Release: GeoPetro Resources: Updates activity on Seberaba #1 Well in Bengara-II Block
Wednesday, June 13 2007 - 10:56 PM WIB
GeoPetro owns 12% of Continental-GeoPetro (Bengara-II) Ltd. ("CGB2") which in turn owns the rights to explore for and develop oil and gas in the Bengara-II Block under a production sharing contract.
Drilling operations have reached the halfway mark and the well is currently drilling below 2,000 meters on its way to a planned total depth of 4,000 meters. Some promising oil shows in the drill cuttings have been noted above the first of four reservoir target horizons in the Meliat, Tabalar, Tempilan, and Sujau formations, all of which are expected to be encountered below 2,400 meters.
The well is expected to encounter and test sandstones of the Meliat Formation first. The Seberaba #1 well is positioned to test this reservoir interval on a 4-way dip closed dome on the northern end of a large growth fault structure. Meliat sandstones produce oil in fields 25 miles north of the Seberaba #1 well location. They also flowed 19 million cubic feet per day of high BTU content gas and 600 barrels per day of condensate at the Muara Makapan-1 discovery well, which was drilled in 1988 and is located in our Bengara-II Block some 9 miles north of Seberaba #1.
The well?s second target is porous limestone reefs of the Tabalar Formation which can be observed on seismic and are located in an ideal position to receive and trap oil generated from a nearby hydrocarbon generating ?kitchen area.?
Lastly, the Seberaba #1 will test for sandstone reservoirs in the Tempilan Formation and again in the Sujau Formation near total planned well depth. CGB2 geologists have observed both formations in outcrop to the west of the Bengara-II Block where each exhibits both organic rich shales conducive to hydrocarbon generation, and porous sandstones ideal as reservoirs. At the Seberaba #1 location seismic data indicates these formations will be penetrated in a fault closed rollover which should serve as an effective trap.
The Tempilan and Sujau Formations prospects that will be tested at Seberaba #1 are of a very similar, look-alike geology to the recent and nearby Tulip oil discovery and to the Aster Field. The Aster Field is located offshore about 40 miles northeast of the Seberaba #1. ENI reported last month that its Aster #4 appraisal well flowed 5,000 barrels of oil per day of 28 API gravity oil. ENI also reported last month a new oil discovery of ?significant size? 10 miles north of Aster Field at their Tulip-1 wildcat. ENI holds 4 production sharing contract blocks adjacent to and east of CGB2?s Bengara-II Block.
Exploration activity in the Tarakan Basin is heating up, driven by these successes and it is hoped the Seberaba #1 will continue the trend. In the event of a successful test of the Seberaba #1, CGB2 has already selected 3 appraisal drilling locations on the Seberaba structure to further delineate the discovery.
GeoPetro is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in San Francisco, California. GeoPetro currently has projects in the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Australia.(end of edited release)