Considering the size and number of recent discoveries in Brazil, it’s probably not surprising that Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras is shopping for about 240 offshore development vessels in the next five to six years—excellent news for a recently sagging global shipbuilding sector.

According to E&P Daily, Petrobras will also issue tenders for eight floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units and seven drillships in the near future. In May, Petrobras held talks with South Korea’s Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo and STX on vessel orders worth up to $30 billion.

With six recent discoveries in the offshore Santos and Espirito Santos basins, including an ExxonMobil prospect that could contain 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil, Petrobras officials seem optimistic.

In the past, the company has struggled to meet its own yearly production projections. However, Petrobras set a daily production record of 2.06 million barrels of crude oil on May 4, 2009, topping a previous record of 2.012 million barrels set on March 4. The new record was partly due to installation of three new platforms in the Campos Basin.

Petrobras’ domestic oil and gas production target for 2009 is an average of 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

—Larry Prado

1 Canada

StatoilHydro encountered hydrocarbon shows while drilling the deepwater Flemish Pass Basin Mizzen prospect EL 1049, located approximately 500 kilometers east-northeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Further analysis of the well results will be undertaken to determine potential. The prospect was drilled in 1,100 meters of water. Norwegian firm StatoilHydro operates Mizzen with a 65% working interest, and Husky Energy Inc., Calgary, participated for 35%. StatoilHydro owns interests in several exploration, development and production licenses offshore Newfoundland.

2 Bahamas

BPC Ltd. of Perth has reached an agreement with StatoilHydro to operate three offshore exploration licenses—Zapata, Islamorada and Falcones—in the Cay Sal area of the southwestern Bahamas, pending Commonwealth of Bahamas approval. StatoilHydro does not have a drilling commitment during the first phase of the license but at the end of the initial three-year term, license holders will have the option to commit to drilling during the second phase. Limited 2-D seismic and satellite data indicate several large structures are present. New seismic may prove the presence and shape of structures. The first major project since 1986, new data and a study by the U.S. Geological Survey of offshore Cuba’s potential have also fueled speculation that multiple 500-million-bbl. reservoirs could await discovery in the license area.

3 North Sea

Calgary-based Talisman Energy, operator of North Sea production license 038, reports a new wildcat producer, #15/12-21. The well is 16 kilometers north of Varg Field and 15 kilometers south of Sleipner Field. Talisman encountered a 133-meter oil column in Middle Jurassic and Upper Triassic reservoir rocks, and an appraisal well will be drilled to determine the size of the discovery. The average production test showed 197 cu. meters of oil per day through a 20/64-in. choke. The wildcat was drilled in 86 meters of water to a vertical depth of 3,268 meters and concluded in the Skagerrak formation in the Upper Triassic.

4 Republic of Congo

According to E&P Daily, Total has discovered oil at #4-Moho Nord Marine, offshore Republic of Congo. The well was drilled to 4,239 meters in a water depth of 1,078 meters in the northern part of the Moho-Bilondo license. The #4-Moho Nord Marine was drilled in the Albian series 4.4 kilometers northwest of the Tertiary structure drilled by #3 MHNM. The well proved a 163-meter column of high-quality oil in the Albian F structure and flowed at 8,100 bbl. of oil per day through a 52/64-in. choke. Total, with headquarters in Paris, operates the block with a 53.5% stake, while Chevron has 31.5% and Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, 15%.

5 Chad

According to IHS Inc., China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has added to four previous discoveries in Chad, and its latest find, #1-Prosopis in Permit H, is potentially the largest of all. Details of the well are not yet available but two drillstem tests were run, the first of which flowed 4,310 bbl. of oil per day plus 1.13 million cu. ft. of gas while the second drillstem test yielded 3,248 bbl. of oil per day plus 490,000 cu. ft. of gas.

