Global E&P

Noble Energy EG Ltd. has acquired interest in block I offshore Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.

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Under the terms of the PSC and the Deed of Assignment, Noble Energy will be the technical operator with a 40% working interest. Noble Energy's partner on block I is the Atlas Group with 60% interest, which will be the administrative operator. GEPetrol, the National Oil Co. of Equatorial Guinea, will have a 5% carried interest once commerciality has been determined.

Block I covers 806 sq km in 500 m of water. To date, GESeis has shot one 3D seismic survey.

According to Charles Davidson, Noble Energy's chairman, president, and CEO, "Several substantial leads have already been identified on block I, and we expect the prospectivity of this acreage will be enhanced after we process the recently acquired 3D seismic later this year."

Total has found oil on its ultra-deep Mer Très Profonde Sud (MTPS) block 200 km southwest of Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo, in nearly 2,000 m of water.

Discovery well Pégase Nord Marine 1 reached a TD of 3,622 m and tested at a flow rate of 14,360 b/d.

The MTPS permit, awarded in May 1997, covers more than 5,000 sq km in water depths ranging from 1,300 to 3,000 m.

Pégase Nord Marine 1 is the second discovery well on this permit following the completion of Andromède Marine 1 discovery well in May 2000.

Total E&P Congo is the operator with 40% interest. Partners include Eni Congo with 30% interest and Esso Exploration and Production Congo (MTP Sud) Ltd. with 30%.

Total is the leading oil producer offshore Republic of Congo.

Americas

Greenland's most recent licensing round closed Oct. 1 with the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum receiving one complete application.

The licensing round covered four areas between 62° N and 69° N offshore West Greenland. The government formally kicked off the licensing round with opening meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Houston in April.

Exploration for hydrocarbons offshore West Greenland began in the beginning of the 1970s, and in the following years, five exploration wells were drilled, of which only one showed traces of hydrocarbons.

Between 1999 and 2003, commercial geophysical companies acquired extensive new spec data that revealed the existence of very large sedimentary basins offshore West Greenland. The country hopes the new seismic data will encourage drilling in an area that has seen very little exploration activity.

Europe

OAO Gazprom, OAO NK Rosneft, and Statoil ASA have signed a memorandum of understanding for six months of joint studies on a number of projects.

The projects include phase one of the Shtokmanovskoye gas condensate field (SGCF), including LNG plant construction. Another segment of the agreement concerns the Russian parties' participation in the Statoil operated Snøhvit LNG project in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea.

A trilateral management committee and a working group will control the course of studies.

A ConocoPhillips and Lukoil joint venture will develop resources in the northern part of Russia's Timan-Pechora oil and gas province in the Pechora Sea between the island of Novaya-Zemlya and northeastern Russia.

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ConocoPhillips has also formed a Russian partnership. Conoco and Lukoil agreed to form a broad-based strategic alliance in which ConocoPhillips will become a strategic equity investor in Lukoil. The two companies also announced the creation of a joint venture to develop resources in the northern part of Russia's Timan-Pechora oil and gas province.

The 50/50 JV will allow ConocoPhillips to partner in the development of Timan-Pechora. The group expects to be producing and marketing 200,000 b/d of oil by 2008.

Mediterranean

BG Group and its partners in the Rosetta Concession offshore Egypt have reached agreement with Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) to increase Rosetta's production to 345 MMcf/d. This represents a 77 MMcf/d increase that will be effective 2Q 2005. Debottlenecking of the processing terminal will increase the facility capacity to 380 MMcf/d.

BG Group is also planning to add prod-uction wells in the Simian field and anticipates drilling 25 wells in the region before year-end 2005.

Asia-Pacific

North Korea is getting into the oil and gas game. Aminex Plc. of the UK recently signed a 20-yr agreement to develop North Korea's petroleum industry.

Aminex, which will initially provide technical assistance, has limited financial exposure, but will receive a royalty on hydrocarbons produced from any new drilling in the country. The company will also be entitled to a carried interest in any wells drilled by incoming companies and will have a prior right to explore in its own name anywhere in the country.

Several wells have been drilled onshore and offshore over a 25-yr period, but there have been only limited discoveries of oil.

According to Brian Hall, chief executive of Aminex, "At present, relations between North Korea and the outside world are strained, but the important relationship with South Korea appears to be improving, and commercial cooperation is on the increase. An expanding energy industry may possibly help to build bridges between DPRK and the outside world."

