The US-based Apache Corporation (AC) and the France-based Total S.A Tuesday announced they had made a significant oil discovery at the Maka Central-1 well drilled offshore Suriname on Block 58.

They said the well was drilled using the drillship Noble Sam Croft with both Apache as operator, and Total S.A each holding 50 per cent working interest.

'We are very pleased with results from Maka Central-1. The well proves a working hydrocarbon system in the first two play types within Block 58 and confirms our geologic model with oil and condensate in shallower zones and oil in deeper zones.

'Preliminary formation evaluation data indicates the potential for prolific oil wells. Additionally, the size of the stratigraphic feature, as defined by 3-D seismic imaging, suggests a substantial resource,' said John J. Christmann, President and chief executive officer of Apache.

'Block 58 comprises 1.4 million acres and offers significant potential beyond the discovery at Maka Central. We have identified at least seven distinct play types and more than 50 prospects within the thermally mature play fairway. In partnership with Total, we look forward to advancing both exploration and development of discoveries on the block,' Christmann added.

The Sam Croft will drill the next wells in Block 58, starting with the Sapakara West prospect. Sapakara West-1, located approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the Maka Central discovery, will test oil-prone upper Cretaceous targets in the Campanian and Santonian intervals.

The two companies said that Maka Central-1 successfully tested for the presence of hydrocarbons in multiple stacked targets in the upper Cretaceous-aged Campanian and Santonian intervals and encountered both oil and gas condensate.

They said the formation evaluation programme included logging-while-drilling and wireline logs, formation pressures, and preliminary core and fluid analysis.

Apache Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Egypt and the United Kingdom, while Total SA is described as a French multinational integrated oil and gas company founded in 1924 and one of the seven 'Supermajor' oil companies in the world

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan