ExxonMobil Corp. has made another oil discovery on deepwater Block 15, its thirteenth find on the prolific concession offshore Angola. The Reco Reco-1, drilled in 4,718 feet of water to a total depth of 12,460 feet, encountered an oil-bearing reservoir that tested at a rate of 2,640 barrels per day. In August 2001, ExxonMobil began construction of the $3-billion Kizomba A project on Block 15. Four discoveries announced in 1998-Hungo, Chocalho, Kissanje and Dikanza-make up the field complex, which contains recoverable reserves in the range of 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Kizomba A will be developed using both a surface wellhead platform and subsea completions tied into a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The A project is expected to produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day beginning in 2004. In June 2002, the company also started construction of the nearby Xikomba development, which will consist of nine subsea wells tied into an FPSO. Xikomba will produce 80,000 barrels per day beginning in late 2003, eventually recovering some 100 million barrels of oil. ExxonMobil operates and owns a 40% interest in Block 15; BP owns 26.67%; Agip, 20%; and Statoil, 13.33%. Sonangol is the concessionaire. 1 Canada A drilling spree is under way in the Lacadena-Abbey region, an area of southwestern Saskatchewan that previously was lightly explored, reports Calgary-based consulting firm Canadian Discovery Ltd. More than 80 exploratory wells were licensed and drilled in the third quarter, following a very active second quarter, which saw some 60 exploratory wells drilled in the area. The wells are targeting shallow gas reservoirs of the Upper Cretaceous Milk River formation at about 1,000 ft. The Milk River is a major gas producer at nearby Milk River Field in southeastern Alberta. Husky Energy and Profico Energy are the major players in this region; Cavell Energy recently joined the hunt and Devon Canada is active as well. The Saskatchewan provincial government recently estimated the shallow gas reserves in the Lacadena region at approximately 500 billion cu. ft. Currently, none of the wells are onstream, as operators are busy building the necessary infrastructure. Production from the first wells is expected to commence shortly. 2 Canada Coalbed methane took a major step forward in Canada with the announcement that the country's first commercial CBM development is about to get under way in southeastern Alberta. EnCana Corp. and Quicksilver Resources are launching development drilling on their CBM joint venture in the West Palliser Block. The move comes after the completion and testing of 100 exploration and pilot wells drilled on the block since 2000. The partners will drill and complete 50 new wells by year-end, and the remainder of the initial development program will be completed in 2003. Follow-up development is also planned for later in 2003. Proved reserves are not yet booked but are anticipated to be 1- to 2 billion cu. ft. of gas per section. Low water-production rates, together with an established infrastructure, will allow the production to be brought to market quickly. 3 Canada Calgary junior Gentry Resources has reported success with its Mississippian Pekisko oil play at Princess in southeastern Alberta. The company has two new pool discoveries (2-17-19-12W4 and 11-22-19-12W4) drilled in late summer already tied in and producing at a restricted rate of 125 bbl. of oil per day, says Canadian Discovery. The pools were identified on a large 3-D seismic survey. The company drilled two additional exploratory successes at Princess; those wells are standing cased and awaiting completion. Several more wells, including development drilling on the new pools, are planned prior to year-end. Gentry will also launch an aggressive winter drilling program to test six exploration prospects. 4 Canada Canadian Superior Energy announced the start of a high-impact exploration program in northeastern British Columbia. The Calgary company's planned drilling program targets Foothills gas prospects in Devonian, Mississippian, Triassic and Cretaceous intervals. Among the most promising is in the Umbach/Ladyfern area, where the company is seeking Ladyfern-style hydrothermally dolomitized reservoirs in Devonian Slave Point reefs. Reserves of 10- to 50 billion cu. ft. per section are a distinct possibility. Other operators, such as Canadian Natural Resources at Buick Creek Field, have recently been successfully extending the Ladyfern play fairway to the west and southwest of the Ladyfern/Drake area. CSE will also evaluate multizone potential in Mississippian, Triassic and Cretaceous intervals in an overthrust play at Altares. The company's interests are adjacent to two major discoveries by Anadarko. CSE also has a fractured carbonate-sandstone play in the Mississippian Kiskatinaw Formation at Parkland. 