BULLETIN OF T H E AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS

VOL. 50, NO. 3 (AUGUST. 1966). PP. 1767-1781, 5 FIGS.. 19 TABLES

PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST IN 1965i

HOWARD W. DALTON= AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY^
New York, New York
ABSTRACT
Oil production from non-Communist countries of the Far East increased from 673,951 b/d in 1964
to 722,140 b/d in 1965, with gains reported in Indonesia, India, and Brunei-Malaysia. Exploratory and
drilling activity generally expanded throughout the region, although a decline in activity was noted in
the Philippines. At least 500 party-months of exploration, excluding wildcat drilling, were carried out in
1965, and more than 420 exploratory and development wells were drilled, with a combined footage in
excess of 2,000,000 ft. A 40% reduction in the number of dry holes compared with 1964 also was noted.
Taiwan again this year reported the largest percentage increase in crude oil and gas production, and
completed the deepest well in the Far East as a producer.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ments in this area are reviewed alphabetically by

Information on petroleum developments in the country.
Far East is gratefully acknowledged from the fol- Exploratory activity other than wildcat drilling
lowing sources. generally was at a higher level in 1965 than in
1964, principally because of increased efforts in
BRUNET- Asiatic Petroleum Corp., New York Brunei-Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Papua.
MALAYSIA Harry Wassail & Assoc, Inc.,
Geneva, Switzerland Exploration in the Philippines in 1Q6S was cur-
BURMA General Exploration Co., Los An- tailed sharply to about half the number of party-
geles, California
Harry Wassail & Assoc, Inc., months of geological and geophysical work re-
Geneva ported in 1964. Activity in Taiwan, Japan, Portu-
CHINA, Chinese Petroleum Corp., Taipei, guese Timor, and Thailand remained at about the
TAIWAN Taiwan
Harry Wassail & Assoc, Inc., same level. India led by far in 1965 with a total
Geneva of 53 crews engaged in seismic, gravity, and geo-
INDIA Ministry of Petroleum & Chemicals, logical work. In 1965, 312 party-months of all
New Delhi
The Burmah Oil Co., Ltd., London types of geological and geophysical surveys were
JAPAN Harry Wassail & Assoc, Inc., reported, a considerable increase over the 238
Geneva party-months reported in 1964. In addition, a
PAKISTAN Ministry of Industries and Natural
Resources, Islamabad/Rawalpindi total of 500 party-months was estimated for all
The Burmah Oil Co., Ltd.. London the Far East (based on the number of crews in
Esso Standard Eastern, Inc., New operation where party-months were not given plus
York
Sun Oil Co., Philadelphia reported party-months), surpassing the 400 party-
PAPUA Marathon International Oil Co., months estimated in 1964 on the same basis.
Findlay, Ohio
Oil Search, Ltd., Sydney Development and exploratory drilling also in-
Phillips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, creased in 1965. More than 400 wells, totaling
Oklahoma
PHILIPPINES Bureau of Mines, Manila more than 2,000,000 ft., were drilled in 1965,
PORTUGUESE Timor Oil Ltd., Sydney compared with 350 wells with a combined total
TIMOR footage of about 1,600,000 in 1964. The number
THAILAND Union Oil Co. of California, Los
Angeles of oil or gas wells increased overall in 1965, and
the number of dry holes dropped nearly 40%
INTRODUCTION
from 1964. As in 1964, Japan led with 245 wells
with a total footage of 1,241,521, followed by
For the purpose of this report, the Far East India with 64 wells totaling 379,871 ft.
comprises the countries from West Pakistan east-
Oil production in the non-Communist countries
ward to Japan and Papua, but does not include
of the Far East was estimated to have increased
Australia and New Zealand. Petroleum develop-
from 673,951 b/d in 1964 to 722,140 b/d in
' Manuscript received and accepted, May 4, 1966. 1965. The countries mainly responsible for this
^ American International Oil Company. increase are: Indonesia, India, and Brunei-Malay-
1767
 HOWARD W. DALTON AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY

3 SEDIMENTS POSSIBLY FAVORABLE FOR PETROLEUM PROSPECTS

BLANK AREAS DENOTE CRYSTALLINE ROCKS, EXPOSED OR THINLY COVERED
AND SEDIMENTS SEVERELY DISTORTED, METAMORPHOSED OR OTHERWISE JAVA
UNFAVORABLE FOR PETROLEUM PRODUCTION.
_
70"

FIG. 1
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST 1769

no* IZO'
1770 HOWARD W. DALTON AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY

TABLE I - REPORTED GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL PARTY-MONTHS IN THE FAR EAST IN 1965

Surface Struct ure

Area Geology Selsmic Gravity Ai rphoto D r i l l i ng Ai rmagnetometer Total

Brunei-Malaysia 17.8 17.8

Burma N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A N.A. N.A.
China, Taiwan ]k 24 12
- - - 50.
India (17 (26 c r e w s ) ^ (10 c r e w s ) ' -
Indonesia
c r e w s ) •'•'
4.5
-
10
-
6
- -
99.5
67 12
-
Japan (5 crews)'- (2 c r e w s ) - " r (1 crew)'''
- - - -
Pakistan 28 32.8 20.5 - - 4.3 85.6
Papua
Phi 1 i p p i n e s 33
- 17.5
6
- - - - 17.5