PetroVietnam opened Vietnam's 2004 licensing round Oct. 1. The licensing round covers 9 blocks in the Phu Khanh basin offshore central Vietnam with an average of 7,000 sq km/block.

Recently, PetroVietnam carried out a seismic program to infill existing coarse coverage. The company's database consists of 17,000 km of 2D seismic, of which 7,000 km was acquired/processed in 2003 and another 7,000 km was acquired/reprocessed in 1993. PetroVietnam hopes the licensing round will be attractive to international investors in light of recent discoveries in the region as well as the better legal and fiscal terms offered by the government.

The deadline for bids is March 31, 2005.

Central Asia

Late September saw the official sanction for the third and final stage in developing the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil field in the Caspian Sea.

The ACG production-sharing agreement was the first of its kind to be concluded between foreign companies and one of the former Soviet republics.

The field is to be developed with seven platforms and 448 wells. A new platform is scheduled to begin producing every year until 2008 on the massive field, which is estimated to contain 15 Bbbl of stock tank oil originally in place. Recoverable reserves are placed at 5.4 Bbbl.

Plans call for output from stage one development to begin traveling by pipeline in January 2005 to an enlarged Sangachal terminal on land in Azerbaijan.

Phase two covers Azeri West and East, which will be developed with a platform apiece. The western side is due to come onstream in 2006, followed by the eastern development in 2007.

The third phase of the BP-operated development is due to come onstream in 2008.

The ACG field will reach plateau production of more than 1 MMbbl of oil in 2009.

While ACG moves into production, Mærsk Oil could begin drilling in the Turkmenistan sector of the Caspian. Caspian Drilling Co. reportedly won a tender to drill an exploration well in the Turkmenistan sector of the sea. Drilling could begin in December.

According to KazMunaiGaz, the company signed a cooperation agreement with the Korean Consortium for the Caspian Oil Project. The Zhambyl block in the northwestern part of Kazakhstan's sector of the Caspian Sea has been determined as a new object of further cooperation.

The agreement requires the parties to coordinate their efforts by the end of the year. The companies expect to prepare a contract on subsurface use in 2005.

The volume of the residual derivable oil reserves in Tengue oil field in Maguistau Oblast amounts to 13.7 million tons.

Middle East

Total began production on the third phase of development on the Al Khalij oil field, offshore Qatar.

Total will produce an extra 20,000 b/d with the Al Khalij North development start-up and finalization of the drilling phase in January 2005. New peak production will reach 50,000 b/d.

The company has also brought onstream a platform for water separation and treatment.

Ten new production and injection wells will provide additional output with unmanned and remotely operated platforms to handle the separation, treatment, and re-injection of water.

Total holds a 100% stake in the Al Khaij field.

Offshore West Africa 2005 expands

This year's Offshore West Africa Conference for the first time encompasses all of Africa, including the emerging exploration areas on the continent's east coast.

Operators, including Total, Shell, ChevronTexaco, and Petrobras will participate in OWA 2005, along with a growing number of service companies and representatives from academia.

Attendees will gather in Abuja, Nigeria, March 21-23, to participate in PennWell's ninth annual conference, the single largest forum in Africa for information exchange, technical presentations, and networking opportunities.

For information, contact OWA at http://www.offshorewestafrica.com/

Adding production in Bohai Bay

China Offshore Oil Bohai Corp. brought the CFD 11 field in Bohai Bay, China, onstream ahead of schedule in 3Q 2004. Oil was exported via the APL SYS (single anchor loading yoke) system to the FPSO Hai Yang Shi You 112.

The Kerr-McGee operated field is to have 10 wells online when development is complete. Production estimates range from 15,000 to 20,000 b/d of oil. The company will bring additional wells on production over the next two years, with peak production in the range of 40,000 to 45,000 b/d expected by mid-2005.

Bohai Bay's BZ25-1 oil field also came onstream ahead of schedule in 3Q 2004. Oil is being produced by the FPSO Hai Yang Shi You 113. BZ25-1 is in block 11/19 about 150 km southeast of Tanggu.

The FPSO is a newbuild 201,287-dwt vessel with a mooring system designed to withstand the 100-yr typhoon of 5-m significant wave height. The vessel, operating in 18-m water depth, is expected to produce oil from the field for more than 25 years.