TGS Will Conduct Multibeam, Seep Study Project Offshore Brazil

TGS said April 3 it has obtained the Brazil Southern Basins SeaSeep project in the Campos and Santos basins offshore Brazil.

The project will cover existing TGS surveys in these hydrocarbon rich basins as well as the highly prospective presalt trend where many untested structures exist.

Acquisition of the multibeam will commence late first-quarter 2018 with the coring and geochemistry stage to follow. Data will be available in fourth-quarter 2018 over the Round 16 licensing areas scheduled in 2019.

Final results in all areas will be available in late 2019. The survey is designed to mirror the successful Gigante and Otos multibeam and seep study projects in the Gulf of Mexico, conducted in 2016 and 2017. The multibeam program will cover approximately 200,000 sq km (77,220 sq miles) and will be used to identify 330 core target locations. This project is supported by industry funding.

Bahrain Discovers ‘Largest Oil Field In Decades’

Bahrain said on April 1 it had discovered the country’s largest oil field in decades, located off the west coast of the kingdom, according to state news agency BNA.

The new tight oil and deep gas resource is expected to contain many times the amount of oil produced by Bahrain’s existing oil fields as well as large amounts of gas, BNA reported.

The oil discovery is the kingdom’s largest since 1932, BNA said. It did not give any details on the oil reserves discovered.

“Initial analysis demonstrates the find is at substantial levels, capable of supporting the long-term extraction of tight oil and deep gas,” Bahrain’s Minister of Oil, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa said in a statement.

The small non-OPEC Gulf oil producer gets its oil revenues from two fields: the onshore Bahrain Field and the offshore Abu Safah Field, which is jointly shared with Saudi Arabia.

Lundin Petroleum Finds More Oil At Luno II Offshore Norway

Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum said it has found more oil at its Luno II discovery offshore Norway and aims to submit a development plan for the field around the end of this year.

The company has been drilling an appraisal well at the North Sea field and said in February it was “very close” to deciding on its development.

The company said it has increased the gross resource range for the discovery to between 40 MMboe and 100 MMboe from the previous 30 MMboe to 80 MMboe, following the positive well results.

“Development studies for Luno II will now be progressed with the objective of submitting a PDO [plan for development and operation] around the end of 2018,” Lundin Petroleum said in a statement.

A development would be tied to the existing platform at the Edvard Grieg Field, which Lundin Petroleum operates, rather than building an independent installation at Luno II.

Lundin Petroleum is the operator of the field and has a 50% stake. Partners are Austria’s OMV (20%), Statoil (15%) and Wintershall (15%).

Apache Strikes Oil At Garten Prospect In UK North Sea

Houston-based Apache Corp. is adding to its exploration success in the U.K. North Sea, having struck oil at its Garten prospect on Block 9/18a Area-W.

Recoverable resource from the discovery is expected to exceed 10 MMbbl of light oil, which is at the high end of predrill estimates, Apache said in a news release March 23.

Targeting a downthrown structural closure, the Garten discovery well—located 6 km (3.7 miles) south of the Beryl Alpha Platform—hit more than 213 m (700 ft) of net oil pay in stacked, high-quality Jurassic-aged sandstone reservoirs.

“The Garten discovery marks our fourth commercial discovery in the Beryl area in the past three years spanning several play types ranging from the Tertiary to the Triassic,” Apache CEO John J. Christmann IV said in a news release. “Apache’s strategy to focus on exploration near operated facilities is set to deliver significant production without the long cycle time of large-scale projects.”

Apache said the well will be suspended as a future producer and tied back to the Beryl Alpha platform. The company is already working with the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to get approval to start production, which is expected in first-quarter 2019, according to the release.

“Apache has created new opportunities by consistently investing in high-quality 3D seismic data to uncover near-field prospectivity around the prolific Beryl Field,” OGA CEO Andy Samuel said. “Modern data and the application of new technologies are key to stimulating exploration and successfully delivering the full potential of the UKCS [U.K. Continental Shelf].”

Apache has a 100% working interest in the Garten Block.

Total Will Start Drilling Deepwater Oil Well Offshore Mexico In October

Total will begin drilling its first deepwater exploration well at a block it operates in the Gulf of Mexico in October, according to a plan approved March 23 by Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).

The four-year exploration plan for the block in the Perdido Fold Basin just south of the U.S.-Mexico maritime border calls for drilling either one or two exploration wells in the block between October and next March, according to the CNH.

U.S. major ExxonMobil is an equity partner in the Total-led consortium, which won the development rights to Block 2 in Mexico's first deepwater oil auction in late 2016.

The 2,976-sq-km (1,149-sq-mile) block is believed to contain some 1.440 Bboe in mostly light and extra light crude as well as natural gas, according to energy ministry data.

Spirit Energy Makes Small Oil Discovery Offshore Norway

Testing the Tethys prospect in the North Sea, Spirit Energy has made a small oil discovery in exploration well 35/9-14 in the production license 682 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The well is located on the Måløy Slope in the northern North Sea, 66 km (41 miles) west of Florø and 6 km (about 4 miles) northwest of the Gjøa Field. The aim of the wells was to prove petroleum in the Upper Jurassic reservoirs of Oxfordian age and to undertake a comprehensive sampling program should a discovery be made.

The well encountered 20 m (65 ft) of hydrocarbon-bearing poor-quality sandstone of Oxfordian age in the Heather Formation. A downdip sidetrack found 30 m (98 ft) of sandstone with hydrocarbon shows, but again the reservoir quality was poor and below expectations.

“Although the overall result of wells 35/9-14 and 35/9-14 A is disappointing, the wells confirm that the stratigraphic trapping mechanism for the prospect works,” said Arne Westeng, director of Spirit Energy. “This is encouraging for further exploration of the upper Jurassic in this part of the North Sea.”

Extensive data acquisition and sampling has been carried out in both wells and work will now be carried out to evaluate the data acquired and integrate with the existing geological understanding to update the interpretation of the Tethys discovery and other prospects in the area.

Well 35/9-14 is classified as a technical oil discovery. Well 35/9-14 A is dry with shows. The wells were drilled with the semisubmersible drilling rig Songa Enabler and are the first wells in the PL 682 license.

—Staff & Reuters Reports