Offshore staff
MELBOURNE, Australia -- The Maari joint venture has approved drilling of the Manaia-1 appraisal well, scheduled to begin in August.
The Manaia-1 appraisal well will be drilled as an extended reach horizontal well from the Maari platform using theEnsco 107 jackup rig. It is scheduled to take 47 days to drill and will target a location which interpretation of reprocessed PSDM 3D seismic data indicates will be updip from the discovery well, Maui-4. It is expected to confirm the presence of the oil column established by Maui-4. If producible hydrocarbons are established, the well will be completed and tied into the Maari facilities for subsequent testing and production, according to Cue Energy.
The Manaia field is located approximately 10 km (6 mi) southwest of the Maari field in Exploration Permit PEP 38413 in the offshore Taranaki basin. The field was discovered in 1970 by the Maui-4 well. The well intersected an oil accumulation in the Mangahewa formation reservoir, which tested at 575 b/d of oil. Two additional oil accumulations were also encountered in the Moki formation (main reservoir at Maari field) but were not tested at the time.
The Manaia field is assessed to have mean oil in place of 58 MMbbl within the Mangahewa reservoir, the company says.
"This is an exciting opportunity to add value to the Maari field development," says Bob Coppin, CEO of Cue Energy. "In a success case it will provide additional production from both the Manaia field and possible increased recoverable volumes from Maari as a result of field life extension."
05/20/2009
