Mubadala encounters oil shows in Thai well

UAE-based Mubadala Petroleum has encountered oil shows in its Manora exploration well and is now getting ready to drill a sidetrack well and two development wells in the Gulf of Thailand. 

The Manora oil field is located in the Northern Gulf of Thailand in the G1/48 concession where Mubadala is the operator and Tap Oil is its partner with a 30% interest.

The Manora-8 exploration well is located in the G1/48 concession within the Manora Production Area approximately 2.2km southwest of the Manora platform. The well was spud on May 20 using the Ensco 115 rig.

Tap Oil said on Monday that the primary objective of the well was to explore for hydrocarbons in the 600 series sands, that are the primary producing sands in Manora.

The well targeted a 3- way dip closure of the Manora Footwall A prospect, in the upthrown (footwall) side west of the Manora Central block. Secondary objectives included shallower reservoirs also productive in Manora and deeper objectives where oil shows were encountered in the MNA-17 well.

According to Tap, on May 25, 2018 at 00:30 hours WST, the Manora-8 exploration well reached final total depth of 2,518 meters MDRT. Less than 3 meters oil pay is interpreted from logs in the deeper target at a level similar to where oil shows were found in the MNA-17 well. Formation wireline testing recovered oil samples from the sand. Tap noted that further analysis is needed to understand the relevance of this finding.

A cement plug is being set to abandon the open hole section and sidetrack the well (Manora8ST) to appraise the 300-500 series reservoirs above and below the productive MNA-18, 490- 60 oil pool. The sidetrack will also provide a pilot for ongoing development of the 490-60 oil pool.

Following completion of the Manora-8 STI, the rig will move to the platform to start the two-well development drilling program. The development wells are required to mitigate production decline during 2018.

The MNA-20 development well will be drilled from the Manora platform to produce proven undeveloped attic and bypassed oil in the 490-60 reservoir in the eastern fault block to the south of MNA-18. The well proposal, contingent on Manora-8ST1 success, has additional objectives dependent on the results of the Manora-8ST1 well. The well will be brought onto production using an ESP pump on the Manora platform.

The MNA-21 development well will be drilled from the Manora platform to produce potential bypassed and attic oil from the 490-60 reservoir in the eastern fault block to the north of MNA-18. The well will be brought onto production using an ESP pump on the Manora platform.