Canadian firm InterOil Corp. has made a significant gas discovery in Papua New Guinea. Reports from Prime Minister Michael Somare suggest the find, estimated at several trillion cubic feet of gas in place, could be the country's biggest natural gas discovery to date.

The Elk-1 well lies in PPL 238 license in the onshore Eastern Papuan Basin. It was drilled to 1,983 meters and penetrated the uppermost 127 meters of fractured limestones in the Tertiary-age Puri formation. On a drillstem test, the Elk-1 flowed 21.7 million cubic feet per day on a 60/64-inch choke. Flowing pressure was 1,200 psi. During extended testing, the well flowed 102 million cubic feet of gas per day through 5-inch tubing.

Offset well data and seismic indicate the reservoir thickness could be up to 600 meters, and now the company is building a location for an appraisal well. The Elk-2 is planned to intersect the fluid contact below the gas accumulation, and will be directionally drilled to intersect the maximum thickness of reservoir.

InterOil owns a 100% interest in 16,870-square-kilometer PPL 238. Last year, the vertically integrated company formed a joint venture with Merrill Lynch Commodities and Switzerland's Clarion Fernandez unit to develop a gas-liquids plant and an onshore liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea.

-Peggy Williams



1 Venezuela

The PetroCumarebo partnership between Canadian firm PetroFalcon Corp. subsidiary Vinccler Oil and Gas CA and Petroleos de Venezuela SA has started drilling on East Falcon Block. The first well is the 976-meter LV-11 in La Vela Field. A total of eight development wells are planned for 2007 that will test multiple zones, including the Socorro reservoir discovered in the LV-10X well in 2005. The venture also plans wells in Cumarebo Field.



2 Guyana

Gaz de France SA has farmed into Australian firm Hardman Resources Ltd.'s Guyana Maritime Exclusive Exploration License for a 20% interest. Under the agreement, Gaz de France will conduct geophysical studies and carry a portion of the costs for Hardman in the first exploratory well offshore Guyana. Gaz de France can back away from the joint venture after geophysical studies or increase its interest to 30% after the first well. Hardman already has collected more than 9,000 kilometers of 2-D seismic and 380 sq. kilometers of 3-D seismic, and identified more than 20 prospects on the property. The partners plan to drill their Matamate prospect in late 2007 or in 2008.



3 Brazil

Norway's Norsk Hydro crowned its purchase of a half-interest in Peregrino Field in Block BM-C-7 in the Campos Basin by opening a permanent office in Rio de Janeiro. The Norwegian company is concentrating on development of offshore heavy-oil fields following its experience with this offshore Norway. Peregrino is a large field about 85 kilometers southeast of Rio de Janeiro. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, holds the other half-interest from its acquisition of Kerr-McGee Corp.



4 U.K.

Houston firm Endeavour International Corp. penetrated at least 38 meters of gas pay in Paleocene Forties with its 3,083-meter Columbus well in Block 23/16f in the U.K. North Sea. Although testing continues, the company, with 75% partner Serica Energy Plc, anticipates appraisal wells to delineate the find and pin down commercial potential. The Columbus structure may extend into adjacent Block 23/21 in which BG has an interest. If it does indeed reach into that block, BG will get a 25% share of 23/16f in exchange for Serica getting a 25% interest in the post-Cretaceous interval in 23/21, with the exception of Lamond Field.



5 Norway

Italy's ENI confirmed oil and gas in its Goliath South Field in the Barents Sea. It drilled the 7122/7-4s in 372 meters of water to a total depth of 2,366 meters and established a deeper oil-water contact in the Realgrunnen sub-group, proved the gas-oil contact in the Kobbe formation, and found a deeper oil column in the Klappmys sand. Oil production had not previously been proven in this segment of the Hammerfest Basin. Goliath South is some 50 kilometers southeast of Snohvit Field and 85 kilometers northwest of the town of Hammerfest, Norway. The company holds a 65% stake and operates Production License 229; Statoil and DNO are its partners. ENI now plans to drill the 7122/7-5 Goliath West well.



