Exploration in New Zealand's Taranaki Basin is hopping, and U.S. firms are in the thick of the action. Houston independent Swift Energy Co. has drilled the fifth successful well on its Rimu-A project, located on its 100,652-acre block on the western coast of North Island. Its latest test, the Rimu-A3, logged pay in both the Upper Tariki and Upper Rimu reservoirs. Swift has run pipe and is waiting on a completion rig for the well. All five of the wells drilled so far on the Rimu-A project have encountered multiple hydrocarbon reservoirs, says the company. Swift operates the venture and holds a 90% interest; its partners are Calgary-based Antrim Energy Inc. and Brisbane-based Bligh Oil & Minerals Ltd., each with a 5% interest. Additionally, Swift is drilling ahead at a 4,500-meter wildcat, the Kauri-A1, in the offshore portion of its block. Also active in the basin is Texas-based firm Discovery Geo Corp. The company is reentering its Warea-1, on a license near Cape Egmont, to a depth of 4,200 meters. In separate activity, an exploration license has been granted to Denver-based Resource Development Technology LLC for coalbed methane exploration in north Taranaki. The permit, covering about 2,200 square kilometers, lies between Taumaranui and the coast and covers the Taranaki coal fields area. -Peggy Williams 1 Canada Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reports a successful Devonian-aged Slave Point gas discovery in the Ladyfern area of northeastern British Columbia. Capable of delivering 70 million cu. ft. of gas per day, the c-82-G/94-H-1 well was slated to come on-stream in mid-June at a rate of 50 million cu. ft. per day. Consulting firm Canadian Discovery Ltd. notes that CNRL also has a 9,850-ft. gas completion at a-57-G/94-H-1, a step-out three miles southwest of the c-82-G/94-H-1 discovery. This test, although not yet formally announced, may significantly extend the play. The operator plans five additional locations in the coming months based on extensive 2-D and 3-D seismic interpretations. 2 Canada Drilling activity in the Steen area, in the far northern reaches of Alberta, took off this past winter. The targets were Devonian-aged Slave Point and Sulphur Point gas reserves at relatively shallow depths of approximately 3,300 ft., reports Canadian Discovery. One of the players, Gulf Canada Resources, Calgary, announced five successes out of 12 wells drilled. Prior to spring break-up, the company was able to tie-in three of the finds, along with one from the 1999-2000 winter program, for a combined initial rate of 10 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Gulf also shot 1,600 kilometers of seismic to delineate winter 2001-2002 drilling locations and for further land acquisitions. Other operators in the extreme north of the province are Bearspaw Petroleum, Paramount Resources and PanCanadian Petroleum, all of Calgary. 3 Canada St. John's, Newfoundland-based Canadian Imperial Venture Corp. has reentered the Port au Port #1 Garden Hill Field discovery well drilled in 1995 by Hunt Oil and PanCanadian Petroleum in western Newfoundland. Canadian Discovery reports that oil and gas flow rates during a 36-hour test were much better than Canadian Imperial had initially anticipated. The original well tested a maximum of 1,750 bbl. of 51-degree API gravity oil and 2.6 million cu. ft. of gas per day. A seismic program shot last summer increased estimated reserves for the field from 10- to 70 million bbl. of oil. 4 Trinidad and Tobago BP Ltd. says it has discovered a field containing 1 trillion cu. ft. of gas off the country's east coast. The Cashima-1, the first of four exploratory wells planned by BP in the area in 2001, was drilled to a total depth of 13,160 ft. in 263 ft. of water. It encountered 520 ft. of gas-bearing sand in four horizons. To date, 23 trillion cu. ft. of proven gas reserves and 12 trillion cu. ft. of probable gas reserves have been discovered in Trinidad and Tobago. 5 Venezuela Private-sector firms have found three oil fields containing 625 million bbl. of oil and a gas field holding 3.4 trillion cu. ft. on four of the eight exploration licenses awarded in 1996, says Petroleos de Venezuela. The largest discovery, estimated at 420 million bbl. of oil, was made by Conoco in the offshore Gulf of Paria East block. Small oil discoveries were also made in Gulf of Paria West, operated by Inelectra, and La Ceiba, operated by Exxon Mobil. The gas discovery was made by Perez Companc in its San Carlos block. Four exploration blocks have been or will be released back to Pdvsa-Punta Pescador, Delta Centro, Guanare and Guarapiche. In all, 16 wells have been drilled to date on the eight blocks. 