Portuguese Timor
- - - 0.5 39.5

Thailand
0.5
2
- - - - - 0.5
2
- - - - -
Grand T o t a l 10 6 4.8 312.4

Total less
I n d i a and Japan 82 165.1 44.5

N.A. = Not a v a i l a b l e
* Party-months not r e p o r t e d

sia, which reported production in 196S higher by countries of the Far East; hence, the production
about 26,500 b/d, 14,100 b/d, and 8,200 b/d, re- figures used for 1964, which were tentative, have
spectively. A slight decrease in daily production been assumed to reflect the approximate produc-
was noted in Japan and Pakistan during 1965. tion from these areas and have not been included
Again, Taiwan showed the most striking im- in the statistical summary in Table III.
provement. Crude production increased 115% and
gas production 80% above 1964. BRUNEI-MALAYSIA
No information was available on Communist Production of crude oil and natural gasoline in
1965 increased about 11% from 1964, rising from
TABLE II - REPORTED WELL COMPLETIONS IN FAR EAST IN 1965 73,693 b/d in 1964 to 81,885 b/d in 1965. No ex-
ploratory wells were drilled during the year com-
Area Total Oil Gas Dry Footage
pared with 4 unsuccessful wildcats in 1964. How-
ever, development work increased significantly in
Brunei-Malaysia 1965, and 18 field wells, of which 15 were pro-
Development 18 15* - 3 N.A.
ductive, were drilled in 1965, more than doubling
Burma the previous year's total of 8 wells, all of which
Exploration N.A. k N.A. N.A. N.A,
were producers.
C h i n a j Taiwan
Exploration 5 - 5 411,223 Geophysical activity was resumed in 1965. The
Development 6 6 72,998
Royal Dutch Shell group reported a total of 17.8
1 ndia 64 N.A. N.A. N.A. 379,871 party-months of marine reflection-seismic work
1ndonesia and 6.5 party-months of other geophysical work,
Exploration lit 8 - 6 74,268
whereas none was reported for 1964. On the
Development 60 57 3 N.A.

Japan 21)5 76 lOlt 65 1,241,521

other hand, no surface work was done in 1965,
and 1.3 party-months of surface geology were re-
Pakistan
Exploration It It 22, 566 ported for 1964.
Development, 5 _ 5 25,325
Societe Nationale des Petroles d'Aquitaine
Papua 1^ —1 -Z^ \_ 12,015
(SNPA), a French Company, reportedly was
Total 422 160 115 87 1,872,787 awarded an Oil Prospecting License covering
3,938 sq. mi. in the Sabah offshore early in 1965.
N.A. = Not available
However, no exploratory activity by this compa-
''•• Includes four wells drilled for secondary
recovery purposes. ny has been confirmed.
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST 1771

TABLE I I I - CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION IN FAR EAST IN )9(>h AND 1965

Cumulative i n
Total i n 1000 B b l s . Da i 1 y Average B b l s . 1000 B b l s .
Area 1965 1964 1965 1964 Dec. 3 1 , 1965

Brunei-Malaysia 29,888 26,898 81,885 73,693 742,864

Burma" 't,380 4,380 12,000 12,000 331,443
China^ Ta.iwan 131 61 359 167 1,765
India 20,993 15,841* •57,515 43,400vt N.A.
Indonesia*^ 200,000 190,339 547,945 521,477 3,129,623
Japan '*,725 4,805 12,946 13,154 197,905
Pakistan 3,^*50 3,650-.': 9,452 10, OOO'V 50,171--'
Thai l a n d " 14 18 38 50 260

Grand T o t a l 263,581 245,992 722,140 673,951 4,454,031*

N.A. == Not a v a i l a b l e
^' Estimated

Sabah Teiseki Oil Company, an affiliate of Tei-
koku Oil Company of Japan, was awarded an Oil
Prospecting License covering 201 sq. mi. in Feb-
ruary, 1965.
BURMA
There was no private exploration in Burma
during 1965, because the Burmese Government,
through the state-owned People's Oil Industry,
controls 100% of Burmah Oil Company (1954)
Ltd. and all of the producing areas. In April an
include the drilling of 4 wells at Taunggyigwe
and 6 wells at Myanaung. Unconfirmed reports
indicate that some development drilling was done
in the Chauk, Yenanguang, and Yenangyat fields.
No geophysical work was reported, and field geo-
logical work, if any, probably was minor.
Crude oil production was estimated at slightly
more than 12,000 b/d for 1965 and natural
gas production was estimated at 8.5 MMCFD.
CHINA, MAINLAND

announcement was made of a discovery in the Information on developments in 1965 in Com-

