Discovered

Canadian Superior Energy Inc. and its partners, BG Group Inc. subsidiary BG International Ltd. and Challenger Energy Inc., have reported a new natural gas discovery about 60 miles off Trinidad.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has discovered oil at its West Tonga prospect on Green Canyon block 726 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The discovery well, located in 4,700 feet of water, was drilled to a total depth of 25,680 feet and encountered more than 350 feet of net oil pay in three high-quality subsalt Miocene sands. An Anadarko spokesman said there will likely be some associated gas with the discovery, but he said it was predominately oil. Anadarko operates West Tonga with a 37.5% working interest. Partners in the discovery include StatoilHydro with a 25% working interest, Chevron Corp. with a 20.5% working interest and Shell Exploration with a 17% working interest. “The West Tonga discovery continues the success of our deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration program and further illustrates the value of our extensive hub-and-spoke infrastructure,” said Bob Daniels, senior vice president of Worldwide Exploration. Anadarko focuses on deepwater prospects in the Miocene and Lower Tertiary plays of the GOM that have estimated recoverable resources of more than 100 MMboe.

Columbia Gulf reported Monday that it had discovered a leak on the Bluewater West Leg system offshore Louisiana between Vermilion 245 and Pecan Island. Columbia Gulf said 22 platforms were shut in as a result until further notice. Nine of the platforms had Columbia Gulf meters that were paired with those of Tennessee, co-owner of the Bluewater System; the others had Tennessee-only meters. A Tennessee bulletin board posting listed 24 platform meters where it said physical flows had been suspended due to the Bluewater West Leg leak. The companies declined to provide information about the production volumes involved.

NOVA said Friday the NPS 20 Kaybob Lateral had been repaired and was back in service Wednesday after a line break had been discovered nearly two weeks earlier (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14). There was no customer impact associated with the break, NOVA said.

Northern Natural Gas said late Friday night it has discovered a leak on a supply line to the Redfield Storage facility. This decreased injection capabilities, Northern said, but at this time it does not anticipate any limits on firm injection service.

Devon Energy Corp. has increased its stake to 50% in the deepwater Cascade discovery of the emerging lower Tertiary trend of the Gulf of Mexico. Cascade was discovered by Devon and partners BHP Billiton and Petrobras America Inc. in mid-2002 (see Daily GPI, June 4, 2002).

Trunkline said that as part of post-hurricane inspections required by the federal Minerals Management Service, it discovered that its lateral offshore Louisiana from Ewing Bank 305 to Grand Isle 82 apparently shifted from its pre-storm location. “At this time, Trunkline is unaware of any specific damage to the lateral,” the pipeline continued. “However, the nature of the observations requires that Trunkline reduce pressure on the lateral until further information can be obtained and analyzed.” Trunkline said it cut production on the lateral to zero, and until further notice no nominations are being accepted from Stone Energy’s Ewing Bank 305 platform.

WGL Holdings Inc., parent company of gas utility Washington Gas Light, said Wednesday that it has postponed the release of its quarterly financial report because it discovered inaccuracies in prior financials regarding subsidiary Washington Gas Energy Services, Inc. (WGEServices), its energy marketing subsidiary. The company said earnings for the market unit may have been understated in certain prior periods.

The U.S. Navy, having suddenly discovered that LNG cargoes might be traversing their torpedo testing grounds, last week joined the growing chorus of parties asking FERC to reconsider its decision last month to approve the controversial Weaver’s Cove LNG import terminal project in Fall River, MA.