Obama for shale gas

President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged support for the U.S. shale gas boom, but said government must focus on safe development of the energy resource.

In his State of the Union address, Obama called for government to develop a roadmap for responsible shale gas production and said his administration would move forward with 'common-sense' new rules to make sure drillers protect the public. 'America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk,' Obama said.

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Oil & Gas Discoveries in West Africa in 2011

A study using the ‘docsearch tool’ by Derrick Petroleum Services reveals that there were 40 successful wells drilled in West Africa.

Out of these, 2 were in the Cote d’Ivoire, 2 in Sierra Leone, 7 in Mauritania, 17 in Ghana, and 1 in Guinea Bissau. 14 were exploration wells and the remaining were appraisals.

13 were operated by Kosmos, while 10 were drilled by Tullow.

A few of these discoveries are listed below

Operator	Name	Country
Anadarko Petroleum	Mercury	Sierra Leone
Anadarko Petroleum	Venus B-1	Sierra Leone
Dana Petroleum	Cormoran	Mauritania
Dana Petroleum	Aigrette	Mauritania
Dana Petroleum	Pelican	Mauritania
Eni	Gye Nyame-1	Ghana
Eni	Sankofa-1A	Ghana
Eni	Sankofa-2	Ghana
Hess	Paradise-1	Ghana
Kosmos Energy	Makore	Ghana
Kosmos Energy	Banda West	Ghana
Kosmos Energy	Teak-1	Ghana
Kosmos Energy	Akasa-1	Ghana
Kosmos Energy	Teak-2	Ghana
Kosmos Energy	Mahogany-5	Ghana

Source: Derrick Petroleum 'DocSearch'

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Ophir Energy to begin 3 well drilling program in West Africa in April 2012

Ophir Energy today (23 Jan 2012) announced it has contracted the Eirik Raude Ocean rig to begin a three well drilling campaign in Equatorial Guinea. 

Ophir plans a 60 day programme beginning in April 2012 of three firm wells, plus one contingent well in its operated Block R. The wells are designed to delineate sufficient additional gas reserves and facilitate a fast-track gas development. To date, Ophir has drilled two gas discoveries in Block R. 

For more information on Ophir Energy or exploration in West Africa, use the Derrick Petroleum ‘DocSearch’ tool, an easier and faster method to view company documents. Click on the link below for a sample search on ‘West Africa’

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Mozambique: Oil & Gas Exploration in 2011 – 2012

Mozambique is a country in East Africa present between Tanzania on the north and South Africa in the south. A string of significant gas discoveries in the off shore north-east has substantially increased the prospectivity in the country and exploration activity looks set to pick up.

The country has two main sedimentary basins; the Rovuma Basin in the north east, where most of the discoveries have occurred, and the Mozambique basin further south. The Rovuma Basin is located close to the border between Tanzania and Mozambique, at the Rovuma delta, and measures 400 km in length and about 160 km in breadth. The area towards the south follows the Ibo horst trend and towards the north, it is featured as a tertiary Rovuma delta.

The Pande gas field, discovered by Gulf Oil, was the first field to be discovered in Mozambique, in 1961. This was followed by the Búzi (1962) and Temane (1967) gas fields. Exploration activity on the Pande/ Temane block by Sasol later led to the discovery of the Inhassoro gas field.

The consortium exploring the Offshore Area 1, led by Anadarko, has been the most successful so far with 4 significant gas discoveries. These are listed below:

Discovery Name	Net Pay (ft)	Gross Pay (ft)	Oil/ Gas	Total Depth	Date	Reservoir rock	Future Work
Windjammer	555	> 1200	Gas	16,930	Mar-2010	Oligocene + Paleocene	Coring program completed (part of appraisal work)
Collier		-	-	10,500	Apr-2010	-	Plugged and suspended following pore pressure issues. Did not evaluate the desired section.
Ironclad	124		Oil	17,402	Aug-2010	Cretaceous	Plugged and abandoned as sands had low porosity and permeability
Barquentine	416		Gas	16,880	Oct-2010	Oligocene + Paleocene	Appraisal
Lagosta	550		Gas	16,307	Nov-2010	Oligocene + Eocene	Coring program completed (part of appraisal work)
Tubarao	110		Gas	13,900	Feb-2011	Eocene	Appraisal

Table 1: Windjammer, Barquentine, Lagosta and Tubarao encountered substantial gas. The Ironclad well is significant because it encountered an oil column (although non-commercial), which was the first time oil was discovered in offshore Mozambique or in the deep offshore off East Africa.Source, Derrick Petroleum Services.