Taunggyigwe structure, 16 mi. south of Prome, on
the east side of the Irrawaddy River, and in Au-
gust the well was producing 24 b/d from about
1,900 ft. In October reports were published of
the discovery of a deeper zone in the Myanaung
structure on the west side of the Irrawaddy, 30
mi. south of Prome. Initial production was 210
b/d and at the end of the year a total of 630 b/d
was being produced from 4 wells. Plans for 1966
TABLE IV - OIL PRODUCTION IN BRUNEI-MALAYSIA IN 1964 AND 1965
munist China were not available. However, oil
production in 1964 was tentatively estimated at
160,000 b/d and it is assumed that this figure
reflects the magnitude of production during 1965.
CHINA, TAIWAN
During 1965, 5 exploratory wells were aban-
doned as dry and at the end of the year 6 wildcats
still were being drilled. Development drilling dur-

Tota 1 Dai 1y Average Cumulative t o

Area and Company in Jj_000 Bbls. Bbls. 12/31/65
1965 1964 1965 1964 in 1,000 Bbls.

Brunei Shell Pet. Co.

Crude 28,991 25,913 79,427 70,994 657,287
Natura1 Gasollne 546 633 1,496 1,734 7,088

Total Brunei 29,537 26, 546 80,923 72,729 664,375

Sarawak Shel 1 Pet. Co. 351 352 962 964 78,489

Grand Total Brunei-Malaysia 29,888 26,898 81,885 73,693 742,864

1772 HOWARD W. DALTON AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY

T A I W A N
SKETCH MAP SHOWING PETROLEUM EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES
1965

KILOMETERS

EELUNG

Sediments relatively gently worped,possibly

fovoroble for Petroleum Prospects,mostly
Tertiary or Mesozoic in Age.
Some Continental Deposits.

Sediments severely distorted,metamorphosed,

or otherwise unfovoroble for Petroleum
Production. Mostly Mesozoic or Paleozoic
in Age.

FIG. 2
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST 1773

TABLE V - EXPLORATORY WELLS IN TAIWAN IN 1965

(Operator: C.P.C.)

Locat ion Spud Completion Total

Well Name North East Date Date Depth Result

Paishaton 1 24°35'56" 120°48'19" 12/7/64 4/27/65 11,903' D6A; t e s t s y i e l d e d

water
Yangmei 1 24°53'00.58" 121°10'00.94" 2/9/65 5/65 11,617' D&A; t e s t s n e g a t i v e
Shihshan 1 22°48'09.27" 121°10'43.79" 4/17/65 6/65 3,481' S t r a t . t e s t ; Susp.
due t o typhoon damage
Hengchum I 22°00'39.82" 120°45'04.96" 5/26/65 7/22/65 7,152' S t r a t . t e s t ; DSA
Chungchou 2 22°52'50.1*8" 120°15'49.96" 6/10/65 Fshg. a t 1 2 , 8 4 1 ' on
- ~ 12/31/65
I21°00'50.28" 7/26/65 D r i l l i n g a t 12,669'
Paoshan 3 22°Mt'2l.63" - - on 12/31/65
Tungkeng 1 24° 1*6'52.85" 121°07'55.97" Si/20/65 11/25/65 10,070' DSA
23°22'52.62" 120°32'58.36" 11/4/65 D r i l l i n g at 4,074'
Chunlun 2 - " on 12/31/65
Pakuali 2 24°29'32.54'9" 120°55'36.403" 11/24/65 " - D r i l l i n g at 2,169'
on 12/31/65
D r i l l i n g a t 1,384'
Hoshe 1 23°35'19.01" 120°52'36.55" 12/12/65 - - on 12/31/65
D r i 1 1 i n g a t 659' on
Houli .1 24°18'19.8" 120°43'29.56" 12/16/65 - •

12/31/65

ing the year was concentrated in 2 gas fields,
Chinshui and Tiehchenshan, where 6 wells were
completed as producers and 2 were still in prog-
ress at the end of the year. Total footage drilled
in 196S was 134,000, compared with 113,737 ft.
reported for 1964. Wildcat drilling accounted for
about 68,000 ft. of the total footage.
Several surface-geological parties mapped se-
lected areas, 200 sq. mi. of which was covered in
about 14 party-months. Two seismic crews (24
party-months) shot 390 line-mi. (2,160 shot-
points) in western Taiwan, and a 3-week experi-
mental Sparker-gas exploder survey was conduct-
ed along the northwestern coast of Taiwan. The
results of the 90 line-mi. survey were satisfacto-
ry, and a program to cover an extensive offshore
area is now being considered. One gravity party
observed 9,775 stations in western Taiwan during
the year (12 party-months).
Natural gas production in 1965 was 80%
higher than in 1964, reaching a new high of 10.84
Bcf. Crude oil production rose to 131,000 bbls.,

TABLE VI - DEVELOPMENT WELLS IN TAIWAN IN 1965

(Operator: C.P.C.)

