Editor's note: This Global E&P section first appeared in the January-February issue of Offshore magazine. Click here to view the full issue.
By Jeremy Beckman, London
GULF OF MEXICO
Talos Energy has made two deepwater discoveries within nine miles of its Ram Powell platform, both the result of proprietary reprocessing techniques applied to vintage seismic. Lime Rock and Venice hold an estimated 20-30 MMboe combined and will likely be developed as subsea tiebacks to the platform, with first production feasible by early next year.
SOUTH AMERICA
BP Trinidad and Tobago has delivered first gas from the new offshore Cassia C compression platform. This is designed for lower pressure production of up to 300 MMcf/d from the Greater Cassia Area and is connected to the Cassia hub, 35 mi southeast of Trinidad. TOFCO constructed the jacket and supporting frame locally while McDermott’s yard in Altamira, Mexico built the topsides.
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Suriname’s state oil company Staatsolie is inviting applications for six new offshore blocks in its Demerara bid round. They cover a 43,956-sq km area in water depths of 400-3,500 m where four wells have been drilled to date. Closing date for submissions is May 31, with PSCs likely to be issued during Q3.
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Petrobras has started operations ahead of schedule at the FPSO P-71 on the pre-salt Itapu field in the Santos basin, 200 km offshore Rio de Janeiro. The vessel, moored in 2,010 m water depth, can process up to 150,000 b/d of oil and 6 MMcm/d of gas, with storage for 1.6 MMbbl of crude. It should reach its maximum production capacity later this year.
Following the ANP’s recent 1st Cycle of Permanent Production Sharing Offer bid, Petrobras has secured operatorship of three more offshore blocks: Norte de Brava, Sudoeste de Sagitário (in partnership with Shell), and the 1,300-sq km Água Marinha block in 2,000 m of water in the pre-salt Campos basin (partners TotalEnergies, Petronas and QatarEnergy).
TotalEnergies and its co-venturers Shell and Repsol Sinopec are moving ahead with the $1-billion Lapa South-West development, 300 km offshore in the BM-S-9A concession in the Santos basin. Aker Solutions will provide the subsea production system for the three new wells: these will be tied back 12 km to the FPSO that has produced oil from the Lapa field’s north-east section since 2016. The project should raise output from the field, in 2,250 m water depth, by 25,000 b/d to 60,000 b/d. TotalEnergies anticipates start-up by 2025.
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Uruguay’s state energy company ANCAP has awarded two deepwater blocks under the country’s second Open Bidding round. Shell and APA Corp jointly secured AREA OFF-4 while Argentina’s YPF gained AREA OFF-5. ANCAP has now auctioned off seven offshore blocks, with associated exploration commitments estimated at over $230 million.
WEST AFRICA
The FPSO for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG development has departed Qidong, China, and set sail for its location 40 km offshore Mauritania and Senegal. The sail-away follows a series of sea trials after completion of the 3.5-year construction program. The vessel will sail 12,000 nautical miles to the offshore location via Singapore.
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Côte d’Ivoire’s government has awarded Tullow Oil a 90% operated interest in offshore exploration license CI-803, adjacent to the company’s existing CI-524 concession. Here Tullow is short-listing potential prospects for a first exploration well, with a focus on Cretaceous turbidite plays that have proven productive in the Jubilee and TEN fields to the east in the Tano basin offshore Ghana.
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Zenith Energy has entered a period of exclusivity to finalize terms for a PSC for Benin’s offshore Block 1, containing the Sémé oilfield, which Union Oil discovered in 1967 in 30 m water depth. Sémé went on to produce 22 MMbbl but production ceased in 1998, when oil prices dipped below $10/bbl. The offshore facilities include three platforms, the latest installed with a view to developing the 2015 Sémé North oil discovery. Zenith sees potential to increase recovery via modern completion and horizontal drilling techniques, and also options for extending exploration to the emerging Syn-Rift play from Nigeria to the east.
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Nigeria is offering seven blocks in the country’s north-western offshore region, three in the Nigerian Transform Margin area and four in the deepwater Niger Delta basin. PGS is supporting the round with 10,000 sq km of merged 3D seismic data over the blocks, developed from various input surveys and designed to provide a regional understanding of prospectivity.
NORTHWEST EUROPE
HSM Offshore Energy is building an electrified gas production platform in Schiedam, the Netherlands for ONE-Dyas’ NOF-A project in the GEMS area of the Dutch North Sea. The nearby Riffgat offshore wind farm will supply the platform’s power, with first gas expected by the end of 2024.
