Appraisal While Development Campaign in the “J” Field, North Malay Basin

The conventional approach to develop a field is from Exploration to Appraisal and finally Development Phase. This paper describes a case study for an unconventional approach in the Malaysia – Thailand JDA area where the appraisal program was carried out while the development campaign is ongoing. Once production has commenced, drilling from the well head platform will be ifficult as some production wells needed to be shut-in for safety reason during the drilling operations. This appraisal-while-development approach was carried out in the “J” Field to appraise the hydrocarbon potential of the “J” East fault block. Various strategies and technical justifications had been carried out to convince the management to approve this approach. The appraisal well was<br>eventually drilled, which discovered 86m of net gas sand and encountered two new depositional sequences based on the seismic re-interpretation. Appraisal-while-development concept allowed CPOC to appraise the upside potential and convert the well to development well, leading to cost optimization and immediate contribution to the total field production.