“If I had to do it over again I would do the same thing. I love the chase. The thrill of exploration.”

Bill Barrett, IPAMS 1993 Wildcatter of the Year, 2003 Hall of Fame Inductee

Oil and gas exploration is an art, and even though the golden age of discoveries is likely in the rearview mirror, a certain appreciation will always remain for the pioneers and wildcatters of the energy industry. Listed below are hydrocarbon discoveries achieved, chronologically, in the first half of 2015:

Date

Company

Location

Formation

Details

July 1 Alvopetro Offshore Brazil Reconcavo Basin Drilled to 6,873’
June 22 YPFB Andina Bolivia Santa Cruz Drilled to 10,620’, IP rate of 700 BOEPD
June 15 Contango Oil & Gas Weston County, Wyoming Muddy Sandstone 13,116 TMD, peak 24-hr rate of 908 BOEPD
June 15 Pemex Gulf of Mexico, Litoral of Tabasco Shallow waters Believed to hold 350 MMBO
June 12 Santos South Australia Cooper (eighth discovery of year) Drilled to 10,423’, holds 15’ of net pay
June 9 Statoil Northwest Norwegian Sea Aasta Hansteen Field Drilled to 8,385’, gas column of 230’
June 6 Repsol Bolivia Margarita-Huacaya 14.6 MMBOE of production from the block in 2014
June 4 Lundin Norway Northwest Norgewian Sea Draupne IP rate of 230 BOPD, poor reservoir quality
June 1 LLOG Exploration Gulf of Mexico Miocene 50 foot oil column
May 28 W&T Offshore Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Mississippi Canyon Block #538, IP of 9 MBOEPD
May 28 Premier Oil Falkman Islands North Falkman Drilled to 8,290’
May 27 Tourmaline Oil Alberta Lower Montney Turbidite 30-day IP rate of 1,426 BOEPD
May 27 CNOOC Eastern South China Sea Pearl River Mouth Basin Drilled to 9,744’, pay zone of 115’, IP test of 8MBOPD
May 26 Eni SPA Offshore Libya 7 miles north of the Bouri oil field Estimated flow of 3,000 BOEPD once optimized
May 20 ExxonMobil Offshore Guyana Stabroek Block, 120 miles offshore Drilled to 17,825’, pay zone of 295’
May 2 Repsol Bolivia Margarita-Huacaya Block
May 1 Mazarine Energy Tunisia Ordovician El Hamra, El Atchane Drilled to 12,960’, IP test at 4,300 BOPD, 395 Mcf/d
April 30 Chevron Offshore western Australia Mungaroo Sand Water depth of 3,175’, gas column of 440’
April 27 Surge Energy Southwest Saskatchewan Upper Shaunavon Reserve estimates expanded to 250 MMBO
April 27 Kosmos Energy Offshore Mauritania Upper and Lower Cenomanian Drilled to 15,190’, four pay zones
April 20 Repsol Algeria Sud-Est Illizi Block Drilled to 4,288’, IP rate of 175 Mcf/d
April 20 Pacific Rubiales Offshore Brazil Santos Basin Drilled to 7,805’, 699’ oil column
April 17 Petrobras Brazil Espirito Drilled to 4,304’
April 17 Petrobras Brazil Amazon Drilled to 6,692’
April 13 Statoil Norwegian Sea Aasta Hansteen Drilled to 10,813’, gas column of 125’
April 9 Statoil Gulf of Mexico,
Walker Ridge #160
Miocene Yeti Appraisals underway
April 8 Woodside Petroleum Offshore Western Australia Jurassic sandstone 61’ gas column
March 30 Statoil Offshore Tanzania Block 2 Additional 1.0 to 1.8 Tcf of reserves
March 26 Santos Offshore Malaysia Block R Net oil pay of 220’
March 18 Statoil Norwegian Sea Nise Drilled to 8,904’, gas column of 345’
March 16 Eni SPA Offshore Libya Metlaoui IP rate of 29 MMcf/d, 600 BOPD
March 11 Andes Energia Argentina Vaca Muerta Drilled to 7,851’, holds 410’ of gross pay
March 9 Foxtrot Intl. Offshore Ivory Coast Turonian, Lower Senonian Drilled to 9,150’ IP rate of 25 MMcf/d, 1,675 BOPD
March 9 BP plc East Nile Delta Oligocene Drilled to 21,000’, gas pay of 164’
February 18 GeoPark Colombia Guadalupe and Mirador Drilled to 11,293’, IP rate of 1,000 BOPD
February 10 Questerre Energy Alberta Montney IP rate of 340 BOEPD
February 10 Canacol Energy Colombia Upper Cienaga de Oro IP test of 7,947 BOEPD from two zones
February 6 Lundin Petroleum Norwegian Sea Utsira Noncommercial
February 4 Bharat/ Videocon Offshore Brazil Sergipe Basin Drilled to 19,882’ in 8,100’ of water depth
January 22 Tullow Oil Kenya North Kerio Drilled to 10,030’, pay zone of 330’
January 12 Gulfsands Petroleum Morocco Rharb Centre IP rate of 7.1 MMcf/d
January 9 Petrobras Offshore Brazil Sergipe,
Muriu area
Drilled to 18,113’, discovered 183’ of net pay
January 6 Chevron Gulf of Mexico Lower Tertiary 140 miles off coast
January 6 CNOOC South China Sea Qiongdongnan Drilled to about 13,123’, pay zone of 240’

 


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