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Oil & Gas Round-Up: 9 January

09 January 2009

This weeks Round-Up includes a few bits and bobs from the Christmas and New Year period.

Leed Petroleum (LDP) has announced the successful flow testing of the deepest pay zone in the Eugene Island A-8 well, in the US Gulf of Mexico. The zone was tested over a 91 hour period through a 22/64th' choke at a stable restricted gross rate of 6.5 mmcfd and 1,469 bopd (2,557 boepd) with 8 bwpd with a flowing tubing pressure of 7494 psia. Leni Gas & Oil (LGO) also has an interest in Eugene Island.

Leed also intends to defer its 2009 capital expenditure programme until drilling rig and service rates are reflective of oil and gas pricing and the economic environment is more favourable to new drilling.

EnCore Oil (EO.), Stratic Energy (SE.) and Faroe Petroleum (FPM) all reported more successful drilling on the Breagh discovery in Block 42/13 in the United Kingdom North Sea. The 42/13-5 high angle pilot hole encountered 165 feet of gas bearing sand confirming consistency with previous wells, and a subsequent (42/13-5z) horizontal well drilled a total of circa 1,200 feet of gas bearing sand. The well will now be tested.

Testing of Pan Andean Resources' (PRE) Vieman No.1 well at Danbury Dome Texas has not produced commercial levels of gas.

Stratic Energy's (SE.) first operated well 16/2b-5A (Cairngorm) in the UK North Sea has been abandoned before reaching its target due to operational difficulties.

Gold Oil (GOO) expects production testing of the Rosa Blanca exploration well in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia to start next week.

Frontera Resources Corporation (FRR) has commenced drilling operations at the Mirzaani #2 well at the Mirzaani Field in its Shallow Fields Production Unit, Block 12, in the country of Georgia.

Production at Well 1 in Elixir Petroleum's (ELP) Pompano Field in the US Gulf of Mexico has been reinstated. The sand bridges in the 6700 Sand completion have cleared without intervention and production has been restored at a rate of approximately 1 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Leni Gas & Oil (LGO) reported a major increase in production during December to 8,069 boe, some 65% above November with production from Spain more than doubling.

Ithaca Energy (IAE) has installed the Jacky platform and associated pipelines in the Inner Moray Firth area of the United Kingdom. The Jacky field is likely to come on stream in mid March once tie-in activities and modification to the Beatrice field have been completed.

Antrim Energy (AEY) has submitted a Field Development Plan for Phase I of the development of the Causeway field located in North Sea blocks 211/22a South East and 211/23d. Valiant Petroleum (VPP) has a 14% interest in Causeway.

Faroe Petroleum (FPM) said it has an exciting ongoing drilling programme in Norway which in the near term includes three wells, named Hyme, South East Tor and Grosso.

Faroe has also been awarded three new prospective licences under the 2008 Norwegian APA Round, two in the Halten Terrace Area and one in the Northern North Sea. The licences do not have drilling commitments.

Tower Resources (TRP) has agreed to farm out an interest in its Uganda acreage to Global Petroleum (GBP). Global has the right to earn a 50% interest in Exploration Area 5 north-western Uganda, by meeting the cost of two exploration commitment wells. Drilling of the frst well is planned for Q1 2009.

PetroLatina (PELE) was the successful bidder for the Putumayo-4 block in the recent Colombian licence bidding round 'Mini-Ronda 2008'. The Putumayo-4 block covers an area of 51,333 hectares located in the Putumayo Basin of southern Colombia and has over 400km of pre-existing 2D seismic data from which PetroLatina has already identified promising leads.

Black Rock Oil & Gas (BLR) announced that the acquisition of a 33 square kilometre 3D seismic program over the Acacia Este discovery in the Las Quinchas Association Contract area, Colombia has been concluded. Processing is almost complete and interpretation is underway. In addition, the Acacia Este 1 well was put back into long-term production testing on 24 November 2008. Initially production rose to 122 barrels of oil per day and has now settled back to around 40 BOPD.

Matra Petroleum (MTA) has received formal approval from the relevant Russian authorities for a revised work schedule that allows the next well on the Arkhangelovskoe block to be commenced in 2009. The previous requirement was for the well to have been started in 2008.

Ascent Resources (AST) has been requested by Otto Energy Limited, its farm-in partner in the Cento-Bastiglia exploration permits in Italy's Po Valley, not to commence the drilling of the Gazzata-1 well before mid-March 2009 due to problems they are experiencing with their production from the Galoc field in the Philippines.

Nighthawk Energy (HAWK) declared that its Jolly Ranch project in Colorado, USA, was currently viable down to $25 per barrel of oil, and with an expectation of lower service costs could even be as low as $15 per barrel.

Empyrean Energy (EME) has reverted to the original 6% interest in Block B of the Sugarloaf Project which is part of the Sugarkane Gas and Condensate Field, to reduce costs. Empyrean will retain its interest in wells on Block A and B that have already been drilled and completed but will not be participating in further Block A wells under the present arrangement.

Nostra Terra Oil and Gas (NTOG) is making a concerted effort to conserve cash including stopping cash compensation to Management and Directors and making employees in the Ukraine redundant. Negotiations to retructure its liabilities are underway.