Offshore staff
Calgary, Canada -- Bengal Energy has been awarded a 100% working interest in exploration permit AC/P47 a 3,485 sq km (1,345 sq mi) offshore block located in the Timor Sea on the Northwest Shelf of Australia.
Permit AC/P47 has been penetrated by only one well, drilled in 1973, downdip and off-structure of what the company reports as a large area of structural closure encompassing high quality Triassic reservoir rocks. Bengal estimates this structure to be up to 90 sq km (35 sq mi) in area and 150 m (492 ft) thick.
The company believes there are additional leads and prospects on the permit, including another structural closure of similar size. The Vulcan Graben to the east is an established producing area where the existence of oil-prone hydrocarbon-source beds is believed responsible for the light oil accumulations in this part of the Northwest Shelf.
Based on mapping from a grid of existing seismic data, Bengal believes that there is a reasonable probability of equivalent light oil source strata extending to the flanks of AC/P47. Located on the Ashmore platform, most of the permit appears to have water depth of less than 400 m (1,312 ft), varying between 50 m (164 ft) and 900 m (2,953 ft).
The permit will have an initial six year term, divided into two three-year phases. The first year of the program involves reprocessing of 985 sq km (380 sq mi) of 2D marine seismic data. In years two and three, Bengal has committed to acquire and process a 750-sq km (290-sq mi) 3D seismic survey.
After the first three-year phase, Bengal has the option of either relinquishing the permit or committing on a year-by-year basis to the subsequent three-year phase of the work program. This second phase involves planning, drilling, and evaluating one offshore exploration well with a depth of approximately 2,600 m (8,530 ft).
03/11/2009