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Equinor has submitted plans for a three-well subsea tieback of the 20-bcm Irpa (ex-Asterix) gasfield in the deepwater Vøring basin in the Norwegian Sea to the Aasta Hansteen spar platform. Saipem’s Castorone will lay the 80-km, swaged pipe-in-pipe pipeline from Irpa while Aibel handles modifications to the Hansteen platform, including construction of a new 450-metric ton monoethylene glycol module (MEG) module. The $1.45-billion development should extend the platform’s working life by seven years, with production sent via the offshore Polarled pipelines to the Nyhamna gas processing plant for onward delivery to the UK and mainland Europe. To the south of Irpa, Equinor recently discovered commercial gas in the Obelisk Upflank prospect: the partners will consider a tie-in to the new infrastructure.
BLACK SEA
Turkey reportedly has a second large offshore gas discovery, with the Caycuma field said to contain 58 bcm. In addition, analysis of new data has led to an upgrade of resources at the giant Sakarya field from 540 to 652 bcm. The first-phase subsea-shore development of Sakarya is due to start up later this year.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Eni and partner TotalEnergies have achieved their third deepwater gas find in Block 6 offshore southern Cyprus. The Transocean drillship Tungsten Explorer drilled the Zeus-1 discovery well in carbonate reservoirs in 2,300 m of water, 5 km east of the Cronos field. Eni estimates in-place reserves at 2-3 tcf.
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Chevron/Eni have proven a new gas accumulation in Egypt’s Nargis offshore area concession. The Nargis-1 well, drilled by the Stena Forth drillship in 1,014 ft (309 m) of water, encountered gas in Miocene and Oligocene sandstones. This could be developed via existing infrastructure in the area, Eni added.
Saipem will transport, install and pre-commission 170 km of umbilicals for the latest phase of Petrobel’s Zohr gasfield development offshore Egypt. These will be laid between the central control platform in 70 m of water and the subsea production system in 1,500 m water depth.
ASIA/PACIFIC
Shell has contracted L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) to manage engineering preparation, removal and transportation of five wellhead platforms and associated facilities at the Tapti field offshore western India. This will be India’s first offshore oil and gas decommissioning project, LTEH said.
ONGC has started operations at the Sagar Samrat MOPU serving the WO-16 cluster of four marginal fields in the Arabian Sea, 40 km from the Mumbai High complex and in water depths of 75-80 m. The platform, recently converted from a jackup drilling rig, can handle up to 20,000 b/d of crude oil and export up to 2.36 MMcm/d of gas.
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TGS, SLB and Petrobangla are jointly acquiring new 2D seismic offshore Bangladesh to support the country’s future licensing rounds. The first phase will deliver around 11,000 line-km of high-resolution broadband data over the prospective Bengal Fan.
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Petronas has discovered oil and gas in the Nahara prospect in block SK306 in the Balingian province offshore Sarawak, encountering pay in Late Oligocene to Mid-Miocene sedimentary sequences. And PTTEP has made a new sweet gas find, Paprika-1 in Sarawak’s offshore block SK410B. The discovery could form part of a new Northern Sarawak Clastic Hub development, the company said.
Offshore Kerteh, Terangganu province in Peninsular Malaysia, Petronas and JX Nippon Oil & Gas are considering co-developing gas from the Bujang, Inas, Guling, Sepat and Tujoh fields, using carbon capture and storage technology as the fields have a high carbon-dioxide content. The project, Petronas added, could trigger further developments of high-contaminant fields in Malaysia that have been held back by a lack of CO2-handling infrastructure.
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CNOOC has started oil production from two developments offshore China. The Enping 15-1/10-2/15-2/20-4 oilfields project is in 90 m of water in the eastern South China Sea. Facilities comprise two drilling production platforms and one unmanned wellhead platform, with plans for up to 48 production wells. The unmanned platform is also designed for remote operation under typhoon conditions.
The Kenli 6-1 oilfield 5-1, 5-2, 6-1 development is in the southern Bohai Sea, and focused on reserves in the Laibei lower uplift. CNOOC plans 67 production wells, 36 water injectors and four water source wells, with six new unmanned, standardized platforms linked to a central platform producing in total around 36,100 b/d of oil by 2024.
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Western Gas has entered agreements with the partners in Australia’s North West Shelf Project and Pluto LNG concerning its 2-tcf Equus gas development off Western Australia. The company plans to supply the gas via a new FPSO and 200-km offshore pipeline between the Equus fields and the Pluto A platform, with production sent from there through an existing trunkline to the onshore Pluto LNG complex and via Woodside’s Pluto to KGP Interconnector to the onshore Karratha gas plant. The WA government is said to be supportive of the proposals. Western Gas is aiming for FID in 2024 and first gas in 2027.
