What's new in exploration

	Vol. 224 No. 9
PERRY A. FISCHER, EDITOR

 Life-saving locator. Many of you G&G types go traipsing off in remote wild places. Hopefully, if you’re with a large survey crew, your whereabouts are known and GPS is available in the course of your work. But what if there are just a few of you, or you’re alone? What if you fall? In such instances, it would be nice to have a new PLB (Personal Locator Beacon). 

 Monitored by satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the beacons emit a signal that can be tracked by a worldwide satellite search and rescue system when they are activated in an emergency. These are not the 121.5 MHz beacons of the past, which will be discontinued in five years. Rather, they use the highly accurate, quickly located 406 MHz beacons. After a long battle with the military, these PLBs recently became operational in the Continental US, and are available at retail outlets. At sea, a similar device known as an EPROM is used, but there’s nothing preventing a PLB from working, especially in a raft and if it’s waterproof.

 Remember Aron Ralston, last May, the fellow who became pinned under a boulder in a Utah canyon and had to amputate his arm with a small pocket knife to save himself? I’ll bet he wishes that he had a PLB.

 Hawaiian/Emperor debate heats up. The Hawaiian Islands are a well known example of the effects of a mantle plume – a theorized “hotspot” source for the volcanic chains that you see in the figure. You’ll notice a distinct dogleg in the chain. There are two competing theories for this, and as a result of recent Ocean Drilling Program Leg 197, there is now compelling evidence that both are correct.

 Seamount sites along the chain were drilled to collect magnetic and other paleolatitude data. All of it confirmed that the Emperor portion of the chain did not form at 19°, the present latitude of Hawaii. This would seem to mean that, rather than the Pacific tectonic plate moving across a stationary hotspot, forming a chain of seamounts and islands as it moved – which is the prevailing theory – the mantle plume itself is what moved, something like an inner-Earth mantle cyclone.

 However, Pal Wessel at the University of Hawaii and colleagues have written a paper, pointing out eight Pacific hotspots that would have to be moving in unison for the moving plume theory to be correct. At issue is the exact date of the dogleg, and whether some combination of the two theories could account for these volcanic chains that occur throughout the world. 

How was the dogleg formed?

 Another Block 15 find. ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso, and state firm Sonangol have made another deepwater oil discovery, the fourteenth oil find on Angola Block 15. The discovery well, named Clochas-1, tested at 1,764 bopd. It was drilled in 4,250 ft of water to 10,300-ft TD. It is located 240 mi northwest of Luanda. This find, together with previous discoveries on Angola Blocks 15, 17, 31 and 32, make the company’s Angolan resource base an estimated 10.5 billion boe, gross. Block 15 has the potential to recover more than 4 billion boe, gross.

 Four major projects are being developed on the Esso- operated block. The Xikomba project will use an early production system to recover about 100 million barrels of oil, with first oil expected in late 2003. Kizomba A and B developments are each designed to recover about 1 billion bbl of oil. First production from Kizomba A is anticipated in 2004 and Kizomba B in early 2006. Development planning for Kizomba C is under way. In addition to Esso (operator, 40%), other participants in Block 15 are BP (26.7%), Agip (20%) and Statoil (13.3%). Sonangol is the concessionaire.

 Unusual discovery. Pentex Oil UK has made a remarkable discovery at Avington, near Winchester, UK. The Avington-2 exploration well tested at an undisclosed, but apparently encouraging, rate. The structure, if full, contains an estimated 100 million barrels of oil-in-place. The company said it thinks this is the largest onshore UK discovery in 20 years. It plans an extended well test soon.

 The company is drilling a horizontal appraisal well, using the existing borehole, to determine commerciality and productivity, and to prove up those estimates. There are hints that the oil might be rather thick, with recovery estimated at only 10% of the oil-in-place. The gravity of the oil was not released. Pentex hopes to begin production within a year. Pentex has a 50% stake, while the remainder is held by Stirling Resources, Egdon Resources, YCI and Northern Petroleum. 

 First IAGC meeting. The HSE Global Steering Committee will have its first joint IAGC/OGP global forum on HSE September 22nd at Schlumberger House, Gatwick, UK. The two-day forum will address issues related to the global seismic industry. The intent is to keep everyone with a vested interest current on the rules, regulations and other rapidly changing topics in this industry. The forum will be organized and presented by IAGC/OGP. Speakers and delegates will not be charged for attendance to the meetings but will be responsible for their own accommodation and travel costs. IAGC and OGP will provide lunch and refreshments. All participants are invited to a one-hour cocktail event at the end of the first day. A detailed agenda, accommodations and other information can be found at: www.iagc.org/public/iagcogph serev0806.doc.