Dallas-based Toreador Resources has identified six gas prospects in the Turkish sector of the western Black Sea, where it holds a 49% interest in eight permits. Per-prospect reserve potential ranges from 200 billion to 1 trillion cubic feet. TPAO, the Turkish national oil company, holds the remaining interest in the Toreador-operated licenses. The partners expect to begin a two-well drilling program early next year. In addition, Toreador plans to shoot a 3-D seismic survey in the Cendere Field in central Turkey. It acquired a 19.6% working interest in the field from BP in 2001. Toreador also plans to reenter a well in the Sinop area in the northern part of the country, and to drill three shallow exploration wells on the Gallipoli peninsula in the Thrace Basin gas play. In separate activity in the Thrace Basin, Australian firm Amity Oil is reporting a commercial discovery. The company's Adatepe #1, drilled at a location some six kilometers southeast of Gocerler Field and about 140 kilometers west of Istanbul, encountered five gas-bearing intervals totaling 51.3 meters of gross pay in the Danismen formation. At press time, the well was drilling at 1,558 meters in the deeper Osmancik formation, a secondary objective. Projected total depth is 1,700 meters. The Adatepe #1 is in the Thrace Joint Venture Area A, a project held equally by Amity and TPAO. -Peggy Williams 1 Canada Oiltec Resources Ltd. has signed an agreement with Contact Exploration Inc. to explore the 515,960-acre Windsor block in onshore Nova Scotia. Oiltec will drill a 1,500-meter well in the third quarter of this year, targeting a seismically defined Windsor reef anomaly. Meanwhile, on neighboring Prince Edward Island, Rally Energy Corp. reports that its first well on its 708,000-acre permit has been drilled and abandoned. The 1,600-meter Irishtown #2 encountered noncommercial quantities of natural gas. The company now plans to drill the Seaview #1 on the same permit. All three firms are based in Calgary. 2 Canada ChevronTexaco Corp. says its North Langley #K-30, drilled in the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Delta, is a commercial gas discovery. The well, on Exploration License 394, some seven miles from Niglintgak Field, was tested at a restricted flow rate of 18 million cu. ft. of gas per day from the Tertiary. ChevronTexaco operates the license; its partners are BP and Burlington Resources. 3 Brazil Petrobras has made a deepwater oil discovery in the Campos Basin, on permit BC-060. The #1-ESS-121, in 1,330 meters of water offshore Espirito Santo state, encountered 105 meters of net oil column. The find, close to Cacholote and Jubarte fields, is estimated to contain 600 million bbl. of reserves. Additionally, the Brazilian state firm reports a gas discovery in the offshore Santos Basin, some 85 miles off the coast of Sao Paulo state. The discovery well flowed at the rate of more than 100 million cu. ft. per day. Petrobras says the new field contains reserves of 2.4 trillion cu. ft. of gas. 4 United Kingdom BP has received government approval to develop Rhum Field, a gas accumulation in the U.K. sector of the North Sea. The high-pressure, high-temperature field was discovered in 1977, but the technology needed to produce it was not developed until recently. The $575-million project is estimated to contain 800 billion cu. ft. of gas. First production is set for 2005. National Iranian Oil Co. is a partner in Rhum. 5 Norway Marathon Oil Corp. has drilled a successful well on the Norwegian continental shelf, about 140 miles west of Stavanger. The Boa 24/6-4, drilled in 400 ft. of water on PL 088BS, is in the Heimdal area. The new well lies about 4.5 miles northwest of Marathon's recently announced Kneler discovery. The 7,531-ft. Boa well encountered an 82-ft. gross oil column and a 92-ft. gross gas column. Marathon operates PL 088BS and owns a 50% interest; Total owns the remaining 50%, but is in the process of selling its interest to Marathon, ConocoPhillips and DNO. Next, Marathon and its partners plan to drill the Gekko prospect in nearby PL 203. 6 Denmark Densk Olie Og Naturgas has made an oil discovery on Licence 6/95 in the Danish sector of the North Sea. The Sofie #1 (5605/13-3), drilled some 20 kilometers northeast of Siri Field, encountered oil in Paleogene sandstones. The well was logged and cored but not tested. DONG operates the license and holds a 50% interest, Paladin Oil Denmark holds 30%, and Denerco holds the remaining 20%. 