Page 13 - LatAmOil Week 06 2020

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NEWS IN BRIEF
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UPSTREAM
Karoon Energy provides
update on Marina-1 well
offshore Peru
Karoon Energy’s Marina-1 exploration well in Block Z-38 Tumbes Basin offshore Peru, has drilled down to a depth of 1,654 metres MD. The 13-3/8” casing has been run with the forward plan to drill the primary targets of the Tumbes and Cardalitos formations where multiple tar- get levels have been identified over a 1,400-metre interval.
The shallower sections of La Cruz and Mal Pelo formations were encountered down to 1,654 metres MD and preliminary logging results indicate that the well encountered water bearing sands and some gas shows in thin beds which are not considered to be commercial. The information obtained from the shallow sections provides insights into similar in the deeper waters. La Cruz and Mel Pelo results are inde- pendent of the deeper primary targets.
Operationally the well is progressing to plan. It is on time and on budget, with no safety or environmental incidents. The total drilling oper- ation is estimated to take 30 days and shall drill to approximately 2,994 metres TVDSS.
Karoon’s wholly owned subsidiary, KEI (Peru Z-38) Sucursal del Peru, owns a 40% operating equity interest in the Block Z-38 with Tullow Oil holding 35% and Pitkin Petroleum holding the remaining 25% equity interest.
Karoon Energy, February 10 2020
Barbados issues
offshore exploration
licences to BHP
The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources has issued effective offshore exploration licences, for the Carlisle Bay and Bimshire blocks, to BHP Petroleum.
Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wil- fred Abrahams stated: “While the government of Barbados is aggressively pursuing renewable and alternative energy initiatives, it also recog- nises the importance of diversifying the island’s energy portfolio, to include offshore oil and gas development. With prudent management, Barbados’ offshore oil and gas sector can offer significant opportunities for the Barbadian peo- ple, not only in terms of revenue generation, but also in relation to institutional-strengthening, capacity-building, job creation and technolog- ical advancement. This has been a long time in coming, and the government is eager for BHP
to get started.”
Subsequent to the signing of the licences
in April 2015, BHP submitted the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Plans (EP) for approval, by the Minister responsible for the Environment. After robust stakeholder consultations and multiple revisions of the documents, to ensure that all potential concerns, specific to Barbados, were sufficiently addressed, the Minister responsible for the Environment formally approved BHP’s EIA and EP, effective Monday, January 27, 2020.
The issuance of the effective licences marks the culmination of thorough negotiations between the two parties and grants BHP the exclusive rights to explore for petroleum and undertake appraisal activities in the licence areas.
The Carlisle Bay and Bimshire blocks are located 40-140 km southeast of Barbados, col- lectively totalling approximately 5,000 SQUARE km in area, and are generally located in waters, ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 metres in depth.
BHP will now commence the first three-year licence phase, which includes conducting 2D seismic surveys on the two exploration blocks. With favourable results, BHP may enter an optional second phase of three years to perform 3D seismic surveys and other geological studies, followed by an optional third phase of two years, to drill at least one exploration well in each block.
BHP Petroleum Vice President of Explora- tion and Appraisal Sonia Scarselli said: “We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Barbados government, as we commence the next phase of our work in Barbadian waters ... [This] opportunity leverages our offshore explo- ration expertise, and we are optimistic about our chances of discovering hydrocarbons within
these blocks.”
At a meeting held at the 2020 Trinidad and
Tobago Energy Conference in Port-of Spain, both parties discussed mutual intentions for a transparent working relationship, and the importance of prioritising the environmental, local content and social value components of BHP’s work in Barbados.
Barbados Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, February 09 2020
Trinidad: Touchstone’s
Cascadura well test
confirms substantial
liquids-rich gas find
Touchstone Exploration has announced that flowback testing of the first stage of the Casca- dura-1ST1 well on the Ortoire Block in Trinidad has been completed, confirming that the well is a significant liquids rich natural gas discovery.
Cacadura-1ST1 production testing com- menced on February 4, 2020, with the first stage testing the lower most 162 feet of a total of 777 feet of identified pay in the Herrera formation. Average flowback rate during the final 14-hour test period was 5,180 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), including 26.9mn cubic feet per day (mcf per day) of natural gas and 694 barrels per day (bpd) of natural gas liquids.
Peak flowback rate of 5,736 boepd, including 30.2 mcf per day of natural gas and 710 bpd of natural gas liquids. A total of 28.6mn cubic feet of gas (4,770 barrels of oil equivalent) and 680 barrels of natural gas liquids were produced dur- ing the testing period.
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