Exploring New Frontiers between Producing Fields: The Salman Discovery

Al-Mazrui, Mohamed¹; Kooper, Hans¹; Mughairy, Mohamed¹; Kamis, Suryani¹; Masri, Miskiah¹; Lee, Vernon¹; Lin, Vivien¹; Gieles, Thomas¹; Newall, Mark¹; Suarez, Isabel¹; Hartman, Axel²
¹Brunei Shell Petroleum, Seria, Brunei Darussalam.
²Petroleum Development Oman, Muscat, Oman.

The Salman discovery is located in the F1 licence of Brunei's 1st Offshore Agreement Area operated by Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP). BSP is a joint venture company between the Government of Brunei Darussalam (50%) and Royal Dutch Shell (50%). Well Salman-1 (SN-1) was drilled as part of the BSP's Near Field Exploration (NFE) campaign in 2011, which targeted NFE opportunities with a potential for quick development.

SN-1 discovered oil in mildly over-pressured shallow marine Miocene topset sands in Salman Blocks 1 &2, prospects situated mid-way between two producing oil & gas fields: Champion West and Iron Duke Block 11. The discovery paves the way for installation of a new production facility and will unlock nearby untested NFE potential by lowering commercial thresholds. In addition, it provides additional opportunities and challenges in the deeper high pressure.

The successful completion of the SN-1 activities owe primarily to detailed pre-drill subsurface assessment of the opportunity and careful assessment of risks and uncertainties, including Pore Pressure Prediction (PPP). All this led to exhaustive scenario based planning and a unique data acquisition program based on a ‘plan for success' approach.

Project execution - including prospect maturation and well planning - was carried out by an integrated team, resourced from both the production asset, exploration and drilling.

The authors would like to acknowledge Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sendirian Berhad for allowing the use of the material presented.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90155©2012 AAPG International Conference & Exhibition, Singapore, 16-19 September 2012