Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has made three oil discoveries as part of the exploration campaign in the Gulf of Thailand - one in the Nong Yao D area, and two in the north-east portion of the Wassana concession.
The Nong Yao-13 well, in G11/48 concession, where Valeura has 90% working interest, was drilled to 5,399 feet measured depth (MD) and discovered just over 30 feet of new oil pay across several intervals.
Importantly, this result confirms that oil has successfully migrated into this area of the block, a factor that was seen to be a risk in the Nong Yao D area.
The particular intervals comprising the discovery are relatively shallow new zones which have not been produced elsewhere on the concession. These reservoirs are believed to be recurring across the Nong Yao D area and further analysis on the seismic data is warranted.
According to Valeura, this work will seek out potential locations for follow-up exploration and appraisal drilling in the vicinity, with the ultimate objective of amassing sufficient volumes to justify a future development.
New Wassana Discoveries Could Extend Concession’s Life and Production
When it comes to Wassana concession, G10/48 where Valuera has 100% interest, two wells were drilled north of the Wassana oil field.
The objective was to identify sufficient oil volumes in this northern area of the block to justify a future development project.
The Niramai-4 well was an exploration/appraisal well approximately one kilometer north-east of the successful Niramai-1 oil discovery, which was originally drilled in 2009.
The Niramai-4 well was drilled to 7,312 feet MD and discovered over 90 feet of new oil pay across two key reservoirs, Valeura reported.
Following evaluation, the well was then sidetracked with a high-angle well known as Niramai-4 ST1 to test the Wassana North prospect, a separate fault block immediately north of the Wassana field.
The well was drilled to 12,388 feet MD and discovered approximately 40 feet of new oil pay. The deepest oil-bearing zone is of particular interest in that the wellbore intersected the reservoir significantly downdip of the crest and oil is interpreted to be present to the base of the reservoir, with no oil-water contact identified in the well.
This indicates further potential, both deeper than penetrated, and more laterally expansive in the updip portion of the structure, according to Valuer.
While reservoir properties and volumetric estimates are still being calculated for both wells, when combined with the pre-existing Niramai volumes, the total recoverable volumes are believed to exceed management's requirements to support an additional future development on the G10/48 block, the company said.
Such a development expansion is beyond the scope of the Wassana field re-development project currently being evaluated, but has the potential to extend production and the life of the concession beyond its current economic limit in 2032, Valeura claims.
Valeura’s Drilling Plans
The company's contracted drilling rig has been mobilized to the Nong Yao field, where it will soon begin drilling two infill development wells on the Nong Yao A platform, intended to add to production rates in the near term.
Thereafter, and once commissioning work is complete on the Nong Yao C Mobile Offshore Production Unit, the rig will begin development drilling on the Nong Yao C accumulation. The company is targeting first oil from Nong Yao C in early third quarter of 2024.
“As we continue to pursue adding value through growth, near-field exploration forms an important part of sizing up the organic potential of our assets. With successful results like these, the opportunity set before us is continuing to expand.
“Following this exploration drilling campaign we are returning to both infill drilling and development work, which is intended to increase production rates over the coming months to support cash flow generation, particularly as we see benchmark oil prices rise to new highs for this year. We are also planning for further exploration drilling elsewhere in our portfolio later in the year,” said Sean Guest, Valeura's President and CEO.