Shell strikes oil, gas in Seria North Flank area, offshore Brunei

Shell strikes oil, gas in Seria North Flank area, offshore Brunei

Singapore (Platts)--4Aug2005

Brunei Shell Petroleum, a 50:50 joint venture between Shell and the Brunei
government, has struck oil and gas in a structure in the Seria North Flank
area, the company said Wednesday. The latest find follows a potentially
significant discovery made last September in the same area but in a different
structure. The Seria North Flank is 3km (1.9 miles) offshore from Brunei's
oldest oil field Seria. It is an area of shallow waters ranging from two to 10
meters deep and stretches about 20km along the length of the coastline. BSP is
pushing to accelerate development of the Seria North Flank to compensate for
the dwindling production from the mature Seria field. Seria was discovered in
1929, production peaked at around 115,000 b/d in the 1950s but has now slumped
to 27,000 b/d. "This is an exciting and very important discovery for Brunei,
representing a new milestone in the history of the Seria field," BSP's
managing director Grahaeme Henderson said.

"Oil and associated gas were found in a section of approximately 140 meters of
net sands with good reservoir quality. We are currently evaluating the options
to produce from this area," Henderson added. The company will now continue to
drill at least two more Seria North Flank structures this year. In 2006, the
plans are to drill a further five wells. According to local media reports,
there could be up to 20 prospective structures in the area and rough estimates
have pegged recoverable oil at around 100-mil bbl from the whole of the Seria
North Flank. Brunei produces a little under 200,000 b/d of light, sweet crude
oil, most of which it exports.

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