Petronas, Sudan partners discover new oil well
The New Straits Times, June 5
PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and its partners in Sudan made an encouraging oil discovery at Thar Jath-2, off Block 5A oil well recently, with oil flowing at a cumulative rate of over 2,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The Thar Jath-2 is the first appraised well to be drilled on the Thar Jath structure on Block 5A, Sudan.
Other partners of Block 5A are Swedish Lundin Oil AB through its subsidiary Lundin Sudan Ltd, OMV (Sudan) Exploration GmbH and Sudapet.
In its website, Lundin Oil said the well flowed at a cumulative rate of over 2,000 bpd from two separate tests in the Bentiu and the Aradeiba reservoirs.
The well was drilled 3.1km away from the discovery well, Thar Jath-1, which flowed at a total rate of 4,260 bpd from four separate tests conducted.
The total net pay within the structure is now established to be over 100 metres.
Lundin Oil president Ian Lundin, in the website, considered the results from Thar Jath-2 as very encouraging, and combined with the recently acquired 3D seismic, will give the joint-venture companies valuable information on which to base a conceptual development plan.
The completion of Thar Jath-2 marks the end of this year's work programme on Block 5A.
Operations on the block will resume in the fourth quarter of this year ahead of the next dry season.
Lundin Sudan is the operator with a 40.4 per cent interest in Block 5A.
Its partners are Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd with 28.5 per cent, OMV (Sudan) Exploration with 26.1 per cent and Sudapet with 5 per cent.
Early this month, the joint-venture company was awarded the exploration and production contract for Block 5B onshore Sudan.
Block 5B will complement Petronas' existing operations in Sudan's oil-rich Muglad Basin, namely in Blocks 1, 2 and 4 and Block 5A.
The contract was concluded in Khartoum on May 4, with the signing of the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) between Petronas and the three companies as partners for Block 5B and Sudan's Oil Exploration and Production Au-thority.
Petronas through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd will hold a 41 per cent interest in the block, while Lundin Sudan, OMV and Sudapet will each own 24.5 per cent, 24.5 per cent and 10 per cent stakes respectively.
According to a statement, the company said Petronas Carigali Overseas will be the operator of the block.
Under the EPSA, the contractor will reprocess all existing seismic data, acquire and process 1,000km line of new 2-D seismic data, as well as drill three wildcat wells.
The contractor's minimum financial commitment for the contract is US$33 million (US$1 = RM3.80).
Block 5B is adjacent to Blocks 1, 2 and 4 and Block 5A.
It covers an area of about 22,232 sq km and is located about 800km southwest of Khartoum.
It is a remote area with no wells drilled previously.
Petronas made its entry into Sudan through the integrated development of Blocks 1, 2 and 4 projects which included the construction of a 1,500km pipeline from the fields to Port Sudan.
The project is being undertaken by a consortium known as Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co Ltd with Petronas holding a 30 per cent interest.
The other consortium members are China National Petroleum Corp (40 per cent), State Petroleum Corp (25 per cent) and Sudapet (5 per cent).
First oil from the project was exported in August 1999, elevating Sudan to the rank of oil exporting nations and earning valuable revenue for the country's development programmes.
The consortium has successfully enhanced the project's recoverable crude oil reserves from 600 million barrels to 840 million barrels, and the project is currently producing an average of 200,000 bpd.
In Block 5A, Petronas and its partners in the block have made an encouraging discovery with potential crude oil reserves of about 230 million barrels.
Further assessment is being conducted on the block by the partners before embarking on the development stage. |
