Can new hydrocarbon discoveries ignite activities?

Exploration and production companies have recently cut their spending plans sharply after a decade of double-digit growth, saving cash for dividends as cost increase on mega projects worldwide have squeezed margins and angered shareholders. However, recent discoveries of oil and gas reserves across the globe might reverse the trend and ignite activities in the sector once more.

Here are some of the discoveries by some exploration and production companies which show strong indications for robust activities;

Eni

Eni discovered wet gas and a light oil accumulation in a pre-salt area in the Marine XII block, about 11 miles offshore Congo. The exploratory well, Nene Marine 3, is an extension of the discovery well Nene Marine 1 and the appraisal well Nene Marine 2. Both wells are located at a distance of 1 mile and 2 miles, respectively. Eni conducted a production test, and “in the oil interval, the well flowed more than 5,000 barrels of oil per day at 36 degree API gravity,” the operator said in a press release.

Eni now estimates that the discovery of the Nene Marine billion cubic meters of gas in place. Overall, the potential of the field and the nearby Litchjendilj Marine field is estimated to hold 2.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place.

Petrobras

Petrobras confirms deepwater oil discovery in Potigur Basin off Brazil. The well, informally referred to as Pitu, is located at a water depth of 5,679 feet (1,731 meters), 34 miles (55 kilometers) off the coast of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The well reached the total depth of 17,562 feet (5,353 meters) and detected a hydrocarbon column of 616 feet (188 meters). A formation test was carried out, which confirmed the reservoir’s satisfactory permeability and porosity. Petrobras also made another new discovery offshore Florim and Iara fields in the offshore Santos basin. The field had discovered new, good-quality oil deposits in the so-called sub-salt region.

CNOOC

China National Oil Corporation (CNOOC) made a mid-sized natural gas discovery Bozhong 22-1 in China’s Bohai Bay. The discovery well Bozhong 22-1-2, drilled and completed at a depth of 15,127 feet (4,611 meters), encountered gas reservoir with a total thickness of about 301 feet (92 meters). Gas production at the 22-1-2 well was tested around 14.2 million cubic feet per day. CNOOC also discovered gas at Lingshui 17-2 Deepwater Well in South China Sea when drilling the deepwater exploration well in Qiongdongnan Basin in South China Sea.

Shell

Royal Dutch Shell in conjunction with Malaysia’s national oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) announced an oil discovery offshore Sabah, Malaysia. The discovery was made via the Limbayong-2 well during the appraisal of the Limbayong gas field by Shell. The appraisal well encountered 446 feet (136 meters) of oil bearing sands, and there are plans to conduct more appraisal work on the discovery to determine its recoverable volume. The drilling of the Limbayong-2 appraisal well was carried out by the consortium of Shell Malaysia (35 percent), ConocoPhillips (35 percent) and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (30 percent).

Statoil

Norway’s Statoil discovered gas near the Visund field in the North Sea. The discovery is estimated to amount to between 3.2 million and 12.6 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. The wildcat well 34/8/17-S located on the northeast flank of the Visund field on production license 120 in the northern part of the North Sea – was drilled to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Statfjord group). A secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic (the Lower Statfjord group) and Upper Triassic reservoir rocks (the Lunde formation).

Statoil and its partner Det norske oljeselskap also made gas and oil discoveries on their Askja prospects in the North Sea. Statoil said that it estimated the total volumes to be in the range of 19 to 44 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

Total

Total made a discovery some seven miles east of the Heimdel field in the central North Sea. The preliminary estimate of the size of the discovery is between 3.1 million and 6.3 million barrels of oil. The licensees will assess the discovery together with nearby prospects with regard to further follow up. The well marks the first exploration well in production license 102F.

Tullow

Following commercial discoveries of at least 600 million barrels of oil in Kenya, Tullow has gone ahead to develop the potentials. Meanwhile, the firm acquired new acreage in Suriname, Norway, Namibia and Guyana, boosting its portfolio and helping to diversify it geographically. Tullow said that its development plan for the TEN project offshore Ghana is on track to achieve first oil in mid-2016 after having been approved by the country’s government. Tullow also said that it’s Fregate-1 well exploration offshore Mauritania, has been a success.

ONGC

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) reported four new discoveries, comprising three onshore and one offshore. The sole offshore discovery is in India’s western offshore basin. These discoveries, which are near to the C-37/ C-39, B-9 areas, will enhance the overall gas potential of the area.

PetroChina

PetroChina found 308.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of technically recoverable gas in southwest China’s Sichuan basin. The Moxi block of An’yue field was officially certified to hold 440.4 bcm of proven geological reserves. PetroChina is now building a production facility to pump 4 bcm a year under phase-1 development, which is to be followed by another 6 bcm/year in a second phase. The find is “set to provide abundant gas resources to the national gas grids.filed contains 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 30.

Frank Uzuegbunam