7 Poland Reports are that PGNiG, the Polish oil and gas company, has made a large discovery in western Poland. The fields could contain in-place oil between 750 million and 1 billion bbl., of which 20% to 50% could be recovered. PGNiG says that the discovery will allow it to dramatically increase its production levels. 8 Cote d'Ivoire Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has made a discovery on its offshore Acajou South prospect. The Acajou #1x, drilled on License CI-26, reached a total depth of 8,027 ft. in 3,050 ft. of water. It encountered 250 ft. of gross oil column. A test in the top of that interval flowed at the rate of 3,500 bbl. of oil per day. CNRL operates the block and holds a 66% interest; Tullow Oil International Ltd. owns 24%; and Petroci Exploration Production SA has 10%. 9 Angola Offshore Block 32 has yielded a deepwater discovery for an international consortium headed by Total. The Gindungo #1, drilled in 1,445 meters of water, tested two separate zones at rates of 7,400 and 5,700 bbl. of oil per day. The new find is about 65 kilometers from Block 17's Girassol Field. Total operates the project and owns a 30% interest; Marathon Oil Corp. also has 30%; Sonangol has 20%; ExxonMobil Corp. owns 15%; and Petrogal, 5%. 10 Qatar ExxonMobil Corp. recently signed a $1.1-billion agreement with state-owned Qatar Petroleum to develop the first phase of the al-Kahleej gas project, or AKG-1. The project aims to produce 1.75 billion cubic feet of gas per day from North Field, and is expected to come onstream in late 2005. 11 Yemen Tulsa-based Vintage Petroleum Inc. continues to enjoy success on its drilling program in the Sab'atayn Basin. The An Nagyah #4, the second successful appraisal well to Vintage's An Nagyah #2 discovery, was drilled to a depth of 5,074 ft. and tested light oil at the rate of 1,320 bbl. per day from the subsalt Upper Lam formation between 3,385-3,493 ft. The well, which encountered 115 gross ft. of gas pay and 191 gross ft. of oil pay, also flowed 800,000 cu. ft. of gas on the test. Vintage operates the S-1 Damis block, an 850,000-acre license containing the An Nagyah structure, and holds a 75% interest. Calgary-based TransGlobe Energy Corp. holds the remaining 25% interest. 12 Thailand Seven blocks, both onshore and offshore, have been awarded by the government in a recent licensing round. Onshore, Shell and PTT Exploration & Production will explore Block L22/43, and CNPC Ltd. was awarded Block L21/43. Local firm Pacific Tiger Energy won blocks L44/43 and L33/43. SVS Energy Resources Ltd. took Block L71/43. In the Gulf of Thailand, ChevronTexaco will operate Block G4/43, and NuCoastal Corp. won Block G5/43. 13 Malaysia Talisman Energy Inc., Calgary, has discovered oil in offshore Block PM-305 in the Malay Basin. The South Angsi #1, drilled 10 kilometers south of Angsi Field in Block PM-305, found two productive intervals. The upper zone tested at the rate of 8,500 bbl. of oil per day from a 20-meter section of pay. The lower interval tested 2,800 bbl. of oil per day from 15 meters of net pay. The find contains some 25 million bbl. of oil. Talisman says it hopes to bring the field onstream in 2005 at rates of between 15,000 and 20,000 bbl. per day. Talisman operates and holds a 60% interest in Block PM-305, and Petronas Carigali holds the remaining 40% interest. 14 Papua New Guinea Oil Search Ltd. is assuming operatorship of Papua New Guinea's oil production licenses PDL 2 and PDL 4. This fall, ChevronTexaco will terminate its operations in the country, where it has been active for 20 years. Oil Search will be producing some 55,000 to 60,000 bbl. of oil per day from the Kutubu project, which includes Kutubu, Moran and Gobe fields in the Southern Highlands Province. In another facet of the changeover, ExxonMobil Corp. will now operate the PRL 2 retention license, which contains the Juha gas discovery, and the PRL 3 license, on which the P'nyang gas discovery is located. 15 Australia Woodside Petroleum reports that it has encountered a gross gas column of 25 meters in its Guilford #1, an exploration well it is drilling in the Carnarvon Basin in permit WA-269-P. The well lies approximately 70 kilometers northeast of Jansz Field, a giant gas accumulation.