Eni is looking at a fast-track development of what it describes as a “world-class supergiant gas discovery” at its Zohr Prospect in the deep water of the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt.

The discovery could hold a potential of 849 Bcm of lean gas in place and covers an area of about 100 sq km.

Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery well Zohr 1X NFW is located in 1,450 m in the Shorouk Block.

Zohr 1X NFW was drilled to a total depth of about 4,131 m and hit 630 m of hydrocarbon column in a carbonate sequence of Miocene age with excellent reservoir characteristics (400 m plus of net pay).

Zohr’s structure also has a deeper Cretaceous upside that will be targeted in the future with a dedicated well.

Eni said it will immediately appraise the field with the aim of accelerating a fast-track development of the discovery that will utilise existing offshore and onshore infrastructure.

From Houston (BN): The challenges of drilling in the Arctic were highlighted Aug. 25 when rough weather that Shell described as “high winds and a volatile sea state” forced suspension of drilling for two days at the Burger (32/10) prospect in the Chukchi Sea. “For the entirety of the storm, the Polar Pioneer remained safely over the well. Operations resumed again on Sunday [Aug. 30],” a Shell spokesman said.

Falklands Oil and Gas (FOGL) has been hit with a hitch while drilling its Humpback (SEN, 32/3) exploration well in the South Falklands basin.

Humpback spudded on June 13 on licence PL012, testing multiple stacked reservoirs within the Cretaceous Diomedea fan complex.

But a series of unforeseen equipment and operational issues has resulted in a delay to the completion of the well.

FOGL said the delays are expected to extend the duration of the well from 65 days to about 100 days.

FOGL anticipates that the results of the well should be available in September 2015 and a further update will be provided once target depth has been reached and wireline logs have been run.

Following the completion of the Humpback well, the Eirik Raude rig will return to the North Falklands basin.

The company said, “Consideration is currently being given to further drilling at Isobel Deep (32/5) and this may replace the planned Jayne East well. Any further drilling in the South Falkland basin, as part of the current programme, will be dependent on the Humpback results.”

From Houston (BN): The Canada-Newfoundland-Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has issued a call for nominations of tracts to be offered in a bid round next year.

One of the areas is described as “mature,” the Jean d’Arc Basin, where Newfoundland-Labrador’s three producing projects—Exxon Mobil-led Hibernia, Suncor’s Terra Nova and Husky’s White Rose—are located.

The boundaries are between roughly 46 degrees and 48 degrees North Latitude and 47 degrees and 50 degrees West Longitude. The other is north of Jean d’Arc and northwest of Statoil’s Mizzen, Harpoon and Bay du Nord (32/8) discoveries in Flemish Pass.

It is dubbed the Eastern Newfoundland region and is as yet undeveloped but described as “high activity.” It lies between roughly 50 degrees and 51 degrees North Latitude and 47 degrees and 50 degrees West Longitude.

The deadline for submitting nominations is Oct. 20. Information about the nominations call is available at cnlopb.ca/news/nr20150825.php.

Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) is pursuing a contractor-led funding approach to drill the U.K. North Sea Skipper (30/22) commitment appraisal well in late 2015 and said it continues to explore alternative funding arrangements.

The aim of the well is to retrieve core and oil samples to design the optimum field development plan.

Skipper has independently verified gross 2C resources of 26.2 MMbbl. The appraisal well also will target two exploration prospects directly beneath the Skipper oil discovery, which may contain additional oil in place of 46 MMbbl.

IOG said it has presented the rig proposal and the progress with certain contractor discussions to the Oil and Gas Authority, which has agreed to extend the licence by three months to Dec. 31, 2015.

TGS said it has been given the nod by Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos to acquire multibeam, coring and geochemical analysis data across about 600,000 sq km in Mexican waters.

The survey will cover the entire deepwater area of the offshore sector of Mexico, including producing trends such as the Perdido Fold Belt and Campeche Bay.

It will be carried out in conjunction with the 186,000 km TGS Gigante seismic survey, which is currently 12% complete.

The multibeam data will be acquired by Fugro using vessels equipped with the latest generation of multibeam sonar equipment. Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data will be used to identify possible oil and gas seep targets for sediment sampling.

TGS will begin acquisition of multibeam and coring data in third-quarter 2015 subject to receiving environmental impact resolution from the Mexican authorities, with expected completion in early fourth-quarter 2016.

Partner Faroe Petroleum said the Norwegian Sea Portrush exploration well 6407/10-5 has spudded.

The Portrush prospect is located about 10 km southeast of the producing Statoil-operated Njord (32/7) field (Faroe 7.5%) and 20 km west of the Shell-operated Draugen (32/7) Field.

The exploration well will target prospective resources along the Vingleia fault in Upper Jurassic reservoirs, analogous to the reservoirs found in Pil, Bue and Draugen.

JX Nippon Oil & Gas has taken a 30% stake in Block FZA-M-320 located offshore in the Foz do Amazonas Basin in Brazil.

JX Nippon, which has been studying offshore basins in Brazil for a number of years as one of its potential new exploration venues, will acquire a new 3-D seismic dataset.

Polarcus has signed a contract with an undisclosed client for a non-exclusive broadband 3-D marine seismic project offshore Brazil. Project duration is expected to be about four months.

The dual-azimuth project is expected to begin in second-quarter 2016 following completion of a 3-D project for Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção.

Tap Oil has formalised its entry into Myanmar following the signing of the production sharing contract for the shallow-water Block M-7 in the Moattama Basin.

Tap holds a 95% participating interest in Block M-7 and has assumed operatorship.

Tap and local joint-venture partner Smart E&P International have agreed to undertake an 18-month environmental and social impact assessment and Study Period, followed by an option to proceed to a three-year commitment exploration work programme.

The Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corp. has awarded ION a contract to acquire 4,058 km of 2-D seismic, gravity and magnetic data over offshore blocks 4/1B and 4/1C in the Rovuma Delta region. The survey, TPDC Phase I 2015, is planned to be acquired in fourth-quarter 2015.

Ocean Floor Geophysics and Fukada have completed another high-resolution controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) survey of near-surface gas hydrates in Japanese waters.

Following the successful 3-D CSEM survey and inversion models completed in 2014, the 2015 survey comprises more than 670 line km of high-resolution data collected from the Fukada vessel Shin Nichi Maru.