Newfield Exploration Company has made a second drilling success on Block 16/05 in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in China. The LF 7-1 well tested a single zone at 6,000 BOPD (35° API gravity oil), which was the maximum limit of the test equipment on location.
The LF 7-1 well, located in approximately 350 ft of water, was drilled to a total depth of nearly 10,000 ft and encountered approximately 250 ft of high-quality oil pay in multiple sands. The well was drilled to test a downthrown anticline and was an offset to Newfield’s 2008 oil discovery, the LF 7-2. Success with the LF 7-1 well set up a deeper oil prospect within the same fault trap, which the company may test in 2010 through a down-dip sidetrack of the LF 7-1 well.
“We estimate that the gross reserves associated with our two discoveries to date are in excess of 30 MMBbls. This development will provide significant new oil production for Newfield beginning in 2012,” said William Schneider, Newfield’s vice president – onshore Gulf Coast and international.
China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has the right to participate in any development with a 51% interest.
Separately, offshore Malaysia, Newfield announced plans to accelerate by approximately six months the timing on its Phase II development of the East Belumut oil field, located on PM 323 offshore Malaysia. As a result, the company will invest $18 million to drill three development wells in late 2009 from its existing production platform.
An additional $18 million will be invested in early 2010 to drill three additional development wells. It is estimated that the six-well drilling campaign will increase 2010 oil production by an additional 1 MMBbls.