Lower Cretaceous reservoirs offshore France are the primary targets of a group of Canadian explorers. Vancouver-based Bordeaux Energy Inc. has farmed into a 30% interest on the Aquitaine Maritime exploration permit, approximately 30 kilometers offshore Bordeaux, France. Calgary-based Verenex Energy Inc. will retain a 22.5% interest in the permit and be carried for its share of drilling and testing costs for the first well on the permit. Vermilion Energy Trust, also based in Calgary and owner of 49% of Verenex, will operate the permit through its French subsidiary and hold the remaining 47.5% interest.

Vermilion expects to drill the first well during the third quarter. According to Verenex, 2-D and 3-D seismic interpretations yielded six structural prospects and leads with significant potential, ranging in size from eight to 30 square kilometers and featuring vertical closures ranging from 200 to 500 meters. The first well will test the Orca prospect; total estimated drilling and testing costs range between $25- and $30 million gross.

The permit lies in the northern portion of the offshore Aquitaine Basin, which is an extension of the onshore, oil-prone Parentis sub-basin, Tristone Capital reports. Water depths range from 50 to 200 meters, and distance to shore is between 20 and 80 kilometers. The license was previously held by Esso.





1 Canada

Calgary-based Source Petroleum Inc. reported that its first test well at Harmon Valley in Alberta's Peace River oil sands district-the HZ Peace River 1-29-83-19 W5M - encountered more than 20 meters of high-quality reservoir section saturated with heavy oil in the Blue Sky formation. Operator Cyries Energy Inc. produced some 17.5 bbl. of 8- to 9-degree oil via cold flow on a test, which was limited due to spring break up and poor road conditions. Source and its 50% joint-venture partner will use core information and a horizontal leg to assist in development of a plan for a possible primary and secondary oil recovery.



2 Canada

Calgary-based operator Husky Energy Inc. has received approval to increase production at White Rose Field, offshore Newfoundland. The company will raise production capacity at the field from 125,000 bbl. per day at present to 140,000 by mid-year. Additionally, Husky's application to tie-in production from South White Rose is currently under regulatory review, and applications to develop the newly discovered resources from West White Rose and North Amethyst fields are expected to be filed in 2008. This year, Husky plans an additional delineation well to further define the West White Rose resource.



3 Brazil

Brazil's Petrobras found light oil at its #4-ESS-172-ES in Block BC-60 in the Campos Basin, offshore Espirito Santo. It made the discovery under a thick layer of salt and in 1,011 meters of water. Tests showed the well, drilled to 4,862 meters, tapped a new reservoir in Caxareu Field and could produce 10,000 bbl. of oil per day from a reservoir with a potential for 570 million bbl. of oil in place. The field is 15 kilometers southeast of Jubarte Field.



4 Ireland

Irish firm Providence Resources continued its aggressive work offshore southern Ireland as it picked up Exploration License 3/07 over parts of blocks 48/29, 48/30 and 49/26 in the North Celtic Sea Basin. That license succeeds Licensing Option 03/1. Providence drilled the Blackrock oil discovery and completed a seismic survey under that option. In the same area, Providence plans to drill its Hook Head structure, a large mid-basin anticline that produced hydrocarbon shows in two previous wells. A 1971 well encountered 30 meters of hydrocarbons in five zones. An appraisal well drilled four years later helped delineate the anticline. Providence estimates prospective resources up to 70 million bbl. of oil or 250 billion cu. ft. of gas.



5 Egypt

Houston-based Apache Corp. has successfully appraised an oil discovery in Egypt. The Zaina-2 in the Western Desert tested 1,067 bbl. of oil per day from four meters of oil pay. Zaina Field is in the company's East Bahariya concession, which Apache operates with a 100% contractor interest. The field discovery well, Zaina-1, tested 1,165 bbl. per day in July 2005 from 17 meters of oil pay. The company plans to drill 39 development wells on the concession this year.



6 Nigeria

Total SA has drilled a pair of disappointing dusters in deepwater Nigeria. The first was the Oko-1 well on OPL 221, the first well on the block, which the French firm won in a closed bidding round in 2003. The block lies in water depths ranging between 200 and 1,000 meters. The second duster was the Ukot South, drilled on neighboring OPL 222 in Ukot Field.