Spud Completion Total

Well Name Date Date Depth Remarks

Tiehchenshan 8 7/18/64 4/65 16,732' Deepest well in Taiwan

Tiehchenshan 9 11/21/64 4/65 9,442' Production potential not reported

Tiehchenshan 10 10/31/65 12/65 9,449' Production potential not reported

Chinshui 63 9/10/64 3/65 15,331' Oil and gas shows In new horizons

Chinshui 65 12/27/64 5/65 11,598' Gas producer

Chinshui 66 5/V65 - 10,446' Production potential not reported

Chinshui 68 6/10/65 - - Fishing at 12,598' on 12/31/65

Chinshui 67 9/12/65 - - Drilling at 12,234' on 12/31/65

 70° 80° 90°
40° - 40°

I N DIA
r'"^^\ _ EXPLORATORY DRILLING

\ .-I
1965
: S 0 100 200 300 400 500
iX'.'. • . . Exploratory ^ t l l MILES

r-^/''-,Q.-. FOOT HILL BELT

WEST NXw^<:.•:••/ / \ _
PAKISTAN -AV*'^^: ' •~"- °'°^°'
30°- h-MKISIMN ...yVr..V.^ > . _ . RUDRASAGAR 30°

. . ^ , _ . - ^ «.*••.-^y Delhi " V . • • . • . . . . S - . 4 / "••^ .^•-••V

' ' ^ ^ T — \.'•.•••••••••.•••• • . • • . ^ v . : r - . ~ . \ ' - r ^ - ' ' ^ ^ -

C ^ - ^ ^ E . p l o r a . o r , Well ^'^^<:!^45,- •>••::;::;::;;: ^ > ^ r g ^ ^ g ^

A,..-.-.v.-...-,V^^^,,>.^.^V;::::'^
CAMBAY BASIN ff:"^ EAST / - ' . . . ^ JK
W//7/A^^^ '**'-°' I M n I A M BENGALl/7:V//n*'^'STAN,-V: : : / ^
^////2a-^BSr ^^„a^Y I N D I A N BASIN b ^ , . . ; : J ^\ ( ^*^
S H I E L D f-v"A»')^ \ V"<&

20« on Discover, ) 'ANKLESVAR ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 5f/V(?>4/

20°
Bomboy^f

Base map from 6 t h Petroleum Congress

ARABIAN
Exploration and Development for Oil in Indio
SEA
by L.P. Mathur end G. Kohli

L E G E N D
10° 10°
Geosyncline and ossociated
foreland shelf

Intracratonic basin

lllllllllllll Pericrotonic bosin

• OIL FIELD Basic lava floviis conceolJng

Mesozolc sediment

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES APPROX.

