More gas in Gulf of Thailand
June 30, 1997 A sixth natural-gas field, the Bumi East, on Block A-18 in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area
in the Gulf of Thailand has been discovered by Triton Energy. The Bumi East-1 discovery well is located 16 km (10
miles) north-east of the Bumi-1 well that discovered the adjacent Bumi Field in late 1996. "The Bumi East-1 well was
drilled on a separate structural feature from the Bumi Field," said Al Turner, Triton Senior Vice President,
Operations. "Testing of Bumi East-1 confirmed the presence of gas in deep, overpressure zones, some of which have
been tested in other Block A-18 wells," Turner continued. "However, limited gas pay was found in the normal-pressure
sands, which were productive in the Bumi-1."
On test, the well flowed at a stabilised, maximum combined daily rate of 34 million cubic feet of gas and 1,681
barrels of condensate from selected intervals. The well was flow tested from three intervals between 7,664 and 8,874
feet through choke sizes ranging from 24/64-inch to 64/64-inch. Flowing tubing pressure was between 359 and 1,632
psi. The condensate was 35-51 degrees API gravity.
The Bumi East-1 was drilled in approximately 188 feet of water to a depth of 9,100 feet. The semi-submersible rig
that drilled Bumi East-1, the Falcon, will move to the south-west portion of Block A-18 to drill an exploratory well
on an untested prospect called Samudra. Drilling continues on the Bumi North-1 exploratory well with a second
semi-submersible rig, the Actinia, approximately 15 km (9 miles) north-north-east of Bumi-1. Following the completion
of the Samudra and Bumi North wells, plans call for one additional exploratory well to be drilled on Block A-18
during 1997.
Block A-18, which covers 295,832 hectares (731,000 acres), is located about 450 km (280 miles) from Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, and 750 km (465 miles) from Bangkok, Thailand, in the northern Malay Basin.
Carigali-Triton Operating Company, the operator, is jointly owned by Petronas Carigali (JDA) Sdn. Bhd., an explorationand production subsidiary of Petronas (50 % interest), and a subsidiary of Triton (50 % interest).
