Ecuador’s state-owned Petroamazonas, a subsidiary of national oil company Petroecuador that operates oil assets previously owned by Occidental Petroleum Corp., expects to develop oil fields on four oil blocks this year.
Reiterating plans announced in February, Petroamazonas General Manager Wilson Pastor said his firm would aim at drilling 14 wells in Panacocha field, with initial production set at 5,000 b/d from the second quarter of 2010, eventually rising to 25,000 b/d.
Pastor said 13 wells would be drilled in Panayacu-Quinde field, with output potential of 10,000 b/d. Four wells will be drilled in Paka Sur field, with initial output of 3,000 b/d possibly online by yearend 2009.
Petroamazonas also hopes to develop Block 31, where it wants to drill 14 wells, but financing remains a problem. Pastor said the firm wants to start work on Block 31 this year.
Pastor was reiterating plans that had been announced in February following a meeting between Petroamazonas and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa.
At the time, Correa’s office issued a statement saying Petroamazonas would spend up to $820 million to start four projects: Panacocha ($216 million), Panayacu-Quinde ($150 million), Paka Sur ($40 million), and Block 31 ($414 million).
Correa’s office said that Block 31 will see the drilling of 14 wells with output scheduled to start in January 2011. Peak production will reach 33,400 b/d.
Budget cut
Prior to Correa’s statement, Ecuador’s El Universal newspaper reported that Petroecuador’s budget for 2009 had been ratified at $3.002 billion, a drop of 38% from 2008. It said that Petroamazonas’s share would be $967.8 million and that its developmental priorities would include Panacocha and Block 31.
In January, Petroamazonas announced plans to produce an average of 100,600 b/d in 2009, compared with 95,000 b/d in 2008.
Petroamazonas said the production would come from Block 15: 60,400 b/d from Eden-Yuturi field and 40,200 b/d from Indillana.
To output targets under budgetary constraints, Pastor told Ecuador’s El Comercio newspaper in February, Petroamazonas would seek alliances to secure investments.
He said the company needed to invest $509 million in order to meet its output target for 2009, although the government budgeted only $359 million.
Pastor said the outstanding $150 million would be financed through association contracts which would be put out to tender.
For Block 31, formerly operated by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Pastor said Petroamazonas would consider a joint venture partnership to help with the planned $300 million of needed investment for development.
Petroecuador holds 80% of Petroamazonas, while Petroecuador subsidiary Petroproduccion holds 20%.
China
Roc Oil (Bohai) Co., Sydney, plans to start a 12-well drilling program in April in the C and D oil fields at its Zhao Dong Block in southwestern Bohai Bay off China, which is producing 21,500 b/d of oil.
The company started producing on Mar. 20 from the C-51 well in the extended reach area (ERA) of the C and D fields, and that well is making 1,000 b/d. C-52 came on in Mar. 29 and is exceeding 2,000 b/d. D-43 is under completion.
One more well will be drilled and two workovers performed before the 2009 drilling operations are finalized at ERA and C4 oil fields.
The upcoming program, with fewer wells than in 2008, is designed to maintain production at the 2008 average of 18,050 b/d. Roc Oil is commissioning a second drilling platform, installed in 2008, and plans to install and commission a second processing platform in the second half of 2009.
Interests are Roc Oil and New XCL-China LLC 24.5% each and PetroChina Co. Ltd. 51%.
Part of the 1H pilot area in the Shouyang block in Shanxi Province, China, has reached critical desorption pressure, and the pilot area is producing more than 200 Mcfd of coalbed methane, said Far East Energy Corp., Houston.
The company said it believes this volume is enough to start talks with China United Coalbed Methane Co. about jointly marketing the gas. Sales would likely occur through a compressed natural gas facility with a capacity of 1-3 MMcfd.
Three wells appear to meet the definitions for Chinese reserves qualification as long as they maintain sufficient production levels until an official certification can be obtained. Far East Energy will spud three deviated wells in the pilot area within a few weeks.
Indonesia
Eni SpA plans to appraise a discovery named Jangkrik on the Muara Bakau block in the Kutei basin off Indonesia.
While giving few details, the company said it will assess the commercial viability of a fast-track development for Jangkrik. The well is in 400 m of water in the Makassar Strait off East Kalimantan.
Elsewhere in the basin, Eni participates in gas developments in the Rapak and Ganal blocks and holds stakes in the Aster and Tulip discoveries, both in an advanced appraisal phase, in the Tarakan basin to the north.
Oman
RAK Petroleum PCL of the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah plans to drill the Zad-2 well on Block 47 in Oman later in 2009 after having acquired subsidiaries of Indago Petroleum Ltd., London, that hold rights in Oman.
RAK Petroleum raised its interest to 100% in blocks 31 and 47 with acquisition of Indago Ventures 31 Ltd. and Indago Ventures 47 Ltd.
If successful, RAK Petroleum said, the Zad prospect will become an important gas-condensate field 10 km from an existing pipeline. The exploration well will test the fractured Cambrian Amin sandstone reservoir, an analog to Kauther field.
Uganda
Tower Resources PLC said its Neptune Petroleum (Uganda) Ltd. unit let a contract to ASCOM SA Group to provide a rig to drill in Uganda.
The rig will drill Iti-1, Neptune’s first commitment well in license EA5 covering 6,040 sq km in the unexplored Rhino Camp basin south of the border with Sudan in the northern Albert graben.
The well is expected to spud in mid-May 2009. Projected TD is 800 m.
Uzbekistan
Tethys Petroleum Ltd., Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK, is working to hike oil production in North Urtabulak field in Uzbekistan after completing the acquisition of Rosehill Energy Ltd., which holds a production enhancement contract for the field.
Work is under way on further production enhancement with workovers, optimizing beam pumps, and other means. A gas lift system is to be installed. Further development drilling and attention to nearby fields is under consideration.
North Urtabulak field is in the Afghan-Tajik basin.
Gulf of Mexico
Cobalt International Energy LP, private Houston firm, and France’s Total E&P USA Inc. will combine their Gulf of Mexico exploratory lease holdings, which Cobalt will operate generally with 60% interest.
The position totals 214 blocks now, and the companies agreed to joint participation in any future opportunities. A multiwell program is to start in mid-2009 using a rig supplied by Total. The combination is subject to US Minerals Management Service approval and other closing conditions.
Louisiana
St. Mary Land & Exploration Co., Denver, turned its first operated Jurassic Haynesville shale well to sales at an initial rate of 4 MMcfd of gas and 525 b/d of load water.
The flow came at the Johnson Trust 1-2 well with 3,150 psi flowing casing pressure on an 18/64-in. choke after a 10-stage frac in a 3,400 ft lateral at 15,100 ft measured total depth. The well is in Spider field, DeSoto Parish. A second operated well drilling northern San Augustine County, Tex., will core Haynesville and evaluate the deeper Cotton Valley lime.
The company said the outcome is lower than nearby wells but within the range of reported Haynesville results. It holds 50,000 net acres with Haynesville potential, including 40,000 acres in East Texas and 10,000 in Louisiana, including 4,200 acres in Spider field.