70° 80° 90°

FIG. 3
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST
up 115% from the 1964 total of 61,000 bbls. The
first gas turbine power plant in Taiwan, located
near the Tiehchenshan gas field, went into opera-
tion in June. A 12-in. transmission trunk line con-
necting the Tiehchenshan and Chinshui gas fields
with the city of Hsinchu is expected to be com-
pleted by mid-1966.
INDIA
The Oil and Natural Gas Commission
(ONGC), a Government agency, conducted the
major exploration and production effort in 1965.
One of the most significant developments was the
discovery of oil at Kathana, near Cambay, details
of which are not available. During the period
April-November, 1965, ONGC drilled 64 wells,
comprising a total footage of 379,871, and by
December 31, 1965, had drilled 378 wells, of
which 247 were oil- or gas-producing, 66 were
dry, 47 were awaiting tests, and 18 were water-
injection wells. In addition, 4 structure holes,
with combined footage of 9,865, were drilled in
Gujarat, Madras, and Uttar Pradesh, and 23 shal-
low holes were drilled in the Western region, And-
hara Pradesh, northern India, and Srinagar valley.
Two wells were drilled (in Uttar Pradesh and
Punjab) under contract with ENI, of Italy, and
1 well was drilled in Rajasthan under contract
with FORASOL, of France, totaling 19,186 ft.
Burmah Oil continues to operate its original
enterprise, the Assam Oil Company, which holds
an exploitation license covering 20 sq. mi., but
only in the declining Digboi field in the Assam
basin. By the end of the year, Assam Oil had
drilled 1,079 holes, of which 369 produced oil and
8 produced gas.
Oil India Ltd. (50% Indian Government, 50%
Burmah Oil) operates in the Assam basin, where
it holds exploration licenses covering 1,169 sq.
mi., and exploitation licenses covering 510 sq. mi.
By the end of 1965, the company had drilled 217
holes, of which 173 were oil- or gas-producing, 20
were dry, and 24 were awaiting tests.
During the early part of the year (April-June),
ONGC had 17 geological field parties operating in
the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pra-
desh, Gujarat, Madras, Tripura, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, and in Nepal. The number of
field parties was reduced to 14 in the latter part
of the year.
1775
CUMUUTIVE EXPLORATOBY AND DEVELOPHENT DRILLING IN IND1A--
AREA
Assam ^1*6 19 735 27 1,327
Gujurai 197 3"! » 63 335
Other States-.'.'.'. ^ _i _12 ^ L2
Grand T o t a l 71+3 5't 788 90 1,675
.'.- F i g u r e s I n c l u d e w e l l s d r i l l e d by ONGC and O i l I n d i a L t d . ,
s i n c e 1959 and w e l l s d r i l l e d p r i o r t o 1959 by Assam O i l
C o . , i n Assam.
•' Punjab, Rajasthan. U t t a r Pradesh, B i h a r , Madras.
ONGC had 10 gravity-magnetic parties and 24
seismic crews active in Gujarat (including
Kutch), Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Ra-
jasthan, Madras, and Andhara Pradesh during
1965. A total of 7,708 gravity-magnetic stations
was observed in the period April-November and,
by the end of November, 2,408 line-mi. of seis-
mic profiles were recorded, putting the total for
1965 at about 8,900 gravity-magnetic stations and
2,500 Hne-mi. of seismic profiles. In February,
1966, ONGC planned to have 25 seismic crews
and 12 gravity-magnetic parties in operation. In
addition, a French seismic crew, under contract,
covered 165 line-mi. in the Jaisalmer area in Ra-
jasthan and an Oil India Ltd. seismic crew
covered 314 line-mi.
With Russian assistance, a total of 2,437 line-
mi. of marine-seismic activity was conducted off
the Coromandel coast, and in the Gulf of Kutch
and Cambay in 1965.
Production from the Ankleshwar field in-
creased 250%, rising from 15,926 BOPD (2,200
metric tons) in March, 1965, to 39,814 BOPD
(5,500 metric tons) by the end of the year, and
the flow of associated gas from Ankleshwar field
to the Uttaran Thermal Power Station began on
September 29, 1965. Oil was produced on a trial
basis from Kalol field, and preparations are being
made to put the Rudrasagar field on trial produc-
tion. Total crude production in India during 1965
was 20,993,100 bbls. (2,900,000 metric tons) and
gas production for the year is estimated at 30
MMCFD.
INDONESIA
Caltex completed 6 successful development
wells in the Bekasap field, which went on stream
during 1965, producing 34.4° API oil at the rate
of 16,973 b/d. Duri field production declined
1776 HOWARD W. DALTON AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY

TABLE V I M - OIL PRODUCTION IN INDONESIA BY AREAS AND COMPANl ES, las'* AND 1965

Cumulative in
Total in 1000 Bbls. Dally Average In Bbls. 1000 Bbls.
Area and Company 1965 1964 1965 1964 Dec. 31, 1965

North Sumatra
P. N. Permina 7,ekk 13,140 21,489 36,000 69,468

Central Sunatra
P. T. Caltex 117,13'* 94,978 320,915 282,133 795,860
P. T. Stanvac 11,121 9,125 30,468 25,124 87,001

South Sumatra
P. T. Shell 16,073 17,323 44,036 47,460 503,345
P. T. Stanvac 9,775 11,018 26,781 30,103

Java -
P. T. Shell 73 104 200 285 156,411

Kal imantan -
P. T. Shell 3,410 13,577 25,781 37(137 530,263

Grand Total 171,'tSO 159,265 469,670 458,302 2,142,348

from 62,547 b/d in 1964 to 56,179 b/d (21.5"
API) in 1965, despite the fact that 19 successful
development wells were drilled in the field during
1965. Production from the Minas field rose from
219,586 b/d in 1964 to 247,762 b/d in 1965.
Caltex's crude production for the year averaged
320,914 b/d.
Stanvac drilled 2 exploratory tests during 1965
in the Kampar area in central Sumatra. Napuh
No. 1 was drilled to 4,013 ft. on a seismic pros-
TABLE IX. EXPLORATORY WELLS IN INDONESIA
IN 1965
Area and Company Oil Gas
North Sumatra P. N. Permina
Central Sumatra Stanvac
South Sumatra Shell
Kalimantan Shell
Grand total
pect and was plugged and abandoned on April 16,
1965. A second test, Segat No. 1, was spudded on
July 18, 1965, on a separate seismic feature and
was drilling at 1,039 ft. when a gas zone blew
out, setting the rig on fire. Most of the equip-
ment was lost in the substantial crater that
formed. Salvage operations began July 29, after
the hole bridged itself and extinguished the fire.
During the year, in south Sumatra, 8 develop-
ment wells were completed as oil producers in the
Talang Akar field at an average depth of 2,863
ft., and 2 development oil wells were completed
in the Benekat field at an average depth of 1,708
ft. A development well spudded January 8, 1965,
Dry Total in the East Benekat field, proved to be dry, and
3 was abandoned on January 25, 1965, at 3,864 ft.
2
Stanvac's oil production for 1965 was 20,896,000
4
5 bbls., an average production of about 57,000 b/d.
14 Stanvac plans actively to pursue exploration of
the Kampar area in 1966 using seismic methods,

