To: SofaSpud who wrote (11174 ) 6/10/1998 9:32:00 PM From: Herb Duncan Respond to of 15196
FIELD ACTIVITIES TOP 20 LISTED / Carmanah Updates Onado Activity and Program TSE SYMBOL: CKM JUNE 10, 1998 CALGARY, ALBERTA--Carmanah Resources Ltd. ("CKM"-TSE) announced today that the scheduled workover program at Onado has been initiated with the arrival of the contracted workover rig. The rig is a drilling rig which was adapted to perform specific workover tasks, and was selected for use due to the depth of the thick oil-bearing sands, which ranges between 14,000 and 16,000 feet subsurface. A total of five wells are scheduled for 1998 workovers, which will include perforation of new zones, reconditioning of wells, selective fracs and recompletions. Each workover is scheduled to take approximately one month, and work will be initiated at ONV-57, situated within the Onado Field. This work follows a program of reactivation of existing wells, which was initiated in March, 1998, following the formal handover of the field by PDVSA in late February. The program has involved six wells which have been selectively produced since reactivation in order to secure technical data relating to well performance and pressures. Gross production has ranged between 1,000 and 1,700 barrels of oil per day during April and May, exceeding expectations, and first oil has been sold to PDVSA pursuant to the operating agreement. The operator has also advised that the first new well in the Onado Field, ONV-1005, is scheduled to commence drilling on July 15, 1998. The well will be drilled under a turnkey contract and will take about 31/2 months to drill and complete. Modifications to previously utilized casing and mud programs have been made with a view to minimizing formation damage and thereby optimizing productive potential, forecast at 3,000-5,000 barrels per day for each new well. Immediately upon completion of ONV-1005, the operator has scheduled drilling of ONV-1006, also within field boundaries. The 1998 reactivation, rework and new drilling program is budgeted at C$45 million and is forecast to result in an exit rate for Onado of approximately 9,000 barrels per day. Preliminary plans call for a 1999 capital program of C$60 million with year-end production targets of 20,000 barrels per day. Onado was acquired by CGC (74 percent) and Carmanah (26 percent) in July, 1997. Subsequently CGC sold 28 percent to third parties and then all parties' interests were recently reduced by 10 percent when EPIC, a Venezuelan company, exercised its option to acquire its interest pursuant to the terms of the original award. EPIC will be responsible for its pro rata share of all planned expenditures on the block, exclusive of the purchase price. Current ownership of the block is CGC-41.4 percent; Carmanah-23.4 percent; Fivenez-Distral-14.4 percent; Pedco-10.8 percent and EPIC-10 percent. The Onado Area is situated onshore eastern Venezuela and is easily accessible and connected by pipeline to markets. It contains the Onado Field with estimated original oil-in-place reserves of 470 million barrels of medium gravity crude, as well as several other partially developed or undrilled structures. The group has moved quickly to commence operations at Onado. A twenty year Plan of Development for the Area was submitted to PDVSA in December, 1997 and approved in mid-February of this year, with first production on March 20, 1998. A 3-D seismic program was previously completed over most of the block and is currently being reprocessed and reinterpreted to provide an inventory of drilling locations. The primary focus of the group's capital budget over the next eighteen months is to realize the productive potential from the field's established reserves. As the region becomes self-sufficient, step-out drilling programs to evaluate the other identified structures will be undertaken. Carmanah Resources Ltd. is a Calgary-based international oil and gas company with operations in Indonesia and Venezuela. In addition to current Venezuelan activity, a development drilling, completion and tie-back program involving four new wells is underway at Camar offshore Indonesia. Evaluation of bids to provide processing and storage facilities at Langsa is also in progress. Further exploratory drilling at Natuna may be scheduled for later this year upon completion of continuing technical studies, pursuant to a farmout agreement with an affiliate of Exxon Corporation.