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Miocene deep water sands were the target for the Macondo well in Mississippi Canyon Block 252, and it is probably from one of these sands that the blowout originates.
Last year, the Keathley Canyon area yielded three of the world’s top oil finds, bringing in high leasing bids and continued drilling activity.
Compared to the other Middle Eastern countries, Jordan does not have a significant position in terms of conventional oil and gas resources. According to Oil & Gas Journal (21 December 2009), the kingdom’s known oil reserves are only one million barrels and that of natural gas is 213 billion cubic feet.
Discovered in 2000 at the Elm Coulee Field in Montana, Williston Basin’s Bakken Formation is currently the hottest onshore oil play in the U. S. and Canada.
Giant discoveries in the pre-salt play are expected to boost Brazil's production to almost 6MMbopd within 10 years.
The surprising discovery of some 600MMbo of oil in Tertiary carbonates in a mature basin has vitalized the Indonesian oil industry.
Afghanistan has just launched its very first licensing round. Three blocks with 6 proven oil and gas fields are up for grabs in the Amy Darya Basin next to Turkmenistan.
"Victoria is probably the largest undeveloped discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf," title Rune Hope said in a presentation he gave to the 3rd biennial petroleum geology conference "Exploration Revived 2009" in Bergen in March. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate it may contain at least 118 Bm3 of gas (4Tcf; 740MMboe), possibly more.
Iceland has announced their very first oil and gas licensing round. Some 40,000 square kilometres are offered on the Jan Mayen Ridge that lies between Norway and Iceland.
Altogether 93 applications were received when the APA and 20th licensing rounds were closed in October and November respectively, proving that there is still a strong interest in exploring for oil and gas both in mature and frontier areas offshore Norway.
A significant discovery of light oil in sandstones with excellent porosity has been made on the Tampen Spur in the North Sea. Prior to this find, the area was thought to be both gas-prone and to have poor reservoir parameters.
Interest in the West African country has increased with the success of a recent appraisal well. It suggests that the Jubilee field may contain over one billion barrels of oil.
Since announcing that it had become self-sufficient in oil in 2006, Brazil has continued to enjoy exploration success, with a number of exciting finds being announced in the last year, particularly in the deepwater Santos Basin.
The Edwards Limestone is a hot gas play in south Texas, while 110 km to the north, it is the primary water source for nearly 2 million people including the City of San Antonio,
the site of this year’s AAPG Annual Convention.
The announcement by BP of
a significant gas discovery in
January in the offshore Nile
Delta confirms the area as
one of the most promising
gas provinces being explored
at present.
Unlike many countries in the Middle East,
Yemen, lying on the southern tip of the
Arabian Peninsula, has a number of offshore
exploration blocks on offer to the hydrocarbon
industry.
Sonangol EP, the national oil company of Angola, recently announced a new licensing round for 2007-2008. This covers 10 blocks, three onshore and seven offshore, including three blocks (19, 20 and 21) in the deepwater Kwanza Basin.
After an absence of 30 years, BP has recently announced that it is returning to Libya
- and in a very big way.
Most of the sub-basins of the North Sea geological province are now considered to be
in a mature exploration phase. The supermajors are consequently on their way out.
Thanks to various initiatives in both the Norwegian and UK Sectors, however, the pace
of exploration is being kept up by a high number of ambitious small companies.
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