TABLE X. SHELL EXPLORATORY WELLS IN

INDONESIA IN 1965
TABLE XL PARTY-MONTHS OF GEOLOGICAL AND
GEOPHYSICAL WORK IN INDONESIA IN 1965
Well Name Total Depth Restdt
Area (.Ft.)
Company
South Sumatra Gunun^ Kemala-51 6,450 Producer Type of Work
B climbing-1 7,670 Producer Caltex Stanvac Pan Am Shell Total
Belimbing-2 5,500 Producer
Belimbing-3 5,410 Producer Surface geology 4i 4*
Seismic 12 —
19 —
12 —
24 67
Kalimantan Hajub-1 8,890 Gravity 12 12
Hajub-2 7,980 — Airphoto 10 — — — 10
South Warukin-l 6,700 — Structure drill — —6 — 6
South Warukin-2 5,500 — — — —
South Warukin-3 4,230 — Grand total 38i _—
19 18 24 99 i
—
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST 1777

1 rig, and geological studies. Development drilling TABLE X I I T . SUMMARY OF WELL C()MI>LETIONS
IN JAPAN IN 1965
will be continued in south Sumatra.
Pan American Indonesia Oil Company conduct- Area Oil Gas Dry Total
ed 12 party-months of seismic work on its south- Akita 17 10 34
ern contract area in central Sumatra and about 6 Chiba
Fuiiushima
75 4 79
3 i 6
months of structure drilling. This company Niigata 56 18 44 118
Yamagata i 1 4 8
drilled no exploratory tests.
Grand total lb 104 (i.S 245
P. N. Permina, in conjunction with Asamera,
drilled 3 wildcats in northern Sumatra in 1965.
Geudongdong I was spudded on February 3 and TABLE XIV. CRUDE AND NATURAL GASOLINE
abandoned at a depth of 3,440 ft. on March 17. PRODUCTION IN JAPAN IN 1964 AND 1965
Geudongdong II was spudded on April 12 and
A: I'erage BOPD
was completed on May 27 as a producer at a
1965 1964
depth of 2,952 ft. A third wildcat, Besitang
Akita 3,752 4,052
River, drilled with Refining Associates, was spud- Hokkaido 110 133
Niigata 8,215 7,983
ded March 7, and was left dry and abandoned on Yamagata 868 995
May 28 at a depth of 5,494 ft. Permina, in con- Otliers 1 1

junction with North Sumatra Oil Development Total 12,946 13,164

Corporation, continued development drilling in

the Rantau and Pulau Tabuhan oil fields with 5
TABLE XV. NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION IN
rigs. At the end of the year 22 wells were com- JAPAN 1965
pleted, 20 of which were successful, for a total
footage of 48,750. Permina-Asamera initiated de- Area Average
MCFGD
velopment drilling in the Geudongdong field and
Akita 6,504
2 wells were completed for a total footage of Ciiiba 33,316
Niigata 127,376
6,485. Permina's production for the year was re- Others 5,032
ported as 7,843,591 bbls. Total 172,228
Shell drilled 9 exploratory wells in Indonesia in
1965, 4 of which were completed as producers in
south Sumatra, and in Kalimantan, 3 were found of the exploratory drilling with Teikoku ac-
productive and 2 were dry. No development drill- counting for 20%. The remaining 10% was un-
ing was done during the year. The number of dertaken by the Japanese Geological Survey and
wells in the Tandjung field in south Sumatra was several small independent operators.
89 at the end of the year. The only other explor- Development drilling was concentrated in the
atory activity reported was 24 party-months of Niigata oil fields and the Chiba gas fields. A total
seismic work. of 819,942 ft. was drilled during the year, only
slightly less than in 1964. Again, based on pre-
vious years' statistics, Teikoku accounted for
JAPAN
about 60% of the total, Japan Exploration Com-
In 1965 wildcat drilling increased about 10% pany for 20%, and independent operators, 10%.
from 1964 with a total of 421,580 ft. drilled, Accurate figures are not available for the total
about 80% of which was in the Niigata Prefec- party-months of geological and geophysical work
ture. Based on figures from previous years, Japan in 1965, but it is estimated that 2 seismic crews,
Exploration Company accounted for about 70% 1 gravity party, and 5 geological field parties op-
erated during the year.
TABLE X I I - TOTAL FOOTAGE DRILLED IN JAPAN IN 1965 Crude oil and natural gasoline production aver-
aged 12,946 b/d, compared with 13,164 b/d re-
Prefectures

