Second Libra Well on Track Offshore Brazil
Petrobras says a second appraisal well in the Libra block in the Santos basin has reached the salt base. Drilling through the reservoir of the LC21 well is expected to follow in the next few days.
On Nov. 6, the Petrobras-led Libra Consortium completed its first appraisal well (NWI) in the northwest portion of the Libra block, 4 km (2.5 mi) southeast of the discovery well 2-ANP-2A-RJS. The location is 185 km (115 mi) from the coast of Rio de Janeiro in a water depth of 1,963 m (3,487 ft).
Results have confirmed a 290-m (951-ft) oil column and a reservoir with good porosity and permeability. Samples collected from the well have confirmed 27° API oil, the same as in the discovery well.
Angola Rig Released
Statoil has terminated its contract for the drilling rig Stena Carron after completing commitments on blocks 38 and 39 in the Kwanza basin offshore Angola.
Results were disappointing and although Statoil sees further prospectivity on its acreage, it wants to evaluate the well data and work up new prospects before deciding on future plans.
Stena Carron drilled wells on the presalt Dilolo and Jacaré structures.
Statoil is participating in eight commitment wells across five blocks in the Kwanza basin, of which four have so far been drilled. Another, operated by Total, is under way in block 40.
Costs of terminating the operations and associated services including the Stena Carron rig contract could reach $350 million.
Huntington Field Production in North Sea Halted
Production from the Huntington field in the UK central North Sea has had to be shut in temporarily, according to partner Noreco.
This is due to continuing gas export restrictions imposed by the operator of the UK’s Central Area Transmission System (CATS) offshore pipeline. As a result, Huntington production will likely remain suspended until early December.
Operator E.ON Ruhrgas is working on various actions to improve future output from the field. One could be gas injection, with a possible test period at the end of November.
If successful, this could open the way to higher oil production during future CATS restriction periods, Noreco says. Longer-term mitigation will probably call for intervention in one or more of the field’s water injection wells, and this could be implemented in mid-to-late 2015.
Japan Hydrate Survey Completed
Ocean Floor Geophysics Ltd. (OFG), in cooperation with Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co. Ltd. (Fukada), has completed a high-resolution CSEM survey of near-surface gas hydrates in Japanese waters using the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Vulcan system for the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
The survey comprises over 500 line km (311 line mi) of high-resolution data collected using the Fukada vessel Shin Nichi Maru. Water depths were from 400 m (1,312 ft) to 1,100 m (3,609 ft). A 3D inversion of the EM data for an area of interest has been completed.
New Zealand Offshore Field Starts Production
OMV has delivered first oil from its Maari field redevelopment drilling campaign offshore New Zealand.
The Maari Growth project is designed to enhance production and recovery from the producing Maari field, 80 km (49.7 mi) off the Taranaki coast in 100 m (328 ft) of water. Production started in February 2009 but has declined.
W MR-8A, which came online on Nov. 28, is producing from a previously undrained compartment in the field. The well was side tracked out of an abandoned injection well and drilled horizontally into the Moki formation to a total length of 3,824 m (12,543 ft).
OMV estimates production capacity for this well at 4,500 b/d of oil.