Pam Boschee • Houston
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Asia-Pacific
Woodside Energy Ltd., operator of the North West Shelf Venture’s Phase V LNG Expansion project in Australia, awarded McDermott International Inc., a subsidiary of J. Ray McDermott S.A. (J. Ray), a $77 million contract.
Under the contract, J. Ray will undertake construction engineering, procurement, fabrication, assembly and erection of 75 preassembled module and pipe rack units totaling nearly 22,000 short tons. Completed modules and pipe racks will be shipped from J. Ray’s Batam Island, Indonesian fabrication facility, to Western Australia and transported to the Venture’s LNG facilities on the Burrup Peninsula where the new LNG Train V is being constructed.
Structural fabrication work on the project is scheduled to begin this month with piping fabrication planned to begin by early 2006. J. Ray will also provide interface management with other contractors, suppliers and vendors.
The six equal participants in the North West Shelf Venture are: BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty Ltd; BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd; Chevron Australia Pty Ltd; Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty Ltd; Shell Development (Australia) Proprietary Ltd; and Woodside Energy (Operator). CNOOC NWS Private Ltd. is also a member of the North West Shelf Venture but does not have an interest in the Venture’s infrastructure.
The tender rig T-3 has been awarded a 14-month contract extension by PTT in Thailand.
The tender rigT-3, of which Smedvig owns 49%, has been awarded a contract extension by the Petroleum Authority of Thailand. The production drilling assignment has a duration of 14 months, from November 2006 until end 2007, with an option for a further six months. The contract value is approximately $20 million for the firm period.
Australia
The start-up of John Brookes follows the March 2005 production start-up of Santos’ largest offshore oil project - the Mutineer-Exeter development, also offshore Western Australia.
Interests in WA-29-L are Apache Northwest as operator with 55% and Santos (BOL) Pty with 45%.
Technip and Subsea 7 signed a memorandum of understanding whereby their respective affiliates, Technip Oceania Pty Ltd. and Subsea 7 Singapore Pte Ltd., agree to enter into a joint venture (JV) for subsea offshore activities in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding India and Middle East).
Under the terms of the MOU, Technip and Subsea 7 will bid for and carry out all engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning and/or maintenance contracts (EPCIM) for the subsea production and transportation of oil and gas within the Asia-Pacific region, including the supply of flexible pipe via the Technip/Subsea 7 JV.
The JV will have exclusive and operational control of two vessels: Technip’sVenturerand Subsea 7’sRockwater 2, which will remain in the region to perform and support the EPCIM projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
The head office of this newly formed company will be located in Perth, Western Australia.
Total E & P Indonesie, a fully owned subsidiary of the Paris-based Total Group, awarded PT Nippon Steel Construction Indonesia, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corp., an EPC contract to construct three offshore platforms for Sisi and Nubi gas fields located in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The scope of the contract covers engineering, procurement, fabrication, and offshore installation for three offshore platforms totaling over 20,000 metric tons. The engineering and procurement will be performed in Jakarta, the fabrication of the platforms in Nippon Steel’s fabrication yard in Batam, Indonesia, and the offshore installation will be performed by Nippon Steel’s derrick and lay bargeKuroshio. Pipeline laying will be conducted by another contractor. Platform deliveries are scheduled for 2Q2007.
This is the third major contract awarded by Total E & P Indonesie to the Nippon Steel subsidiary, following Peciko Phase 1 (1998) and Peciko Phase 2 (2001).
The Sisi and Nubi gas fields are located off the East Kalimantan coast in the Mahakam Contract Block, operated by Total E&P Indonesie in partnership with Tokyo-based INPEX Corp. under a production-sharing contract with the Indonesian government. Gas from Sisi and Nubi along with Peciko and Tunu gas will be sent to the Bontang LNG Plant for liquefaction and exports to Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
A fasttrack development is now being planned for a 1990 Gulf of Thailand discovery after NuCoastal conducted successful appraisal drilling in the G05/43 concession in the Songkla Sub-basin. Bua Ban 2 was drilled by theEnsco 57 jackup to a total measured depth of 2,839 m, intersecting more than 27 m of reservoir intervals with good oil shows.
However, mechanical problems forced the suspension of the Bu Ban 2ST, which was not tested due to equipment failure. Bua Ban 3 was spudded in mid-August to test the southern culmination of the structure at a proposed measured depth of 2,944 m. This established over 20 m of net pay in the Oligocen. The well tested at a combined 2,697 b/d from two intervals.
The appraisal drilling was designed to test the updip potential of Premier’s 1990 Bua Ban 1 oil discovery, which flowed 768 b/d of 29° API oil from the Lower Oligocene section. The Department of Mineral Fuels estimates reserves in the structure at 17 MMbbl plus 2.34 bcf of gas.
Southeast Asia
India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has awarded to Compagnie Générale de Géophysique a major 3D seismic offshore acquisition contract with a value of $112 million for the third consecutive year in India.
The seismic program is located in deepwater off the eastern coast where CGG operated during a previous campaign with ONGC in the first half of 2004. The project comprises a series of surveys covering a total area of approximately 8,800 sq km. It will be acquired between November 2005 and June 2006 by three CGG 3D vessels equipped with full onboard processing using Cog’s proprietary software Geocluster.
Russia
Gazprom endorsed a short list of companies - Statoil, Total, Chevron, Hydro and ConocoPhillips - as potential partners in its execution of the first phase of the Shtokman gas condensate field development project, including the construction of a natural gas liquefaction plant.
