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Gold/Mining/Energy : KOB.TO - East Lost Hills & GSJB joint venture -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (10103)	4/7/2000 2:18:00 AM
From: grayhairs	Respond to of 15703

Hi archimedesiii. <<Could you briefly touch on how the presence of natural fractures deep in the temblor changes how we think about ELH? Or has this not been confirmed?>> Sorry. I don't really know how to answer this because I'm not sure how "we" think about ELH and fractures. So, I will only explain my own thinking which very simply is that while individual sands and shales are very likely highly fractured, there is no way in Hell that there are continuous and near vertical fractures which extend from the base of the Temblor package all the way to the top of the Temblor. The mud weight data provides solid technical evidence that confirms that such fractures can NOT possibly exist. Furthermore, the press release regarding pressure data collected during the ELH#1R production test also seems to confirm this. Given my above opinion, there is no way that a shallow well just tapping into the top Temblor sand could ever drain gas stored in any of the deeper sands. Each individual sand will need be penetrated and completed in order to be produced. Also, I do not accept that the water produced during the blowout originated from a near vertical fracture that extended down some 2,000 feet. (I happen to believe that the water originated from such a depth. I just do not believe that it migrated up a fracture system and "across" several sealing shale barriers !!) BKP#1 has clearly shown that extensive fracturing can result in difficult and dangerous drilling conditions. But, at the same time, some fracturing is highly desirable because fractures increase (a) porosity (and hence gas reserves), and (b) rock permeability (and hence production rates). I have interpreted from your statement, perhaps wrongly, that you might believe that the recent gas kicks and flaring are related to the presence of fractures at recent drilling depths. While there may be some evidence that this is the situation, I have not been able to follow the operations closely recently and so I do not know if this is true. I just wish to emphasize that a highly pressured, gas charged, porous, coarse grained sand or conglomerate without any fractures could also result in a kick and a flare. So, kicks and flares by themselves do not provide adequate evidence to confirm the presence of fractures in the lower portion of this reservoir. (But, if there are no fractures present, that's sure going to be one Hell of a nice sandstone !! <gg>). <<Also, any thoughts about the next two ELH wells attempting to reach the point of rocks, and what the potential is of that zone?>> Just as a matter of general principal, I favor all early exploration wells being drilled as deep as practical, but without any compromise of safety. As the reserves in the ELH play are already known to be enormous the JV clearly understands the importance of earning as much of this structure as possible. The JV must also learn as much as they possibly can about the structure, just as early as they can, to be in the best possible position to define the ultimate exploitation plan for all of the different gas pools involved. I understand that the Point of Rocks sands do have favorable exploration potential in the ELH area. I hope this might help in some way. Later, grayhairs