6 Mauritania

Yet another deepwater exploration well offshore Mauritania has been disappointing. U.K. independent Dana Petroleum's Aigrette-1 in Block 7 reached a total depth of 5,152 meters after encountering a subcommercial gross oil column of about 20 meters. It was drilled in 1,358 meters of water approximately 43 kilometers north-northwest of the 2003 Pelican-1 gas discovery.



7 Gabon

French firm Total SA has signed up for a new block offshore Gabon. The Diaba license covers an area of 9,075 sq. kilometers, around 50 kilometers offshore southern Gabon in water 100 to 2,500 meters of water. The exploration program will be divided into three phases. The first, lasting 3.5 years, consists of a commitment to shoot 2,000 kilometers of 2-D seismic. Total is the largest operator in Gabon, where declining production currently stands at around 240,000 bbl. of oil per day.



8 Angola

The fate of future major developments offshore Angola is uncertain since the country became OPEC's12th member January 1. Angola produces 1.4 million barrels per day and wants to lift this to 2 million, but will now be limited by OPEC quotas. Consequently, some of the world's biggest deepwater projects may have to linger longer in Sonangol's system before approval.



9 Uganda

Calgary-based Heritage Oil said Uganda is looking more like a world-class petroleum country after testing the upper zone of its latest well. The Kingfisher-1 in Block 3A tested at a stabilized flow rate of 4,120 bbl. of oil per day. The test rate was constrained by the available facilities. This was a secondary exploration objective for the well, which will now be sidetracked and drilling will continue to the deeper primary objectives. It could take a further 45 to 60 days to reach target depth. The Kingfisher prospect is a large structural high that is expressed at surface on the bed of Lake Albert. Seismic data indicate the feature has an areal extent of up to 70 sq. kilometers. Heritage operates Blocks 3A and 1 in Uganda with a 50% equity in the licenses, and Tullow Oil holds the remaining 50%.



10 Qatar

Total SA has signed the final agreement that formalizes its acquisition of a 16.7% interest in the second train of Qatargas II, joining partners Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil in the massive project. Total had previously agreed to purchase up to 5.2 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year from Qatargas II for 25 years. Qatargas II involves two new LNG trains, each with an annual capacity of 7.8 million metric tons, intended primarily for France, the U.K. and the Gulf of Mexico. Feed gas will come from Qatar's giant North Field. Construction of the LNG trains at Ras Laffan, an industrial city, began in December 2004; start-up of the second train is expected in the winter of 2008-09.



11 Kazakhstan

State oil company KazMunaiGas has started talks with Royal Dutch Shell over the Nursultan block in the Caspian Sea, about 75 kilometers offshore Kuryk. The field could have as much as 10.9 billion bbl. of oil and 4.1 trillion cu. ft. of gas reserves. ConocoPhillips also has shown interest in the block, which is in 50 to 450 meters of water.



12 India

BP Plc, with no present production from India, posted a winning bid for the Birbhum coalbed-methane block in West Bengal, one of 10 offered in the nation's third CBM licensing round. The major has the right to explore and develop Block BB-CBM-2005/III, which holds an estimated 1.8 trillion cu. ft. of methane in a 248-sq.-kilometer area. Work under the agreement will begin this year.



13 Australia

ConocoPhillips and Santos have confirmed the presence of gas in their Barossa-1 well in the Timor/Bonaparte Basin offshore Australia's Northern Territory. The Barossa discovery was drilled in 233 meters of water in permit NT/P69, nearly 300 kilometers northwest of Darwin. The well reached a total depth of 4,310 meters, and logging and two drillstem tests were completed. The first test, of a lower-quality reservoir interval, flowed gas at a rate of around 800,000 cu. ft. per day through a 1-in. choke. The second test, of a higher-quality reservoir interval, flowed gas at around 30.1 million cu. ft. per day through a 56/64-in. choke. The test was constrained by limitations of the surface equipment. Barossa-1 is the third well on a structure that was drilled in 1973 and 1998, respectively.

Offshore Western Australia, Chevron has made a significant gas discovery at its Clio-1 exploration well, in permit WA-205-P. The 4,724-meter Clio-1, drilled in 900 meters of water, encountered 190 meters of net gas sands in the Mungaroo formation. Chevron operates permit WA-205-P and holds a 67% stake, and Royal Dutch Shell holds 33%.