Calgary-based explorer Canadian Superior Energy Inc. has found two prolific reservoirs in its Victory well on Intrepid Block 5(c) offshore Trinidad and Tobago.


The well, which lies 60 miles off Trinidad’s eastern coast, encountered 725 feet of gross and 450 feet of net pay. It tested at a restricted rate of 45 million cubic feet a day from one zone and 35 million a day from another. It is capable of producing more than 100 million a day from the lower zone, and up to 50 million from the upper zone, says the company. Additionally, the well has prospective zones behind pipe.


Canadian Superior estimates Victory contains up to 1.1 trillion cubic feet of gas and 3.7 million barrels of condensate. Its partners are BG Group and Challenger Energy Corp.


Next, the group will spud its Bounty well, the second wildcat in a three-well program planned for the block. Bounty, in 1,000 feet of water, is projected to a depth of 18,045 feet. It lies 2.2 miles from the Victory discovery on a separate structure.

1 Canada
El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy Oil Corp. won three parcels in British Columbia’s December 2007 lease sale in the red-hot Montney play in the northeastern part of the province. The company spent C$224.6 million to acquire 41,742 acres in the Lower Triassic tight-sand play. The purchase brings Murphy’s holdings to 80,000 acres. The company has sanctioned the first phase of its Tupper development and has started drilling operations. It believes its leases have the potential to yield 2 trillion cu. ft. of gas. First production from Tupper is slated for the fourth quarter.

2 Canada
Southwestern Saskatchewan’s Lower Shaunavon play has been attracting industry interest, reports Nickle’s Petroleum Explorer. The Jurassic limestone reservoirs exhibit low permeabilities and typically have net pay between four and 16 meters thick. Horizontal drilling and sequential frac jobs, combined with high oil prices, have made the play economic.
Calgary-based Wave Energy Ltd. has extensive holdings in the play. It has drilled 27 horizontal wells on its 88 sections of leasehold in the Swift Current area. At present, Wave produces 2,700 bbl. of oil a day from 22 horizontal Lower Shaunavon wells. Per-well production ranges from 100 to 350 bbl. a day. This year, Wave plans to drill 38 Lower Shaunavon horizontals.

3 Trinidad and Tobago
A significant gas discovery has been made on deepwater Block 22 by Calgary-based senior producer Petro-Canada Corp. The Cassra-1 well was drilled in 430 meters of water to a depth of 1,712 meters. The reservoir flowed 23 million cu. ft. a day on a drillstem test. The prospect targeted a 68-sq.-kilometer seismic anomaly and contingent resources could be between 600 billion and 1.3 trillion cu. ft., the company reports. Petro-Canada operates the well and holds a 90% interest. An appraisal well, Cassra-2, will be drilled next.

4 Brazil
Brazilian state firm Petrobras has made a major gas and condensate discovery in its deep subsalt play in the offshore Santos Basin. Its 5,252-meter 1-RJS-652 Jupiter test, drilled in 2,187 meters of water, encountered more than 120 meters of prospective reservoir in the pre-salt Aptian Guaratiba formation. The pros­pect lies 37 kilometers east of Tupi, the company’s recently announced multibillion-barrel oil discovery. Galp Energia is a 20% partner in the latest find.

5 Peru
Spanish firm Repsol reported success at its Kinteroni X1 well in Block 57, in the Cuzco area. Initial production tests registered flows of 35 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,220 bbl. of liquids a day. The structure is more than 22 kilometers long and could contain 2 trillion cu. ft. of gas. In addition to Repsol, Petrobras and Burlington Resources Peru are partners in the field.

6 Bulgaria
Melrose Resources Plc drilled the Galata E3-Kaliakra exploration well on the Galata exploration concession on the Black Sea shelf. The well tested a structural feature similar to that in nearby Galata Field, Bulgaria’s only offshore production. The shallow-water wildcat found 33 net ft. of gas pay in Paleocene rocks below depths of 2,743 ft. Log data indicate high-quality reservoir, so the company did not test the well. U.K.-based Melrose plans to produce the discovery through a 15-kilometer subsea tieback to the Galata platform, which it operates.

7 Egypt
An ultradeep gas discovery has lit up the Nile Delta. BP Plc’s Satis discovery, in 90 meters of water in the North El Burg offshore concession, was drilled to more than 6,500 meters and encountered high-pressure, high-temperature Oligocene reservoirs, a first for the region. BP’s partner in the project is Italian firm ENI. The well lies some 50 kilometers north of Damietta.

8 Equatorial Guinea
Houston-based operator Noble Energy Inc. successfully tested its I-4 well in offshore Block I and extended its Belinda trend. The well encountered high-quality Miocene reservoir that tested at the rate of 1,634 bbl. of condensate and 28.9 million cu. ft. of gas a day. The well was drilled in 678 meters of water some 11 kilometers southwest of Noble’s Belinda discovery in neighboring Block O. Noble plans to continue its drilling program in the area. The company is the technical operator of Block I; its partners are Atlas Petroleum International Ltd., Glencore Exploration Ltd. and Osborne Resources Ltd. GEPetrol, the national oil concern, has a carried interest in any commercial development.

9 Angola
ExxonMobil Corp. has started production from the Kizomba C development, designed to develop 600 million bbl. of oil from Mondo, Saxi and Batuque fields in about 800 meters of water. Production from the fields, more than 145 kilometers off the coast, will reach 200,000 bbl. a day. The development includes two FPSO vessels and 36 subsea wells. ExxonMobil’s partners in Block 15 are BP, ENI, Statoil and state firm Sonangol.
Meanwhile, BP has made yet another discovery on prolific deepwater Block 31. Portia, the 15th find on the concession, was drilled in 2,012 meters of water to a true vertical depth of 5,678 meters. It encountered reservoirs capable of producing more than 5,000 bbl. of oil a day, the company reports. Portia, the fourth subsalt discovery on the block, lies seven kilometers north of Titania and 10.5 kilometers southwest of Pluto, two earlier finds. BP’s partners in Block 31 are Sonangol, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Marathon and Total SA.

10 Kazakhstan
After months of wrangling, shareholders in 13-billion-bbl. Kashagan Field in the Caspian Sea finally agreed to allow Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigaz to raise its stake from 8.33% to 16%. The other owners will proportionately reduce their respective shares. ENI will remain responsible for exploration and development of the field, but after production starts in 2011 an operating company formed by Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell and Kazmunaigaz will run Kashagan. Total cost of the project has increased from $57- to $136 billion, according to Kazakh estimates. ConocoPhillips, Inpex and ExxonMobil are also partners in the immense project. Supergiant Kashagan, discovered in 2000, is a highly overpressured, complex field that contains high concentrations of H2S.

11 Vietnam
Calgary-based explorer Talisman Energy Inc. tested its Hai Su Den exploration well in offshore Block 15-2/01 in the Cuu Long Basin for a rate of 13,450 bbl. of light oil and 6.8 million cu. ft. of gas a day. The reservoir was fractured basement. The 11,168-ft. well encountered 2,400 ft. of hydrocarbon-bearing rocks. The company plans to drill four more wildcats on the block this year to evaluate features on trend with the discovery. Talisman and state-firm PetroVietnam are partners in the block.