Famfa/Texaco upbeat about Africa well in greatest water depth
The Famfa/Texaco partnership is keeping quiet on the deepwater Nigeria well Ikija-1 (OPL 216), spudded in 1,890 meters water depth, the greatest water depth offshore West Africa. The previous record was held by Myanga Marine-1, which was plugged and abandoned with a trace oil by Elf, in the Mer Profund Sud offshore The Congo. -
Texaco geologists say they "can't miss" the entire prognosis in Ikija-1. The well is scheduled to drill to a TD of 5,185 meters and was drilling at 2,471meters (or 8,104 ft) as of the last report in late February.
Located about 13 km west and seaward of Agbami, the partners' huge discovery on the same lease, Ikija-1 is targeting the basin floor fans that hold the most promise in the western segment of deepwater Nigeria. Shell's Bonga and Exxon's Erha are located on this trend, although Bonga reservoirs are in slope channels, not fans. Famfa/Texaco will drill Agbami-3 after the completion of Ikija-1, using the rig Sedco 709.
Ghana gets lucky on W. Tano 1X
The West African country of Ghana, desperate to become an significant oil producer, got a lucky break in early March, as the offshore wildcat Western Tano 1X encountered 150 feet oil column in an Upper Cretaceous channel sand. The oil sand flowed 1,000 b/d of 28° API oil on an undisclosed choke size.
Western Tano-1 was suspended at a TD of 10,143 ft MD. The sand was encountered around 8,900 ft MD. Geologists with Dana Oil company, which drilled the well, said they were sure of more oil in the Lower Cretaceous horizon, about 12,000 ft deep, but pressure problems forced them to plug back the well from 11,500 ft. The 60 ft of sand suspected to be oil-filled in the Lower Cretaceous zone was not tested. "That (lower) zone would have been 40° API oil," said a source. But the volumes are unconfirmed.
Still, the discovery does not significantly improve Ghana's hydrocarbon status. The Tano Field and environs - Tano North, South, and the Tano AX satellite field - have been oil and gas. Elsewhere in Ghana, there have been only shows. Ghana has recently had a run of dry wells. The West Tano well was drilled by the Ocean Liberator semisubmersible.
Chevron has another Angola deepwater find
Chevron appears to have notched another success in deepwater off Angola. The semisubmersible rig Ocean Alliance successfully drilled Tomboco 1 and tested two reservoirs after reaching TD at 12,552 ft MD. There was no information on the drillstem test results as of the press time.
Tomboco 1 is targeting channel-fill Miocene turbidites on a location 2.5 km west of the northwestern extension of the Benguela field. There is a ready genetic correlation of sequences in the well with those of the nearby Benguela and Belize fields nearby. Chevron is the only company so far with any field production in Angola's deepwater. But at 526 meters, Tombocco is located in far deeper water than is the company's one producing field, Kuito, which is in 350 meters water depth.
Mozambique opens up deep offshore
Having had a hard time finding oil onshore, Mozambique has opened its first licensing round, targeting the offshore and deepwater. The country is calling for bids for fourteen blocks, each ranging in size from 6,000 sq km up to 13,000 sq km. The round began on March 30-31 and will run through July 2000.
Mozambique is noted for large gas fields offshore in Temane and Pande, which are slated for development. But like the rest of East Africa, it has not struck oil in any significant quantity. The current licensing round is in the area covered by a 12,609 km spec survey shot by Western in 1998 and a 9,367 km run between Beira and Maputo in deepwater (phase 1 & 2) in 1999 as well as a 3,242 km in deepwater east of ex-BP's Zambezi Offshore tract. The blocks have been delineated from shallow offshore to deeper waters .
With the exit of BP Amoco, Elf is the only major with interest in deepwater Mozambique. The company is expected to carry out a 1,450 km 2D seismic survey on the offshore Zambezi delta. It may choose to convert part of the block to PSC terms or drop it after six-months.
Triton begins seismic interpretation
Dallas-based independent Triton Energy Limited, has started the interpretation of 4,200 sq km of 3D data, recently acquired by PGS over the entire Ceiba structure as well as a chunk of the areal extent of blocks F and G in the deep offshore of Equatorial Guinea. The interpretation will help to delineate the field and pinpoint locations for development wells to drain the reservoirs.
Triton has a fast-track program for the development of the Ceiba field, which it discovered in October 1999. The field development plan tentatively calls for a 10-well program that was planned to begin last month, depending on the 3D interpretation result. Triton, with its sole partner on the lease, Energy Africa, will utilize an FPSO-based development concept for the purpose of early production, and flexibility to increase future production capacity and overall economic benefit. The accelerated timetable for delivering first oil calls for production to commence by year-end 2000.
The FPSO will have initial onboard processing capacity of 60,000 b/d of oil and storage of 2 million bbl of crude oil. It will be converted and life extended in Singapore. The Cameron Division of Cooper Cameron will provide wellheads, subsea production trees, pipeline end manifolds, and the subsea surface-controlled production system for four wells.
Included in the Cameron scope are the production and control lines between the subsea production tree and the pipeline end manifold. Cameron's SpoolTree Subsea christmas tree system will be utilized for the 5 1/2-in. tubing completions.
Remaining agreements, including rig contracts supporting the two-rig drilling program, are expected to be completed shortly. The 275,000 dwt turbine tanker Berge Charlotte presently is in Jurong Shipyard in Singapore where the conversion will take place. Long lead items have already been ordered, and the fabrication and assembly of the initial oil and gas processing facilities, provided by ABB Offshore Systems, are underway.
The vessel measures approximately 350 meters in length and 52 meters in width. The deck area is equivalent to nearly three football fields. The vessel's crude oil storage capacity is 2 million bbl.
