Greece
Denison Mines Ltd., Toronto, placed on production the Prinos North area in the Aegean Sea.
A well drilled horizontally from the Prinos field platform flowed 3,500 b/d of oil on a 20/64 in. choke. The well tapped a reservoir with an estimated 18 million bbl of 22-23° gravity oil in place, of which as much as 3 million bbl may be recoverable during 3 years. Sulfur content is 6%.
Prinos North reservoir sands are high quality and not expected to need waterflooding, Denison said.
The well, drilled 4,000 m horizontally at 2,200 m true vertical depth, has 358 m of horizontal section in the targeted reservoir and 72 net m perforated over a distance of 125 m at the farthest end of the well.
Prinos and Prinos North field production averages a combined 13,000 b/d.
Philippines
Philippines Department of Energy awarded Petroleum Geo-Services of Norway exclusive rights to acquire 3D seismic data on 7,500 sq km off northwest Palawan Island for 3 years.
PGS plans to acquire 2,500 sq km of nonexclusive data during November 1996-May 1997. This appears to be Asia's largest 3D survey.
Viet Nam
Anzoil NL, Perth, received a year's extension to July 1997 of the first 3 year exploration phase of its onshore Hanoi basin production sharing contract.
Independent engineers said Anzoil's Song Tra Ly D14-1x well concluded that pay zones below 3,275 m and at 3,075 m are each capable of flowing in excess of 10 MMcfd of gas if a fracture treatment is successfully performed.
Anzoil raised $24.975 million to drill three appraisal and step-out wells to appraise the D14 discovery and frac the first two wells in the field. The consulting engineers said indicated gas in place is 1.14 tcf.
Anzoil is negotiating with Electricity Vietnam (EV) on selling part of the gas to its idle 35,000 kw Tien Hai gas turbine for electricity generation. EV wishes to recommission the plant in first quarter 1997 using D14 gas, Anzoil said.
EV asked Anzoil to consider and submit a prefeasibility study for a 300,000-600,000 kw independent power generation station based on D14 gas.
California
Hunt Oil Co. is starting a rank wildcat in southern California.
The 1 Federal, in 20-9n-24w, northeastern Santa Barbara County, is projected to 10,000 ft. The drillsite is 14 miles south of Maricopa and 12 miles east-southeast of Cuyama South oil field, Petroleum Information reported.
This places the spot near Kern and Ventura counties in the Sierra Madre mountains between the San Joaquin and Santa Maria basins. Ground elevation is 3,247 ft.
Saba Petroleum Co., Irvine, Calif., might drill two more wells this year pending further tests at an exploratory test in the Sacramento basin.
The 1 Dawson well in Solano County flowed 5.8 MMcfd of gas from Upper Cretaceous Mokelumne River sand. TD is 7,494 ft. Expected sales rate exceeds 5 MMcfd.
Venoco Inc., Santa Barbara, started a program to drill five 10,000 ft wells in Ventura County in Santa Clara Avenue field, initially developed in the 1970s.
Next Venoco plans to drill five wells to about 10,000 ft each in Beverly Hills field, Los Angeles County. The field has seen no work since initial development in the early 1980s.
Colorado
Union Pacific Resources Co. staked a horizontal well aimed at Mississippian oil and gas in northern Ladder Creek field on the Las Animas arch.
The 2H Winding Brook, in 25-14s-45w, Cheyenne County, is to go to around 5,300 ft TVD.
Louisiana
Permitting is under way for a 3D seismic survey over more than 20 sq miles in Terrebonne Parish.
The operating group includes Fina Oil & Chemical Co., Frontier Natural Gas Corp., all of Frontier's prior industry partners in the Starboard project, and certain of Fina's partners.
The agreement with Fina preserves Frontier's interest in proved undeveloped reserves in the area.
OXY USA Inc. staked the southeasternmost well so far in the Cretaceous Austin chalk play.