Source: Wentworth Resources

An overview of exploration activity planned in the country is provided in the table below, along with an account of recent exploration from Derrick Petroleum’s “Exploration Database” is provided below.

Block/ License Name	Operator	Onshore/Offshore	Hydrocarbon	Wells planned in 2011	Wells planned in 2012+
Offshore Area 1	Anadarko	Deep Offshore	Gas	1	6
Onshore Rovuma Block	Anadarko	Onshore	Not mentioned		1
Buzi Block	Energi Mega Persada	Onshore	Gas	1
Inhaminga	DNO International ASA (DNO)	Onshore	Not mentioned	1
Blocks 2 & 5	StatoilHydro	Deep Offshore	Not mentioned
Area 4	ENI	Deep Offshore		1

Table 1: Operators planning to drill exploration wells in Mozambique in 2011 and 2012+. Source, Derrick Petroleum ‘Planned Wells Exploration Database’

Offshore Area 1:
Anadarko is the operator of the 2.6-million-acre Offshore Area 1 with a 36.5% working interest. Co-owners in the area are Mitsui E&P (20 %), BPRL (10 %), Videocon Mozambique Rovuma 1 (10 %) and Cove Energy Mozambique Rovuma Offshore (8.5 %). Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, E.P.'s 15- interest is carried through the exploration phase. An overview of the recent exploration activity in this area is given in Table 1, and the 4 discoveries can be seen in Map 1.

The consortium is planning to acquire 3D seismic over the Black Pearl prospect in Q1-Q2 2011, following which exploratory drilling would occur. In 2012, the consortium plans to drill the Atum-1, Golfinho-1, Linguado, Badejo-1, Camarao and Black Pearl prospects.

Onshore Rovuma Block:
Anadarko (37.5%) operates this block and the partners are Maurel & Prom (24%), Wentworth Resources Ltd (15.3%), Cove Energy Plc (10%) and ENH (15%). On October 11, 2009 the first exploration well on the block, Mecupa-1,was spudded. It had minor gas shows and was plugged and abandoned.

At present (July 2011), the partners have agreed to enter a 2nd exploration phase beginning in 2011. The work programme is expected to include additional seismic acquisition and at least one exploration well.

Buzi Block:
This onshore block is operated by Energi Mega Persada (75% WI) and partner is ENH (25%). The Buzi block is located onshore within the central part of the Mozambique Basin and covers approximately 10,300 km2 and lies immediately to the North of the Pande, Temane and Inhassoro Gas fields. The undeveloped Buzi gas discovery within the block, is only 27 km to the southwest of Beira. Initial plans included two exploration wells and possibly two appraisal probes, should gas be discovered. This is yet to be done.

The consortium was planning to spud its first well on the block in 2011 as announced in 2009. However, as on 30 June, 2011, no information about drilling has been released by either of the partners.

Inhaminga Block:
The Inhaminga Block lies onshore Mozambique. DNO International (34% WI) operates the block and partners are New Age Ltd (41%), Harmattan Uruguay S.A., and the Mozambique government (20%). DNO International has planned to carry out 2D seismic program on the block in H2 2009. The first prospect Chite was drilled on 19 November, 2010. However, the well was dry and was plugged and abandoned. The second well Inhaminga High-1 well was spudded in Feb 2011, and was also dry.

DNO says in its 2010 annual report that it plans to drill a well here in 2011. However, media reports mention that DNO will close down its operations in Mozambique after drilling unsuccessful wells.

Blocks 2&5:
Blocks 2 & 5 are located in the Rovuma basin offshore northern Mozambique, and operated by Statoil (90% WI) with partner ENH (10%). A 1,300 sq km 3D seismic survey was carried out between March & June 2010 and interpretation is ongoing as of March 2011. The decision to extend the license and commit to drilling an exploration well was supposed to have been made by 1 June 2011, but as on 1 July, this decision is still forthcoming. 

