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Keeping options open in offshore Newfoundland Co-venturers file plans pointing to possible exploration well in 2006 Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent
There is a “long way to go,” a Chevron Canada Resources spokesman cautioned, but the last year has seen considerable advances towards exploration of what could be Canada’s largest offshore oil project.
Before a decision is made to start drilling the Orphan basin, 210 to 300 miles northeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, the Chevron Canada-led partnership has a full plate of matters to resolve, spokesman Dave Pommer told Petroleum News.
He said a verdict on when and where to drill hinges on analysis of seismic data from this past summer, decisions on gathering further seismic in 2005, rig availability and the completion of environmental hearings in 2005.
But Chevron Canada, the 50 percent operator, and its partners, Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil Canada, each holding 25 percent, made filings in November with the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board outlining a possible program to open up a largely untouched basin.
They indicated the first exploratory well could be drilled in 2006, followed by 11 exploratory or delineation holes over seven years. Filings not a final commitment to drill Pommer said the filings were necessary for the co-venturers to “hold open our options,” but were not a final commitment to drill.
However, the three companies signaled a strong interest in Orphan a year ago when they bid a record C$673 million to obtain eight exploration licenses covering 5.25 million acres, or about 20 percent of the entire basin.
Although unwilling to comment on speculation that Orphan may contain 6 billion to 8 billion barrels, Pommer did concede the exploration program confirms Chevron Canada’s “long-term commitment” to the Newfoundland offshore, where the company drilled the Hibernia discovery well in 1979 to launch development of the Jeanne d’Arc Basin.
He also said Chevron Canada firmly believes the basin “represents a significant opportunity” in the context of the world-wide operations of parent company ChevronTexaco.
At 8 billion barrels, Orphan would be three times the size of Jeanne d’Arc, where Hibernia and Terra Nova are producing and White Rose is expected to start operations within about a year. Hebron-Ben Nevis could also move into development Also on the horizon is the Hebron-Ben Nevis field, which has a possible 600 million barrels of recoverable oil and could move into the development stream early in 2005.
Ron Brenneman, chief executive officer of Petro-Canada, a 24 percent partner in Hebron-Ben Nevis, said Dec. 16 there has been progress on a joint operating agreement and production system — two of the key issues standing in the way of a go-ahead.
One of the most upbeat assessments of Orphan’s potential has been made by Geophysical Services Inc., a Calgary-based seismic surveying company that has independently acquired extensive 2-D and 3-D seismic.
The company said its work points to oil bearing sand that is three to four times the size of Jeanne d’Arc.
In mid-2003, Jerry Smee, a geophysicist and president of G&G Exploration, told a convention that the data gathered by Geophysical Services even up to that stage suggested Orphan could become a “significant” petroleum producing region, despite the harsh climate and deep water.
He also said improvements in acquisition techniques had greatly enhanced the quality of modern seismic data recorded in the basin.
Orphan’s water depths range from 3,300 feet to 6,600 feet, about 10 to 25 times greater than Jeanne d’Arc, which is only 190 miles from St. John’s.
Icebergs in the region could be four to five times larger than any in the Jeanne d’Arc, but they do not pose insurmountable obstacles, said Don Walker, president of Oceanic Consulting of St. John’s.
He said the deeper waters are actually an advantage, because icebergs are less likely to run aground and they provide rigs with more room to move on their moorings.
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