6 North Sea Amerada Hess Corp. says an appraisal well it drilled in the York area of the Southern North Sea has confirmed probable gas reserves of up to 200 billion cu. ft. The well, drilled to evaluate a 1991 discovery, tested gas at a rate of 24.7 million cu. ft. per day. Hess and its partner CalEnergy Gas (UK) Ltd., an affiliate of Des Moines, Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., are now formulating development plans. 7 Bulgaria Aberdeen-based Ramco Energy Plc has agreed to farm into Anschutz Bulgaria Ltd.'s A-Lovech license area, in northwestern Bulgaria about 50 miles northeast of Sofia. Anschutz will operate and retain an 80% interest; Ramco will have 20%. Obligations for the license area include geological work, reprocessing of existing seismic, and acquisition of 100 kilometers of new seismic. Existing shallow production on the 4,744-square-kilometer license is excluded from the agreement. Ramco notes that the acreage is a thrust-belt play, and several deep structures have already been identified. 8 Gabon Pioneer Natural Resources Co., Dallas, has tested significant volumes of oil from its first exploratory well on its Bigorneau South prospect, offshore in the Southern Gabon Basin on its Olowi Permit. The Olowi Marin-1 well was initially drilled to a depth of 3,720 ft. and subsequently sidetracked 815 ft. to the north. The vertical well and sidetrack encountered a 75-ft.-thick oil column. Pioneer perforated the sidetrack between the 3,605-3,655 ft. (measured depth), and the well flowed at a rate of approximately 2,100 bbl. of oil per day on a 40/64-in. choke. Pioneer operates the 314,000-acre Olowi Permit and holds a 100% working interest. 9 Angola Exxon Mobil Corp. reports yet another oil discovery in Angola's offshore Block 15, its twelfth find in the prolific block. The Mavacola-1, drilled in 3,790 ft. of water to a depth of 9,060 ft., encountered an oil-bearing reservoir that flowed at a rate of 3,280 bbl. per day. The find follows the recently announced Vicango-1, drilled in 3,199 ft. of water to a total depth of 6,890 ft. Exxon Mobil operates the block with a 40% stake; BP Plc has 26.67%; Agip holds 20%; and Norway's Statoil, 13.33%. 10 Kazakhstan The OKIOC international consortium confirms that it has made a second discovery on Kashagan Field. The Kashagan West-1 flowed at a rate of up to 3,400 bbl. of 42- to 45-degree API gravity oil and 7.6 million cu. ft. of gas per day. Also, drilling has begun at a third location. The Kashagan East-2 appraisal well is about 8 kilometers north of the Kashagan East-1, the initial discovery well. Eni operates the project; partners are BG, BP, Exxon Mobil, Inpex, Phillips Petroleum, Shell, Statoil and TotalFinaElf. In separate activity, Chevron now estimates oil reserves in western Kazakhstan's Tengiz Field at about 368 million bbl., which is more than double the previous estimates. Tengiz, operated by Chevron for a consortium consisting of it, Exxon Mobil, Kazakhoil and LukArco, produced about 1.4 million bbl. of oil last year. 11 Malaysia Lundin Oil AB reports it has made an oil discovery on Block PM-3 CAA, offshore Malaysia/ Vietnam. The East Bunga Raya #1 encountered 168 net ft. of oil pay in zones and 328 net ft. of gas pay in two reservoirs. The main oil zone was production-tested and flowed at a maximum rate of 5,500 bbl. of oil per day Lundin holds a 41.44% interest in the PM-3 CAA and operates; Petronas Carigali holds 46.06%; and PetroVietnam, 12.5%. 12 Indonesia Exxon Mobil Corp. has made an onshore oil discovery in East Java in the Cepu technical assistance contract. The Banyu Urip #3 well has found recoverable reserves in excess of 250 million bbl. of oil. Exxon will produce sour, 32-degree crude oil from Banyu Urip Field, the first significant volumes of sour crude from Indonesia. The company plans to begin producing at a rate of 25,000 bbl. a day in 2003, ramping up to 100,000 bbl. per day by 2004. 13 Australia Apache Corp., Houston, says that the initial production well at Legendre Field in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia, is flowing approximately 25,000 bbl. of oil per day. The field's production will reach approximately 40,000 bbl. per day in the third quarter as additional wells are brought on stream. Apache holds a 31.5% interest in Legendre, which is operated by Woodside Energy Ltd.