Repsol Finds Oil Offshore Gabon
Repsol and partner Woodside have discovered oil in the Ivela-1 exploration well in the Luna Muetse (E13) block offshore Gabon, according to Spectrum Geo.
The well intersected a 78-m (256-ft) gross oil column, a month after a Petronas discovery in presalt sands in the Boudji-1 well in the nearby Likuale (F14) block.
In a separate development, Spectrum and Shearwater GeoServices have signed an agreement concerning provision of Shearwater Reveal software to Spectrum’s seismic imaging division.
Reveal is said to facilitate rapid testing of advanced workflows and parameter selection, which improves productivity. The programming interface will allow Spectrum to insert its own proprietary technologies into the same environment for seamless workflows.
2---More Oil Proven Offshore Thailand
Tap Oil has issued an update on development drilling at the Mubadala Petroleum-operated Manora oil field in the northern Gulf of Thailand (permit G1/48).
The MNA-21 well, drilled from the Manora platform, has reached TD of 2,164 m (7,100 ft) MDRT.
Petrophysical interpretation of well logs shows total net oil pay of 56 ft (17 m). The main objective 490-60 sand is developed in the updip location with 44 ft (13.4 m) net pay, and one additional sand at the 500 level encountered 12 ft (3.6 m) net pay.
The main objective of the well was to provide a northern up-dip production point in the 490-60 reservoir found in MNA-18.
Casing has been set and a suspension string will be run in hole pending well completion.
The rig has now skidded and spudded the MNA-20 development well. It will then undertake a program that will involve installing selective zone completions with electric submersible pumps for production.
3---Drilling Resumed in Western Australia
Quadrant Energy has spudded the Phoenix South-3 appraisal well offshore Western Australia.
According to partner Carnarvon Petroleum, the rig has completed the ‘ready to operate’ process and has finished drilling the 42-in. hole in preparation for running surface casing.
The 42-in. surface hole was drilled to around 240 m (787 ft) ahead of setting the 36-in. conductor, slightly deeper than Phoenix South-2 in order to accommodate heavier casing strings.
Following setting of this conductor, the rig will drill the 26-in. hole, and then set and cement the 20-in. casing. Operations should take around 10 days to complete.
The main goal of Phoenix South-3 well is to assess gas and condensate potential in the Caley Member within a large, faulted anticlinal closure that was partly penetrated by Phoenix South-2.
Although the latter well encountered gas and condensate it was unable to drill through and evaluate this formation. Phoenix South-3 well has been designed to address this issue.
The location is around 560 m (1,837 ft) north-northeast of Phoenix South-2. The well will target a closure that could contain up to 489 bcf of gas and 57 MMbbl of associated condensate.
Carnarvon also expects to encounter sandstones within the Hove Member that may be hydrocarbon-bearing. Drilling to TD of 5,500 m (18,044 ft) MD should take around 90 days - Quadrant’s plan of staged drilling just above and through the Caley reservoir section will make progress here slower than through the other sections of the wellbore.
4---Guyana Makes 8th Oil Discovery
ExxonMobil and its partners have achieved an eighth deepwater oil discovery in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana.
The Longtail-1 exploration well, spudded by the drillship Stena Carron late last month in 6,365 ft (1,940 m) of water in the southeastern part of the block, penetrated around 256 ft (78 m) of good-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. It was drilled to a subsurface depth of 18,057 ft (5,504 m).
Longtail-1 is 5 mi (8 km) west of the Turbot-1 discovery well. ExxonMobil assesses combined gross recoverable resources at more than 500 MMboe. On completion of the well, the Stena Carron will drill Hammerhead-1, 9 mi (14.5 km) southwest of the Liza discovery.
ExxonMobil now plans to bring in another exploration vessel to operate in parallel to the Stena Carron on various prospects in the block.
Another drillship, the Noble Bob Douglas, is completing initial stages of development drilling for the Liza Phase 1 project. Development here will comprise 17 wells connected to an FPSO with capacity to produce up to 120,000 b/d of oil, with start-up anticipated in early 2020.
The Phase 2 concepts are similar to Phase 1 and involve a second FPSO with 220,000 b/d capacity. A third development on the Payara field is set to follow Liza Phase 2, lifting gross production from the block above 500,000 MMb/d by late 2023.
ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. is operator and holds 45% interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd. holds 25% interest.
5---Norway Needs Larger Hydrocarbon Finds
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD)’s newly issued 2018 Resource Report for Exploration says new and larger discoveries are needed to sustain production offshore Norway at current levels after the mid-2020s.
The report highlights the substantial remaining potential for oil and gas on the Norwegian shelf, both in mature and less explored areas.
Improved understanding of the areas, better data, new work methods and technology could all help deliver further profitable discoveries, the authors add, if the industry steps up exploration.
According to NPD exploration director Torgeir Stordal, the report shows that after more than 50 years of activity offshore Norway, around 55% of the anticipated oil and gas resources remain to be produced, while just under half have not yet been discovered.
The estimate for undiscovered resources is 4,000 MMcmoe: around two-thirds are likely to be found in the Barents Sea, with the remainder distributed between the North Sea and Norwegian Sea.
Stordal said the industry had shown considerable interest in Norway’s most recent licensing round, and that exploration was picking up after a few quieter years.
In recent years the discoveries have been smaller than before, and it has proven more difficult to find new oil and gas deposits. However, new technology has provided better data and better tools, and these have contributed to new insights and new exploration concepts, the report found.
“This development will continue. The combination of better geotechnical expertise and digital technology will probably become the key to identifying new resources in the years to come,” Stordal said.