Area 4:
ENI operates the block with a 70% WI. Other partners are Galp Energia (10%), ENH (10%) and KOGAS (10%). Area 4 is located in deep water up to a depth of 2,600 metres in the Rovuma Basin and covers an area of 17,646 sq kms in a previously unexplored geological basin, and this operation is part of Eni's strategy to identify new areas with a high exploration potential.

The consortium is planning to drill a well in September 2011. 

Uganda Oil and Gas Exploration in 2011 & 2012

Although the hunt for oil in Uganda dates back to the 1920’s, commercial discoveries have only been made in the last 5 years. The dominant player by far has been Tullow Oil which has had proven discoveries of a billion barrels with yet to be drilled (P50) estimates of another 1.5 billion barrels. The discovery of these significant reserves has ushered in a new chapter in Uganda’s development, and generated renewed interest in the petroleum potential in the country. Uganda has 10 exploration blocks that run from the Sudan border in the north through Lake Albert on the western border with Democratic Republic of Congo and south to Lake George.  However, only 5 blocks have been licensed. The other blocks are due to be licensed after the government completes a new regulatory framework over oil exploration. These blocks are Blocks 3B, 3C, 3D and 4A. The government has said it is planning a new licensing round later this year and is offering 5 blocks. 

Tullow initially planned to have first oil production by 2011, but tax disputes between the newly acquired Heritage Oil and the Ugandan government have led to a delay with first oil now expected to flow in 2012. The other 2 players who have been active are Tower Resources and Dominion Petroleum. However, these companies have so far been unsuccessful with limited drilling attempts.

The status of exploration activity in Uganda and exploration plans for 2011 and 2012 is looked at below. 

The following table is an extract from Derrick Petroleum Services “Exploration Database” which here shows limited information about exploration drilling in Uganda in 2011 and 2012. Further information on ownership and recent activity is provided below the table and map that follows. 

Block/ License Name	Operator	Status	Wells planned in 2011	Wells planned in 2012+	Date of last update
Block 3A	Tullow Oil	Announced		2	7/8/2011
Block 1	Tullow Oil	Announced	1		6/7/2011
Block 2	Tullow Oil	Ongoing	1		4/6/2011
Exploration Area 4B or EA4B	Dominion Petroleum Ltd	Ongoing		2	7/13/2011
Block EA5	Tower Resources Plc	Ongoing	1		5/18/2011

Source: Derrick Petroleum Services ‘Exploration Database’

Figure 1: Map of blocks and hydrocarbon fields in Uganda. Source: Heritage Oil & Gas. Note: All Heritage blocks in map have been acquired by Tullow Oil.

Block 3A
 Tullow Oil operates this block with 33.33% interest with partners CNOOC and Total also having 33.33% interest each. The Kingfisher-1 well was drilled in 2006 and subsequent appraisal has shown this to be a major field with the Kingfisher-3 well establishing 200 million barrels of recoverable reserves. 2 other prospects, the structurally attractive Pelican prospect and the large Crane prospect have been mapped on seismic and were announced to be drilled in 1H 2010. However, at the time of writing they are yet to be drilled, and pending further announcement it is likely that this will occur only in 2012.

Block 1/ Exploration Area 1 (EA1)
Tullow Oil also operates this block with 33.33% interest and with partners CNOOC and Total also having 33.33% interest each. Block 1 or Exploration Area 1 (EA1) is located at the northern end of Lake Albert, onshore Uganda and covers an area of 3659 sq kms. A successful 3 well drilling program (Warthog-1/Ngiri, Buffalo-1/Jobi-1 & Giraffe-1/Rii) was completed in 2008 unlocking a billion barrel potential in the Block. This was said to be the largest onshore oil discovery in Sub-Saharan Africa in over 20 years. This was followed by the drilling of the Ngiri-2 well in 2010. 2 wells were drilled in 2011, the Jobi-East-1 (to test the Jobi East prospect adjacent to the giant Jobi-Rii oil field )and Mpyo-3 appraisal well.