5 Mexico Pemex announced that it will invest $4.3 billion during the next eight years in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap project in Campeche Sound. The company plans to drill 82 new wells, construct 17 offshore platforms and install pipelines to increase heavy-oil production to 800,000 bbl. per day, from present levels of 263,000 bbl. per day. 6 Ecuador Tulsa independent Vintage Petroleum says its Hormiguero-4, on Block 17 in the Oriente Basin, was successfully drilled and tested in the Lower Napo U formation. The well is estimated to be capable of producing 10,000 bbl. of oil per day. The 11,980-ft. well has a horizontal section of approximately 1,400 ft.; the producing horizon within the Napo U sand has a vertical net pay of 42 ft. Vintage operates the well and owns a 70% working interest. The company is currently drilling another well, the Hormiguero-5 7 Brazil The Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP) reports that half of the 12 blocks awarded in the country's first licensing round, held in 1999, have been relinquished. During the next three years, companies that retained the first-round concessions, such as Agip, BP and ChevronTexaco, are slated to drill at least 12 wells in their respective blocks. 8 Greenland The governments of Greenland and Denmark awarded a 10-year exploration and exploitation license to EnCana Corp. and state oil company Nunaoil. The offshore block is in the Nuuk Basin, in the Davis Strait. Water depths vary from 500 to 1,000 meters in the western part and 100 to 500 meters in the eastern part of the license. No wells have been drilled in the license area. 9 United Kingdom Hawksley Field, in the southern part of the U.K. North Sea, has begun production. The field contains 430 billion cu. ft. of gas in five reservoirs; operator ConocoPhillips is flowing gas at the rate of 170 million cu. ft. per day. Hawksley, along with McAdam, Murdoch K, Watt and Boulton H fields, is in the Caister Murdoch System III project, which spans blocks 44/21 and 44/22. ConocoPhillips holds 59.5% of CM III; GDF Britain Ltd. holds 26.4%; and Tullow Exploration Ltd. holds 14.1%. In separate activity, Norwegian independent DNO has acquired 99% interests in Thistle and Deveron fields, in Block 211/18 of the U.K. sector, from BP and ConocoPhillips. DNO will take over operatorship of the fields until decommissioning. 10 Kazakhstan TotalFinaElf announced that the Kalamkas-1 well, the first to be drilled in the Kalamkas structure in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, has been successfully tested. The well, which lies 80 kilometers southwest of Kashagan Field, was drilled to a total depth of 2,360 meters. It encountered several Jurassic reservoirs below 1,617 meters, and tested oil at the rate of 2,300 bbl. per day on a 32/64-in. choke. TotalFinaElf's partners in the North Caspian Sea production-sharing agreement are Agip (the operator), BG, ExxonMobil, Inpex, ConocoPhillips and Shell. 11 Malaysia Murphy Oil has discovered an oil field on Block SK 309, offshore Sarawak, Malaysia. The Congkak-1 was drilled in 136 ft. of water about three kilometers from the production platform for West Patricia Field, which is currently being developed. Murphy has an 85% interest in the block and Petronas Carigali holds the remaining 15%. The company also reports that its Kikeh-2 appraisal well, in the southern part of Block K, offshore Sabah Malaysia, was successful. The appraisal, drilled in 4,400 ft. of water a mile from the discovery well, encountered more than 400 ft. of net pay in five oil reservoirs. The company will now drill the Kikeh-3 almost two miles from the Kikeh-2. Murphy operates both Block K and adjoining Block H and owns an 80% interest in each; Petronas Carigali holds the remaining 20% interests. 12 Australia The Harriet Joint Venture, operated by Apache Corp., Houston, has made a discovery and placed a field on production in the Carnarvon Basin off Western Australia. The Endymion-1 was drilled in Block TL/1 to a total measured depth of 11,697 ft. (true vertical depth 6,952 ft.) It encountered a 46-ft. gas column in the Flag Sandstone. Meanwhile, the company brought the South Simpson-1, also a Flag Sandstone producer, online at the rate of 5,000 bbl. of oil per day. Apache has been using amplitude-versus-offset seismic techniques to find the small, high-flow-rate Flag accumulations in the Harriet area. Apache's partners in the joint venture are Kufpec and Tap Oil. 13 Australia Woodside Petroleum Ltd. says its Enfield-5 appraisal well, drilled to a total depth of 2,150 meters in the Exmouth Subbasin on license WA-271-P, offshore Western Australia, encountered a 64.5-meter oil and gas column in the Macedon sandstone. Woodside holds a 100% interest in permit WA-271-P. In addition to Enfield, the permit contains the Laverda and Vincent oil fields; recoverable reserves are estimated at 300 million bbl. First oil is targeted for 2006.