Offshore staff
(Canada) - Vulcan Minerals Inc. successfully bid for parcel 7 offshore Western Newfoundland in the recent call for bids by the Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB).
Vulcan submitted a joint bid on a 50/50 basis with a private company. The exploration license will have an initial five-year term extendable for four additional years if a well is drilled in the initial term.
Parcel 7 covers 395,000 acres of the Anticosti basin in the Gulf of St. Lawrence immediately adjacent to the West Coast of Newfoundland.
The area is prospective for petroleum in Lower Paleozoic sediments as evidenced by the oil and gas discovery at Port au Port #1, (100 km south), numerous onshore oil seeps, and petroleum production in similar rocks through Appalachia extending down to Texas.
The parcel contains in excess of 1,200 line km of seismic data acquired by Mobil Oil in the 1990s.
A preliminary in-house assessment of interpreted seismic data filed with the CNLOPB confirms the presence of several large structures, at least one of which potentially exceeds 150 sq km in area.
Vulcan and its partner will begin a detailed analysis of all geological and geophysical data toward securing partners to drill the block.
The company is currently drilling Hurricane #2 onshore Western Newfoundland and expects to be completed by Christmas. Onshore seismic surveying is also ongoing as the company advances its exploration program.
12/07/05