Jobi-East-1 discovered 20 metres of net hydrocarbon bearing reservoir.  Successful logging and sampling operations confirmed the presence of oil in two zones of high quality reservoir totalling 15 m of net pay. In addition, gas was also logged and sampled within sands totalling 5 m of net pay. The well was drilled by the OGEC RR600 and reached a total depth of 563 m. It has been suspended allowing for future re-entry to conduct production testing operations. An accelerated drilling campaign comprising up to four Jobi-East appraisal wells is planned for the second half of 2011 to assess the full extent of this important new oil accumulation.

The Mpyo-3 well intersected 21 m of oil bearing reservoir sands at a depth of 340 metres. The well was drilled 1.6 km southeast of Mpyo-1 in a down-dip location within a fault block adjacent to the Mpyo-1 discovery. Successful logging operations confirmed the sands to be of good quality and that they contained highly viscous oil similar to that encountered in Mpyo-1. The well was drilled by the OGEC IRI-750 to a total depth of 513 m and was suspended allowing for future re-entry to conduct production testing operations.

Pending further announcement, it is unlikely that any new exploration wells will be drilled on this block in 2H 2011. However upto 4 Jobi East appraisal wells are planned to be drilled in 2011.

Block 2/ Exploration Area 2 (EA2)
Tullow Oil also operates this block with 33.33% interest and with partners CNOOC and Total also having 33.33% interest each. Block 2 or Exploration Area 2 (EA 2) covers an area of about 3,900 sq km and is located on the eastern edge of Lake Albert of Butaiba region in Uganda. Tullow Oil has planned an eight-well program in Block 2 which commenced in March 2008. Out of the eight wells, two were drilled in 2008 and five were drilled from Q1-Q3 2009 with the last well expected to be drilled in late July 2009. Karuka-2 and Nsoga-1 exploration wells were drilled in Mar & May 2009 respectively. Nsoga-1 was a commercial discovery. Elsewhere in Block 2, Ngassa-2 was also drilled around the same time and in September 2009 it discovered oil. The well has been suspended as an oil producer. Kigogole-3 well was drilled in June 2009 and was suspended as a future producer. Wahrindi-1 was drilled in July 2009 and it encountered four meters of net oil pay. The last well, Ngara-1 was completed in August 2009 and was suspended as a future oil producer. According to Tullow, the Butiaba E&A prospect is scheduled to be drilled in 2011 on Blocks 1 and 2.

Block 5/ Exploration Area 5 (EA5)
Block EA5 is a 6,040 sq km license area situated at the northern end of the Albertine Graben in northern Uganda. The first exploration well, Iti-1 was completed in June 2009 and was found to be dry. The second well, Avivi-1 was spudded on February 13, 2010 and also failed to encounter hydrocarbons. Tower Resources operates the block with 100% interest although Global Petroleum, which funded most of the cost of Iti-1 and 25% of the cost of Avivi-1, has earned the option to take a 25% interest in the license. In May 2011, Tower Resources announced that a seismic survey is ready to begin so that a well can be drilled before the end of 2011.

Block 4B/ Exploration Area 4B (EA4B)
Exploration Area 4B or EA4B covers an area of 2,021 sq km in the Lake Edward and Lake George segment of the Albertine Graben. The adjacent basins, Southern and Northern Lake Albert and the Pakwach, have been the sites of several major oil discoveries, including those of the Kingfisher, Warthog and Buffalo-Giraffe (Jobi-Rii) fields. In November 2008, Dominion completed the acquisition of 371 kms of 2D seismic data onshore and 130 kms on Lake Edward. According to their July 2009 update, Dominion had identified four ready-to-drill prospects in this block which had an unrisked gross recoverable resource potential of 378 mmboe. The first exploration well Ngaji-1 was spudded on the block on June 21, 2010. However the well did not encounter any significant hydrocarbons in it. Dominion Petroleum operates the block with a 100% interest. As of July 2011, Dominion's current exploration efforts in this area are focused on two prospects: Prospect B, with 49.4 mmboe net prospective P50 resources; and the Izzy Prospect, with 83.7 mmboe net prospective P50 resources (management estimates). In 2011, Dominion intends to acquire 300-500 km of new 2D seismic in the Lake Edward Basin as well as carry out a surface geochemistry survey. It is assumed that the 2 prospects mentioned above will be drilled in 2012 after processing and interpretation of seismic and analysis of geochemistry data.

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