What are some of the exploration hot spots? Libya, the Gulf of Mexico, the South Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Nigeria, Bolivia, Tanzania, Colombia and Gabon. Speaking at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston, oil executives with Petro-Canada, Petrobras SA, BP America and Maurel & Prom revealed theirs.

For Stuart Cooper, Petro-Canada’s director of business development, it’s Libya, which he characterizes as “one of the hottest of hot spots.” Petro-Canada has had a partnership with Libya for 50 years, he said, and currently has a 30-year agreement with the country for redevelopment of some fields as well as exploration.

The budget for that plan is $7 billion, and Cooper expects to realize some 2 billion barrels of reserves from the country’s 40 billion. Petro-Canada has nine successful wells there, and plans to drill an additional 50 exploration and development wells, supported with newly planned pipelines and waterfloods. Petro-Canada pays 12% of the costs and shares in 12% of the production.

“Since the sanctions were lifted in 2003 and 2004, Libya is a great place to do business,” he said. “There are no interruptions in production and no unexpected contract changes, such as has happened in other countries. Negotiations with Libyan officials are not protracted nor difficult, and we work together and have conducted joint studies.”

Petro-Canada receives $6.20 to $9.20 netbacks per barrel, based on $60- to $80 per barrel oil.

The top spots for David Rainey, vice president, Gulf of Mexico exploration for BP America, are the Gulf of Mexico and the South Caspian Sea. “Both have world-class hydrocarbon systems and subsurface complexities that require new technology to unlock,” he said.

“The Gulf of Mexico still has plenty of running room. This is the third decade for exploration, the third round of lease agreements, and we still expect to find elephants.” The fifth generation of deepwater drilling rigs are tackling new geology like subsalt plays, which “stretch the limits of seismic imaging.”

It’s about ultra-deepwater and ultradeep drilling, he said. Some 65% of his areas of interest are under shallow salt canopies, which will require new multi-azimuth, wide-azimuth and towed-streamer technology, which he calls “brute processing.” Rainey also likes the Shah Deniz reservoir in Azerbaijan, with recoverable reserves of some 1 billion barrels equivalent expected. “The key to that field is understanding the overpressure,” he said.

Samir Awad, Petrobras’ executive manager for the Americas, Africa and Eurasia, likes the Campos Basin, which is offshore Brazil, and Nigeria. “Santos Basin is the hottest spot in Brazil and perhaps in the world,” he said.

He also likes the Gulf of Mexico for its deep gas, subsalt, and ultradeep, high-temperature and high-pressure plays. Also, Awad points to Bolivia as a top hot spot due to its “600% increase in gas reserves from 1997 to 2005.” Regarding the Tupi discovery, Awad said it is too early to know when it will be in production because it is still under evaluation.

Gabon, Tanzania and Colombia are the favorite hot spots of Roman Gozalo, chief executive of Paris-based Maurel & Prom. Gabon is a favorite due to its geology, similar to that of Congo, where the company had its first production after start-up in 2000. Its two Gabon plays are both shallow, base sandstone plays on which the company has 650 kilometers of seismic and plans another 350 kilometers.

In Tanzania, its exploration plays include M’Kuranga and Mafia, both targeting gas. Maurel & Prom plans to drill a well on Mafia when a rig becomes available. The company owns 15 rigs because “when we started the company in Congo, no drilling companies wanted to send their rigs there,” said Gozalo.

Maurel & Prom is most active in Colombia, where it has assets in the Andes and Llanos. It has drilled five exploration wells to date, including three hits and two misses, and plans two more wells. The company also plans to acquire seismic on Achira, Tangara and Niscota plays.

Gozalo said his biggest challenge is to acquire needed personnel, technology and capital to develop the assets.