The 1A Denkmann, in 3-7s-4e, Livingston Parish on the south flank of Livingston field, is to have dual opposing laterals in the chalk at 16,718 ft TVD, PI reported.
Missouri
Western Engineering Inc., Evansville, Ind., and United Petroleum Corp., Knoxville, Tenn., plan to start a waterflood with individual well polymer treatments soon in Clark-Miller (Knoche) field in Cass County just south of Kansas City.
A pilot project on a small portion of the 522 acre Belton Unit will involve six to eight wells, including reworks and new drilling. About eight wells now average 35-40 b/d of 26° gravity oil on primary production.
Estimated unit-wide potential from secondary recovery is 2.75 million bbl from Pennsylvanian Squirrel sand at 650 ft, United said.
New Mexico
Manzano Oil Corp., Roswell, N.M., staked a remote wildcat in the nonproducing Orogrande basin (see article, p. 53).
The 1 Cathead Mesa, in 8-4s-9e, Socorro County, is projected to 10,000 ft or Pennsylvanian, PI reported.
The wildcat is on the Chupadera mesa 22 miles north-northwest of Carrizozo 80 miles west of Permian Basin production in Chaves County.
Oregon
Enerfin Resources Northwest, Houston, staked three wells in Mist gas field 50 miles northwest of Portland.
Locations and proposed depths are 20-5n-4w, 4,295 ft, 26-6n-5w, 1,730 ft, and 27-6n-5w, 2,010 ft. All are in Columbia County.
Enerfin acquired Mist field producing assets from Nahama & Weagant Energy Co. and Oregon Natural Gas Development Corp. the past year.
Texas
West
Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas Co., Oklahoma City, plans to conduct a 30 sq mile 3D seismic survey starting in fourth quarter 1996 on the Midland basin eastern shelf.
The company signed an exploration agreement with Pitchfork Land & Cattle Co. and Toreador Royalty Corp. covering 137,000 acres in Dickens and King counties. Objectives are mainly Permian Tannehill sands at 5,000 ft or less and secondarily Pennsylvanian Strawn at about 6,000 ft.
East
Sonat Exploration Co., Houston, plans to test and place on production late this month the 1 Scurlock exploratory well in the East Texas Jurassic Cotton Valley pinnacle reef trend.
The well, in the Bear Grass area of Leon County, went to TD 14,732 ft and encountered a pinnacle reef in Cotton Valley limestone at 14,330 ft.
Sonat is drilling the 1 Blanton on another pinnacle reef 2 miles from the 1 Scurlock and plans to spud another exploratory test by end September.
Offshore
Jebco Seismic Inc., Houston, started a nonexclusive 3D seismic survey to cover more than 300 sq miles in and around Matagorda Bay in Calhoun and Matagorda counties.
Phase 1, to be acquired by yearend, includes 130 sq miles in the bay. Phase 2, to start in October, covers another 180 sq km in parts of the bay, Matagorda peninsula, and state waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Objectives are Upper and Lower Miocene sands and deeper Oligocene Frio targets involved in a recent Shell Western E&P Inc. discovery in eastern Matagorda Bay.
West Virginia
Thornwood Gas Co., Bradford, Pa., plans to place Thornwood (Green Bank) gas field, on the Eastern Overthrust belt in the mountains of Pocahontas County, on production in November 1996.
The company started construction in mid-July on a 30 mile, 8 in. pipeline from the field to Columbia Gas Transmission Corp.'s 26WB loop line near Whitmer, W.V., southeast of Elkins. Six wells will produce through 3 and 4 in. flow lines from Devonian Oriskany at 5,500 ft or deeper, said James Macfarlane, Thornwood vice-president. Capacity and likely throughput are not reported.
A Columbia affiliate discovered the field, which has never been on line, in 1961.
Another operator is placing Swan Creek gas field in northeastern Tennessee on the Eastern Overthrust belt on production (OGJ, Sept. 2, 1996, p. 93).
Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
