guyane

And I pinched it from him! :) Worth a read!!


Jungle Jim - 1 Nov'05 - 07:55 - 4729 of 4732


Pinched from the Chaco thread...

Amelanchier - 1 Nov'05 - 07:40 - 4850 of 4851


Interesting article on oilbarrel.com web site:


01.11.2005
Global Energy Development, Chaco And Hardman Among The Oil Juniors Excited By Prospects In South America
South America is proving an increasingly attractive investment proposition for oil juniors looking to add low-cost reserves and near-term production potential to their portfolio. Unlike other energy hotspots, entry barriers here are usually low and governments, keen to attract inward investment and bolster indigenous production, are prepared to offer attractive fiscal and licensing terms.

Global Energy Development, Black Rock Oil & Gas and Emerald Energy are among those chasing black gold in Colombia, where licensing terms have been overhauled to attract the investment and energy of these go-getting self-starters. Elsewhere Antrim Energy is busy in Argentina while Chaco Resources and CDS Oil & Gas are set to explore in Paraguay.

Chaco has also added Colombia to its portfolio. Last week the company raised £5 million through a placing to fund its farm-in commitments to Spanish oil giant Repsol. Chaco announced the farm-in earlier this month. It’s a deal that will allow the oil junior to earn a 25 per cent stake in the Alea field in the Putumayo Basin in return for spending up to US$7.4 million on the reworking of old seismic, re-testing an existing well and drilling a new step-out well.

The Alea field was discovered in 1988, when a test well flowed at 533 barrels per day. A successful appraisal here could pave the way for some early production for Chaco to underpin its exploration activities in little-drilled Paraguay.

Global Energy Development has long been sold on the attractions of Colombia. The company, which also holds exploration lands in Peru and Panama, produces around 1,200-1,300 barrels per day from its holdings here.

Last week the company was set to add to that tally following a successful well test in the Los Hatos exploration and production concession contract area in the Llanos Basin. The Los Hatos-1 well targeted the Mirador formation and flowed more than 400 bpd of oil and 700,000 cubic feet of gas per day. It is already in the process of being hooked up for production, less than a year after Global signed the concession contract.

The Los Hatos contract area adjoins the company’s Alcaravan contract area, home to the producing Palo Blanco field. The company believes Los Hatos-1 is a southerly extension of that field.

“Finding and producing oil in the Mirador formation is especially encouraging as this formation is producing commercial hydrocarbons from Estero-2, the most northerly well within the Palo Blanco field, and now Los Hatos-1, the southerly extension of the Palo Blanco field,” said managing director Stephen Voss, adding that the company will now undertake additional analysis to assess the possible additional Mirador reserves throughout the two contract areas.

High oil prices are opening up previously untested or long-neglected regions of South America. Chaco’s and CDS’s focus on Paraguay is one example of this. Another is the expected imminent start-up of seismic operations offshore Guyane, which lies to the north of Brazil. This project is operated by Hardman Resources, which plans to shoot 1,600 km of 2D data and 300 sq km of 3D to mature a number of leads ahead of drilling a commitment well before the deadline of May 2006.

The prize here could be significant, with some previously mapped leads and prospects showing the potential to hold more than one billion barrels of recoverable oil. Hardman, which has already proved its exploration credentials offshore Mauritania, is excited by this blue-sky exploration project - one that could also prove material to Northern Petroleum, which has a 1.25 per cent stake in the venture. It may not be a big holding but 1.25 per cent of one billion barrels is not to be sniffed at.