6 Uganda

According to E&P Daily, London-based Tullow Oil’s #1-Nsoga exploration well in the Butiaba region of Uganda’s Block 2 has encountered quality oil-bearing reservoirs down-dip at the oil-water contact. The well was drilled horizontally around six kilometers from top of the structure to 755 meters. Tests showed that the Kasamene reservoir is 43 meters thick with an upper 3-meter interval of oil-bearing sand. At the crest of the trap, which is 160 meters vertically updip, the entire reservoir should be oil-filled, according to Tullow. In a separate section, immediately above the Kasamene reservoir, 12 meters of thin-bed, oil-bearing sands were also encountered. The well is now being suspended as a future producer.

7 Syria

Gulfsands Petroleum, London, flowed more than 3,000 bbl. of oil daily from its #9-KHE development well. Drilled in Block 26 of Khurbet East Field in Syria, the well will be tied into the early production facility after its capacity increases to 16,000 bbl. of oil per day. Additional information was not available.

8 Kurdistan

Calgary-based Heritage Oil has made a major oil discovery in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with the #1 Miran West and field development is already planned. Results of the well showed that the Miran West structure has estimated oil-in-place of 2.3- to 4.2 billion bbl. of crude. The recovery factor is expected to be 50% to 70% due to the highly fractured nature of the three major producing reservoirs in the region: the Shiranish, Kometan and Qamchuqua formations. Pressure data recorded during testing suggests potential flow rates of between 10,000-15,000 bbl. per day per well. The #1 Miran West well has an estimated gross oil-bearing interval of 2,320 ft. and oil produced during testing was about 27-degrees API. Heritage believes that a neighboring structure, Miran East, holds potential similar to the 330-sq.-kilometer Miran West area. Heritage operates the Miran License with a 75% stake, while Genel Energy International has 25%.

9 Uzbekistan

According to IHS Inc., Uzbekneftegaz’s exploration well #1-Turtsari has tested gas from several Callovian-Oxfordian carbonate intervals and produced a maximum flow from the jointly tested intervals of 3,509-18 meters and 3,523-28 meters. Gauged on a 14-millimeter choke, the test produced 16.78 million cu. ft. per day from a total depth of 3,580 meters. The Turtsari structure is in the southwest Gissar Sub-basin of the Afghan-Tajik Basin, in the Kashkadarya province of southeastern Uzbekistan, around six kilometers northwest of the town of Guzar.

10 Thailand

Calgary-based Pan Orient and Perth-based Carnarvon Petroleum announced that testing of the #L44-W exploration well has confirmed discovery of a potentially significant new oil field. The discovery straddles concessions L44 and L33, onshore Thailand. The #L44-W is currently producing 27- to 32-degree API oil at a stabilized, restricted rate of approximately 1,220 bbl. of oil per day with a water cut of less than 0.5%. Carnarvon states the additional drilling will be required to fully define the extent and reservoir quality of this oil discovery and that the encouraging results increase the potential of finding an oil leg near the previously drilled #1-Bo Rang discovery. Pan Orient is the operator and holds a 60% working interest.

11 Australia

Beijing-based Sinopec and partner AED Oil of Melbourne have hit a 6- to 7-meter hydrocarbon column at #1-Great Auk exploration well in the Timor Sea, offshore Australia. Additional testing with well logs is being conducted and the company is drilling toward the remaining exploration targets identified for this well, Vulcan and Plover sands. Great Auk-1 is in Puffin Field about 10 kilometers south of the #9-Puffin oil discovery and 16 kilometers west of Skua oil field. The #1-Great Auk is the first of a possible two-well program: a second well will be an appraisal well drilled updip of #9-Puffin.

12 Australia

In two offshore Australia exploration wells, Apache Corp. is reporting a major gas find in the Julimar-Brunello Field complex in WA-356-P. The Houston-based operator drilled two wells into the multitrillion-cu.-ft. Julimar and Brunello complex in 2009. The #1-Brokenwood exploration well was drilled into two previously untested channel sands and hit 22 meters of net gas pay. The follow-on #2-Brokenwood appraisal well hit 11 meters of net gas pay in G30 sands. Apache plans to drill one more well in the Brokenwood prospect area followed by two exploration wells in the Balnaves area, also within the Julimar-Brunello complex. Apache operates WA-356-P with a 65% stake, while Kufpec has the remaining 35%.