01-16-2014, 02:07 AM
The Antelope Deep structure is not something new to IOC management I don't believe. It could just be that with more seismics it has become more interesting. Back in January, 2010 IOC was drilling Ant 2 and good old Joshua Kalinoe got all excited when there were some oil shows in the formation mud and blabbed to the media. IOC was forced to say something. All they ever said was that they would be looking at data to see if there really was anything of commercial quantity, etc. Interestingly this comment came out in an industry publication from a conversation with Phil:
"InterOil Corp.’s Antelope-2 vertical natural gas well in Papua New Guinea’s remote Gulf Province bounded to a world record Dec. 1, 2009, testing at a rate of 705 MMcf/d and 11,200 bc/d. The well obliterated the previous record for a vertical gas well, also set by InterOil with its Antelope-1. That well tested at 382 MMcf/d and 5,000 barrels of condensate per day, earning recognition from Guinness World Records. But this latest test may not tell the whole story of the play’s potential. InterOil, a public independent based in The Woodlands, Texas, and Cairns, Australia, plan to drill the well 1,100 ft (335 m) deeper to test potential for an oil leg in a deeper formation. The company may also drill its first horizontal leg from the Antelope-2 vertical hole. InterOil is developing the large Antelope structure, which also contains reef facies."
We all know that instead of drilling the 1,100 feet deeper (I believe), they turned and did the horizontal extension which went further than was expected and helped deliniate the structure further. I don't see or remember any further discussions on that deeper structure until now, and of course the talk of oil in Ant (as we know it) stopped. Others may have more info or better memories, but there is a renewed interest by management of what Ant Deep might be and what it might contain.
"InterOil Corp.’s Antelope-2 vertical natural gas well in Papua New Guinea’s remote Gulf Province bounded to a world record Dec. 1, 2009, testing at a rate of 705 MMcf/d and 11,200 bc/d. The well obliterated the previous record for a vertical gas well, also set by InterOil with its Antelope-1. That well tested at 382 MMcf/d and 5,000 barrels of condensate per day, earning recognition from Guinness World Records. But this latest test may not tell the whole story of the play’s potential. InterOil, a public independent based in The Woodlands, Texas, and Cairns, Australia, plan to drill the well 1,100 ft (335 m) deeper to test potential for an oil leg in a deeper formation. The company may also drill its first horizontal leg from the Antelope-2 vertical hole. InterOil is developing the large Antelope structure, which also contains reef facies."
We all know that instead of drilling the 1,100 feet deeper (I believe), they turned and did the horizontal extension which went further than was expected and helped deliniate the structure further. I don't see or remember any further discussions on that deeper structure until now, and of course the talk of oil in Ant (as we know it) stopped. Others may have more info or better memories, but there is a renewed interest by management of what Ant Deep might be and what it might contain.