Perenco operates the block, which covers 3,026 sq. kilometers near the coastal strip of the Douala Basin. Perenco has a 40% interest, and national oil company Societe Nationale des Hydrocarbures holds the remaining 25%. 7 Syria Syria ratified a production-sharing contract for Calgary-based Stratic Petroleum and the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. on 1.25-million-acre Block 17, south of Palmyra, Cheriffe and Abu Rabah gas fields. Stratic will retain a 35% working interest in the project and assign a 31.67% participating interest to Dual Exploration; Kufpec will hold 33.33%. The partners will spend $5.2 million during the initial exploration period for 625 kilometers of 2-D seismic data and one well. Two optional extensions of four and three years are included in the deal, with commitments for additional seismic and drilling within each extension. 8 Jordan Chandler, Arizona-based independent Sonoran Energy signed a production-sharing agreement with Jordan's Natural Resources Authority to explore and develop oil fields in the Azraq area, directly east of the capital, Amman. The deal is the first signed by Jordan in more than eight years. Sonoran will carry out exploration and development work over the approximately 11,250-sq.-kilometer area. It also will operate about 40 bbl. a day of existing production in Hamzah Field. The company has committed to spend $13 million during the initial period. 9 Turkey Dallas-based Toreador Resources Corp. received approval for its 2006 development plan and budget for the South Akcakoca Sub-basin gas project in the Black Sea north of Turkey. The plan calls for first commercial gas production in the second half of 2006. The company will drill at least six development wells on the Akkaya and Ayazli structures and will drill two wells, with an option for a third well, in the deeper waters of the Akcakoca structure area. To meet the production target, the company will contract a second jack-up rig for at least six months. Toreador has already started construction of a 17-kilometer pipeline to shore and a national gas pipeline grid. It and its partners also have property east of the sub-basin, and they plan up to three exploratory wells in that area on similar prospects. Turkish oil company TPAO will operate those wells. 10 Pakistan Government officials have given BHP Billiton approval to move forward with Phase 2 of the development of Zamzama Field in Sindh province. In the phase, BHP will spend $120 million to raise plant capacity 50% to 450 million cu. ft. per day, reports Ogilvie's E&P Daily. Zamzama is the fourth-largest field in Pakistan and contains an estimated 2.3 trillion cu. ft. of gas reserves. BHP's partners in the project are Premier Oil, Sui Southern Gas Co. and the Pakistani government. 11 China China's CNOOC Ltd. has drilled the JX1-1-2D wildcat in the Liaodong Bay area of northeastern Bohai Bay. Drillstem tests from the well flowed more than 1,000 bbl. of oil and 730,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from 32 meters of pay. The 10,312-ft. well has opened Jinxian (JX) 1-1 Field. Elsewhere in China, Daqing Oilfield Co. has discovered gas in formations below the oil-producing zones at supergiant Daqing Field in northeastern Heilongjiang province. The gas discovery has been named Qingshen Field and contains some 3.5 trillion cu. ft. in reserves, according to China Daily. 12 Malaysia Malaysia's state-owned Petronas has made a new gas discovery with its Kanowit-1 exploration well in Block SK306 offshore Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. The well lies 180 kilometers northwest of Bintulu in 80 meters of water. The 2,029-meter Kanowit-1 encountered a very significant gas accumulation in a Miocene limestone reservoir, Petronas reports. The well flowed at a total rate of 72 million cu. ft. of gas and 3,200 bbl. of condensate per day during two production tests. Between 5% and 10% of the gas was carbon dioxide. 13 Australia BHP Billiton and Woodside Energy have approved capex of around $600 million for the development of Stybarrow Field, offshore North West Cape, Western Australia. BHP operates the field and holds a 50% interest, while Woodside has the remaining 50%. Stybarrow is in 790 meters of water in permit WA-255-P(2), about 65 kilometers northwest of Exmouth. First oil is planned for early 2008 with a production capacity of around 80,000 bbl. per day. Crude oil will be produced through a subsea development and processed and stored in an FPSO vessel.