Akita Chlba Fukushima Niigata Yamagata Grand T o t a l

ported in 1964.
Natural gas production in 1965 was 172,229
Expl.
Dev.
55,77i
7 9 . 0Z9
13,956
186.098
18,970
10.771
317,597
519.779
15,285
24,265
421,579
819.942
MCFD, about 4% less than in 1964. The 3 best
Total 1311,800 200,054 29,741 837,376 39,550 1,241,521 fields, Kubiki and Chujo in the Niigata Prefec-
1778 HOWARD W. DALTON AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY

WEST PAKISTAN
AND
AFGHANISTAN
9CALC
0 100 100 »Of(MS
l-'-'-r' S—^-V 1
N 100 I50MILCS
- • OIL FIELD
" S«S FIELD
OIL mPELINE
+ 0»S PIPtllHE

FIG. 4

ture and Mobara in the Chiba Prefecture, ac-
counted for more than 55% of the total produc-
tion. Both Mobara and Chujo produced dry gas,
and Kubiki produced associated gas.
PAKISTAN
The Oil and Gas Development Corporation
(OGDC), a Government agency, led in explora-
tion in 1965 with a total of 64.36 party-months
of geological and geophysical work. Exploratory
drilling activity also increased in 1965 and, by
the end of the year, 9 tests had been drilled or
were in progress, compared with 6 wildcats in
1964. Two of the 9 tests, however, were OGDC
structural-stratigraphic holes in the Jaldi area,
where 1 OGDC wildcat already had been drilled
and a second was under way at the end of the
year.
At the end of the year OGDC had 3 wildcat
rigs in operation and 1 structure-drill rig was ac-
tive. During 1965 the agency was granted pros-
pecting licenses at Kot Sarang and Sari Sing,
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST 1779

TABLE XVI - EXPLORATORY WELLS IN PAKISTAN IN 1965

Total
Company Location Spudded Completed Depth Results

011 & Gas Dev. Corp. Jaldl No. 1 Bengal Bay 11/2/64 3/16/65 7485 D5A
Jaldl No. 2 Bengal Bay 5/21/65 Drilling at 7065' on 12/31/65
Jaldl Gle-1 Bengal Bay 10/23/64 3/17/65 4339 Structural/StratIgraphic test
Jaldl GIB-2 Bengal Bay 5/21/65 Structural/Stratigraphic test -
Drilling at 4377' on 12/31/65
Sari Sing No. 1 16 m i . NE 8/1/65 Drilling at 4738' on 1,2/31/65
of Karachi
Tut No. I 16 mi west 11/2/65 - - Drilling at 12,083' on 12/31/65
of Dhul Ian

Pakistan Pet. L t d . Kundian No. l * 68 m i . SW 1/27/65 4/3/65 7086 DSA

of Dhulian
Adhl No. 3 * 49 mi. E 10/28/65 D r i l l i n g at 5716' on 12/31/65
of Dhulian

Pak-Sun Pet, ProJ. Korangl Creek 11 m i . SSE 10/25/64 2/31/65 1583 D&A in Cret. gas shows
No. 1 o f Karachi Paleoc/Eocene

*DrilIed in j o i n t partnership with Pakistan Oil Fields Ltd.

TABLE XVII - PARTY-MONTHS OF GEOLOGICAL AND

GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION IN PAKISTAN IN 1965

Oi 1 & Gas Pakists in Pakista n Pak; i s t a n

Type of Work De V. C o r p . O i l f i e l d s Ltd. Pet:ro' leum L t d . S l i e l l O i l Co. Total

Surface Geology 27.7

_ 0.5 _ 28.2
Se i sm i c ( R e f r a c t i o n ) 7.5 - - - 7.5
Seismic ( R e f l e c t ion) 12.3 1 - 12 25.3
Gravi ty 12.5 - - 8 20.5
Ai rmagnetometer ^•3 -^ -^ — Jhl
Grand Total 64.3 1 0.5 20 85.8

covering 28 sq. mi., and plans for 1966 call for a
second wildcat at Sari Sing and exploratory tests
at Kot Sarang and Semutang.
Sun Oil Company abandoned Korangi Creek
No. 1, its third wildcat in the area, after making
drill-stem tests through casing of S gas shows in
the Paleocene-Eocene section. The block on
which these wells were drilled was reduced in size
to half its original area (about 1,755 sq. mi.),
and Sun plans no active exploration in 1966. Sun

TABLE XIX. OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION IN

TABLE XVIII. DEVELOPMENT DRILLING IN PAKISTAN IN 1965
PAKISTAN IN 1965
Oil Fields Barrels
Company Total
Well Depth {Ft.) Result Balkassar 1,351,339
Dhulian 505,875
Attock Oil Co. Dhulian-45 9,583 Dual oil producer. Karsal 14,182
Dhulian-46 Drilling a t 772 ft. Khaur _ \
on 12/31/65 Joya MairJ

