Anadarko Petroleum has made a discovery with its Mercury-1 exploration well offshore Sierra Leone encountered approximately 41m net (135ft net) of oil pay in two Cretaceous-age fan systems.
Mercury-1 well is the US company’s second deepwater test in the Sierra Leone-Liberian Basin and was drilled with the Transocean drillship Deepwater Millennium to a total depth of some 4,861m (15,950ft) in about 1,600m (5,250ft) on bock SL-07B-10, approximately 64km (40 miles) east-southeast of the company’s previously announced Venus discovery.
Bob Daniels, Anadarko’s senior vice president, Worldwide Exploration, said: “The Mercury well demonstrates that the stratigraphic trapping systems we’ve identified are working, and that the petroleum system is generating high-quality oil in the primary objective.
“The Mercury well encountered light sweet crude oil with a gravity of between 34 and 42 degrees API, with no water contact. An additional 6.5m net (21ft net) of 24-degree gravity crude was encountered in a shallower secondary objective.”
Daniels added: “These results continue to build momentum in the basin and enhance our confidence in the team’s seismic interpretation and geologic modelling.
“We are preserving the wellbore for potential re-entry, drillstem testing, or a down-dip sidetrack to further delineate the reservoir’s areal extent, quality, and deliverability. We also plan to continue working with the government of Sierra Leone and our partnership to accelerate exploration and appraisal activity in the area in 2011.”
Anadarko operates block SL-07B-10 a with a 65% working interest in partnership with Repsol holding 25%, and Tullow with the remaining 10%.
Azerbaijan’s state petroleum company Socar has made a huge gas find with the Umid-1 well drilled 40km off the coast and 75km south of Baku, the country’s capital.
Azeri president, Ilham Aliyev, said Socar had made a discovery that was at least 7trillion cu.ft (TCF) in size, plus it has some 30 to 40million tonnes of condenstate.
Umid ranks as the largest find since the discovery of the giant Shah Deniz field located nearby, to the east.
Socar VP, Khosbakht Yusifzade, expects the final reserves estimate will be even larger, since the present estimate is based on only one well coupled with geophysical modelling.
“Geophysical data and analysis of test samples allow us to say with 100% certainty that we have found a major field here,” said Yusifzade.
He added that nine wells were drilled on the Umid structure between 1977 and 1992 based on geophysical work carried out in 1953. However, none encountered hydrocarbons.
Yusifzade said the Umid success raised the chances of the adjacent Babak prospect being charged with hydrocarbons.
“Good results at Umid double the prospects of the Babak field. Since Babak is at a lower level, its reserves will be twice as great. So if Umid has reserves of 7TCF (200billion cu.m), Babak has 14TCF (400billion); or if Umid has 10.5TCF (300billion), Babak has 21TCF (600billion).”
President Aliyev added: “We have been absolutely right so far to say that Azerbaijan has proven gas reserves of 2trillion cu.m (70TCF). And we would add there’s probably much more.
“We are famous worldwide as an oil country, but in the next phase, in the 21st century, Azerbaijan will have its say as a gas country.”