Between 2004 and 2005, Gazprom sealed a string of memoranda with energy firms that presented their technical & commercial support packages for the project, including Shtokman field development options, proposals on potential swaps of assets of interest to Gazprom, and expected share of the project. Gazprom made its selections after reviewing the companies’ proposed project timing, preliminary commercial packages, and track record of similar projects. In the first quarter of 2006, Gazprom plans to select two or three companies to form a consortium for the project’s implementation.
Middle East
Keppel FELS, a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd., delivered a KFELS B Class jackup rig,Al-Hail, to the National Drilling Co. of Abu Dhabi (NDC) 18 days ahead of schedule.
Keppel FELS delivers the jackup rig, Al-Hail, to NDC of Abu Dhabi 18 days ahead of schedule.
The rig is NDC’s first newbuild jackup in 20 years and is also the first KFELS B class jackup customized to meet NDC’s requirements for a cost-effective rig. With leg lengths of 307 ft,Al-Hailis tailored specifically for operations in benign Middle East conditions of water depths to 150 ft.
Gaz de France signed a production-sharing concession agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. for the attribution of the entire West El Burullus exploration block covering an area of 1,364 sq km in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Alexandria.
The agreement follows Gaz de France’s success in the call for tenders procedure in May 2004 and reinforces the activities pursued by Gaz de France in the Egyptian upstream E&P sector (where it was already present with its 20% interest in the North West Damietta block) and allows the company to become, for the first time, an operator in Egypt.
Africa
Two of SembCorp Industries’ business units, SMOE and Sembawang Shipyard, jointly completed their portion of the fabrication and integration of the topside facilities on one of the world’s largest FPSO vessels,ERHA, which will be located in the Erha field offshore Nigeria.
The field is operated by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd., an affiliate of ExxonMobil Corp.
The contract, awarded to SMOE in partnership with Sembawang Shipyard by Saipem SA in 2002, was for the fabrication, integration, pre-commissioning and commissioning assistance of 14 modules of FPSO topside facilities weighing 17,000 metric tons, and integration of nine modules fabricated by others in Nigeria and Malaysia. The total integrated weight is approximately 30,000 metric tons, and the flare structure towers at 115 m high.
Designed for the separation of oil, gas and water,ERHA has a storage capacity of 2.2 MMbbl of oil and accommodates up to 100 personnel. The vessel hull, which was constructed in Korea, measures 285 m in length, 63 m in width and 33 m in depth.
Global contractor Subsea 7 has received a letter of intent from the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corp. of South Africa (PetroSA) for a contract for the design, supply and installation of umbilicals, protection structures, and spool pieces as part of the South Coast Gas Development in Mossel Bay, South Africa. The contract is valued at approximately $115 million.
The EPIC contract will begin in October. The approximate total length of umbilicals is 105 km, which includes one of the world’s longest subsea umbilicals at 53 km. The offshore phase will take place in 4Q 2006/1Q 2007 in water depths of approximately 125 m. Subsea 7 will utilize two of its construction vessels for the installation works.
Europe
Cirrus Energy has entered into an agreement with an independent oil company to acquire 100% of the issued capital of its wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands. The agreement is expected to close in October.
The subsidiary’s sole asset is a 24% working interest in the 400 sq km A15 exploration license located in the northern portion of the Dutch continental shelf. Block A15 is operated by Wintershall Noordzee BV, which holds a 27% working interest. This block contains an undeveloped shallow gas discovery, which was appraised by well A15-3 in 1999.
Subsequently, a 3D seismic survey totaling 555 sq km was acquired in 2000. A third-party engineering evaluation of the field was undertaken in 2001, which estimated most likely total gas-in-place of 127 bcf with gross recoverable reserves of 67 bcf (16 bcf net to the acquired interest). Development of several nearby shallow gas fields in adjacent blocks is underway with first gas expected in 2007. This will provide the necessary gas export infrastructure in the area for potential future development of the A15 pools.
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International Frontier has acquired a 50% interest in UK North Sea block 12/17, and its partner, Palace Exploration Co. (UK) Ltd., has accepted the UK Department of Trade and Industry’s offer for a promote license covering North Sea block 12/17. Palace elected to decline an offer from the DTI for a license covering block 18/10.
Block 12/17 is located in the Inner Moray Firth area off the east coast of Scotland. The license covers an area of 200 sq km in water depths of approximately 430 ft. The company’s technical advisors, Exploration Geosciences, have mapped a Jurassic structure identified with 2D seismic that is prospective for an oil accumulation in the 20 to 40 MMbbl range. Additional 2D seismic will be shot in 2006 to optimize a drilling location for 2007.
Aker Kvaerner Subsea, formerly known as KOP Ltd, has secured two North Sea contracts with a combined value of approximately $8 million.
In the first, Aker Kvaerner Subsea will provide equipment that will comprise a full subsea production control system on the Goosande development project. The package will be exclusively engineered, manufactured and tested in Aberdeen, with projected delivery in the first quarter of 2006.
The Goosander development forms part of the Greater Kittiwake Area, which is located in the central North Sea, approximately 160 km East North East of Aberdeen, and is operated by Venture Production Plc. GKA includes the Kittiwake, Mallard and Gadwall producing fields, as well as the Goosander and Grouse discoveries and a number of low risk prospects.
Aker Kvaerner Subsea has also recently supplied various subsea control equipment on the Mallard and Gadwall fields.
In the second new deal, Aker Kvaerner Subsea will manufacture a production control system for an unnamed customer in the North Sea. The project is anticipated to take eight months.•