Pakistan Pet. L t d Sui-9 4,452 Gas Gas Fields MMCF

Sui-10 4,400 Gas
Sui-11 4,445 Gas Clihatak 5,756
Sylhet 546
Pak. Stanvac Pet. Proj. Mari-4 2,500 Gas Sui 54,568
 780 HOWARD W. DALTON AND WILLIAM E. HUMPHREY
so 100 WILES
' GAS FIELD GAS PIPELINE
I '
FIG. S
continues to hold a 400-sq. mi. prospecting license
in Hyderabad.
Pakistan Oilfields Ltd. participated with Pakis-
tan Petroleum Ltd. in the drilling of 2 wildcats,
Kundian No. 1 and Adhi No. 3. At the end of the
year Attock Oil Company had 1 rig engaged in
development drilling in the Dhulian field. Attock
Oil produced 2,861,767 bbls. of oil from the Bal-
kassar, Dhulian, Khaur, and Joya Mair fields
during 1Q65. Pakistan Oilfields Ltd. reported its
share of oil production from the Dhulian and
Karsal fields as 512,966 bbls. for the year. One
month of reflection-seismic work was done on the
Meyal lease in December, with expectations that
the survey would continue into 1966.
Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. had 1 rig engaged in
exploratory drilling at the end of 1965, and had
completed 9 gas producers and 1 observation well
in the Sui field, which was producing at the rate
of nearly ISO MMCFD, up 16.2% from 1964.
Further development drilling will be done as the
demand for gas increases. The only other explor-
atory activity consisted of Yi month of surface
geological work in the Tank area. Pakistan Petro-
 PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FAR EAST
leum's share of production from the Balkassar
field was 574,313 bbls. (1,573 b/d), up only
0.6% from 1964, and the company's share of the
Karsal field was 7,091 bbls., up 35.2% from
1964. Gas production from the Chhatak field was
546 MMcf. (1.4 MMCFD), a drop of 2.6%
from 1964. Gas production from the Sylhet field
totaled 5,756 MMcf. (15.7 MMCFD), an 11%
increase from the previous year. Condensate pro-
duction from this field was 21,269 bbls. Pakistan
Petroleum reduced the acreage under its pros-
pecting license by 73.12 sq. mi. in 1965.
Pak Stanvac Petroleum Project (Esso), which
has been inactive since 1961, began a develop-
ment program in its Mari field in West Pakistan
and plans to drill 6 wells besides the 4 already
drilled.
PAPUA
Oil Search Ltd., operator for a group consisting
of itself and its subsidiaries (80%), BP (10%),
and Mobil International (10%), drilled the only
exploratory well, Iviri No. 1, in Papua in 1965.
The test was spudded July 14, 1965, at a location
of Lat. 7°35'54" S. and Long. 144°46'30" E.,
and was abandoned on November 17, 1965, at
total depth of 12,015 ft. in Cretaceous sediments.
The only other exploratory activity by this group
consisted of 4 party-months of seismic work in
the northwest Wana area.
The only reported change in concession status
during 1965 involved Oil Search Ltd., which re-
leased Permit No. 33 (13,142,000 acres) and in-
creased the size of Permit No. 27 by 1,057 sq.
mi., bringing the total area of this block to 7,234
sq. mi. (4,629,760 acres).
Phillips Petroleum Company, operator for a
group composed of itself (25%), Sunray DX
(25%), Canadian Superior (30%), and Richfield
(20%), conducted 3J^ party-months of reconnais-
sance marine seismic work during the year. A
similar 2^-month program is planned for 1966,
and the group expects to spud its first offshore
1781
wildcat in the Gulf of Papua before the end of
1966.
Marathon, operator for itself (50%) and Con-
tinental Oil Company of Australia, Ltd. (50%),
conducted 10 party-months of reflection-seismic
work, on its concession in eastern Papua in 1965,
using 2 crews.
PHILIPPINES
During 1965, 147,042 ha. was relinquished and
at the end of the year 7,552,008 ha. still was
under exploration license. Exploration activity
declined to 39>^ party-months of geological and
geophysical work in 1965 compared with 92
party-months in 1964.
Amoseas conducted about 15 days of aeromag-
netometer work, as well as some marine seismic
activity, in the Palawan area. Visayan Explora-
tion, Inc., a subsidiary of Esso, also conducted a
marine seismic survey and geological field work in
the same area, as well as in the Visayan region. A
total of 6 party-months of seismic work was re-
ported for both companies. The Petroleum Divi-
sion of the Bureau of Mines also conducted geo-
logical field work, and the combined total report-
ed for this organization and Esso was 33 party-
months.
No exploratory drilling was done during 1965
compared with IS wildcats and 10 stratigraphic-
structural holes drilled in 1964.
PORTUGUESE TIMOR
Timor Oil Ltd., an Australian company, holds a
concession of 6,851 sq. mi. covering most of Por-
tuguese Timor. About 6 months of geological
field work was conducted in 1965. No other ex-
ploration activity was reported.
THAILAND
Union Oil Company of California conducted 2
months of geological field work on its 21,222-sq.
mi. Khorat Plateau concession.