7 Tanzania

Statoil has finally signed a production-sharing agreement for a deepwater block offshore Tanzania it has been negotiating since 2005. The Norwegian firm has taken Block 2 in the Indian Ocean, its first exploration acreage in the country. Block 2 covers 11,099 sq. kilometers and lies in water depths to 3,000 meters. No wells have been drilled on the block. Statoil's work program comprises 5,800 kilometers of 2-D seismic and an optional 3-D shoot in the initial four-year exploration period. If a commercial discovery is made, national oil company TPDC has a right to a 10% participating interest.



8 Turkey

Dallas-based Toreador Resources Corp. scored major advances at its operations on the Black Sea offshore Turkey. The company and Turkish national oil company TPAO and Stratic Energy Corp. brought in two discoveries. The Guluc-1, with Toreador as operator, flowed at a rate of approximately 17 million cu. ft. of gas through a 48/64-in. choke with 1,180 psi of flowing tubing pressure in the South Akcakoca Sub-basin area. The well produced from six intervals into 37.5 meters of perforations between 1,226 and 1,453 meters from Eocene Kusuri. TPAO was operator on the second discovery, Alapi-1, drilled northeast of Akkaya Field. That well tested 7 million cu. ft. of gas through a 32/64-in. choke with 1,064 psi of flowing pressure. It produced through 15 meters of perforations in three zones between 1,068 and 1,242 meters, also from Kusuri. In subsequent activity, Toreador produced the first gas out of the South Akcakoca Sub-basin to shore with the Akkaya production platform's three wells tied to a production line.



9 Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has started a strong push to increase gas sales with a large discovery in the east and increased production in the southwest. In the Osman district of eastern Turkmenistan, the recently discovered South Yolotan Field could produce up to some 180 million cu. ft. per day. The nation sells most of its gas to the north through Gazprom pipelines and has been dissatisfied with the low prices paid for its gas and the high pipeline tariffs. It also had occasional problems collecting for gas sold to the Ukraine through the Gazprom line. Turkmenistan has the fifth largest reserves of gas in the world. Now, it also plans to increase exploration activity in the southwest as well as the east. Eastern fields on the Amu-Darya River will be dedicated to a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Kazakhstan into China, with planned production of 1 trillion cu. ft. of gas annually by 2009.



10 Iraq

Ivanhoe Energy, Vancouver, and Japanese company Inpex have signed an agreement to jointly pursue development of a heavy-oil field in Iraq that Ivanhoe believes is a suitable candidate for its patented heavy-to- light-oil (HTL) upgrading technology. In late 2004, Ivanhoe signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi oil ministry to evaluate a large heavy-oil field and its commercial development potential. The new agreement provides Inpex with a significant interest in the venture, with Ivanhoe retaining a majority interest.



11 Bangladesh

Chevron Corp. held inauguration ceremonies to bring its Bibyana gas field online in Block 12 in Habigani District, northeastern Bangladesh. One of the largest fields in the nation, it will initially produce 200 million cu. ft. per day and will ramp up toward capacity of 500 million a day by 2010. At that time, it will become the largest gas-producing field in Bangladesh. At present, Bibiyana includes 12 development wells, a gas plant, a gas pipeline and a condensate pipeline. Chevron also operates Jalalabad and Moulavi Bazar fields, which produce a combined 330 million per day.



12 Papua New Guinea

ExxonMobil and partners are gearing up to start a $60-million feasibility study into developing the Hides, Angore and Juha gas fields in Papua New Guinea as a stand-alone LNG project. The study will consider both the technical and commercial pros and cons of a 5- to 6.5-million-tonne-a-year LNG facility that would have its first cargo ready between 2012 and 2013. The LNG study is due to be completed by year-end. Hides Field will be the main gas source for the development, with additional gas coming from nearby Juha and Angore fields. The study will be led by ExxonMobil, which will have a 49% initial funding interest in the project, together with PNG's Oil Search (32%), Australia's Santos (17%) and Japan's Nippon Oil (2%).



13 New Zealand

New Zealand has received bids for blocks in the harsh-environment Great South Basin offshore the south of the South Island. The government reports a number and variety of bids, including substantial interest from international explorers. Bid evaluation is under way and the government expects to announce winners in July. There are 40 blocks on offer, each approximately 9,000 sq. kilometers in size. Water depths range from shallow to deep.