GLOBAL E&P

March 13 is the deadline for submitting bids in Angola’s 2007-2008 licensing round.

Bids are to be opened in public on March 14.

Drilling is scheduled for 1Q 2008 in Aje field, offshore Nigeria, in OML 113. The Aje-4 appraisal well is 24 km (15 mi) from the coast. The Aje partnership consists of operator Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum; Chevron Nigeria Deepwater; Vitol Exploration Nigeria; Energy Equity Resources Aje; and Providence Resources Oil and Gas Nigeria.

A second round of offshore licensing has opened in Liberia with 10 blocks of 3,000 sq km (1,158 sq mi) area to 3,000 m (9,842 ft) water depth, according to reports citing the National Oil Co. of Liberia. Bidding is scheduled to be open until June 1, 2008.

Bounty Oil & Gas NL has encountered gas shows in its Kiliwani #1 well offshore Tanzania. Encouraging gas shows were recorded at 1,163-1,241 m (3,815-4,072 ft) at the intermediate casing point.

SuperNova has signed a five-year deepwater exploration agreement with Petroguin, Guinea-Bissau’s national oil company.

EnerGulf Resources and partners have established an offshore Namibia location in block 1711 to drill the Kunene #1 well using the drillshipDeep Venture. The well is targeted for a TD of 4,400 m (14,435 ft) below sea level with an option to go to 5,500 m (18,045 ft).

PA Resources AB has acquired 35% of the Mer Profond Sud exploration permit and also the Azurite field offshore the Republic of Congo from Murphy West Africa Ltd.

The permit is in the Lower Congo basin adjacent to deepwater block 14 and the Haute Mer permit.

Exxon Mobil has signed a heads of agreement for an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with Libya’s National Oil to explore offshore Libya in the Sirte basin.

The agreement covers four blocks totaling 2.5 million acres in Contract Area 21, 110 mi (177 km) offshore with water depths from 5,400 to 8,700 ft (1,646 to 2,562 m).

Latin America

BP Trinidad and Tobago has started gas production from Mango field in the South East Galeota block in 235 ft (72 m) of water. The production goes to Atlantic LNG’s liquefaction plant. The single, unmanned platform can produce gas from nine wells for export through a four-mile (6-km) long, 26-in. (66-cm) diameter pipeline tied to the Cannonball pipeline and through the Cassia B gas processing hub.

Petrobras has begun operations atP-54 in Roncador field, Campos basin, 125 km (78 mi) offshore Brazil. P-54 joins the P-52 in Roncador, which started flowing in November. Petrobras has signed an agreement for hull construction on P-55, also destined for Roncador.

Reliance Industries has converted two Technical Evaluation Agreements for offshore Colombia into production and exploration contracts with Agencia Nacional de Hydrocarburos. The blocks are Borojo North and Borojo South. Each 4,000-sq km (1,544-sq mi) block is in water depths up to 1,500 m (4,921 ft).

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has confirmed a natural gas discovery north of Camarupim field in Espirito Santo basin block BM-ES-5.

StatoilHydro has bid successfully on two blocks offshore Brazil in the National Agency of Petroleum’s ninth bidding round. The blocks, CM529 and CM530, are in water depths of around 100 m (328 ft). Anadarko will be the operator of the licenses with a 50% stake, with StatoilHydro holding the remaining 50%. The blocks lie adjacent to the Peregrino heavy-oil field in the Campos basin where the company already holds a 50% interest. Peregrino is expected to come on stream in 2010.

Petrobras has brought the FPSOCidade de Vitoria onstream with the second production module at Golfinho field in 1,386 m (4,547 ft) water depth in Espirito Santo. Initial production will be 20,000 b/d of light oil.

North Sea/Europe

Iceland’s government plans to open the Dreki area in the Atlantic for licensing in January 2009. The region under review is on the Jan Mayen Ridge between Iceland and the island of Jan Mayen. Seismic and geophysical studies suggest potential for producing oil and gas, as hydrocarbons have been found in adjacent and geologically similar areas.

Aker Exploration has secured a 35% stake in production license 343 in the Norwegian North Sea. The license, operated by Marathon Petroleum Norge, is near the Oseberg production. The other partner is Talisman Energy Norge. Additionally, Aker and its partners in the PL 321 license have secured a 35% interest in adjoining acreage, designated PL 321B.

Talisman North Sea has brought the Wood field in UK central block 22/18 onstream.

Wood has been tied back to the Montrose platform, 6 mi (9.65 km) to the northwest, and should produce at peak 6,000 b/d of oil and 16 MMcf/d of gas.

StatoilHydro has completed an agreement to take on three heavy-oil licenses in the UK North Sea, its first operatorship in this area. Under the agreement, the company succeeds Chevron as operator of the undeveloped Bressay, Mariner, and Mariner East fields. It also has concluded a separate agreement with Canadian independents Silverstone and Wilderness concerning a discovery in nearby block 9/16.

The government of Malta has awarded two offshore tracts totaling 18,000 sq km (6,950 sq mi) to Heritage Oil International Malta. Areas 2 and 7 are south and southeast of the island.

Lundin Petroleum has spudded an appraisal well on the Nemo field in the Norwegian North Sea using the jackupMaersk Giant. Lundin estimates reserves at 20-30 MMboe.

NOIL Energy has failed to prove further oil with an appraisal well in the central Norwegian North Sea. The semisubmersibleBredford Dolphin drilled the well in an attempt to delimit the 1996 discovery 24/12-3 S, some 20 km (12 mi) west of the Balder field, and 20 km (12 mi) north of the Gudrun discovery. The appraisal well was terminated in the Heimdal formation in Palaeocene rocks, in a water depth of 116 m (380 ft).

Island International Exploration has acquired the remaining 50% equity interest in the Durresi block offshore Albania from Lundin Albania. Island also has agreed to farm-out terms that would involve Australian company Beach Petroleum acquiring 25% of the block for back costs. Durresi covers an area of 4,200 sq km (1,622 sq mi) along the Adriatic coast.

Fairfield Energy has suspended its appraisal well on the Crawford oilfield in the UK North Sea for future operations.

Granby Oil and Gas has increased its interest to 20% in the Monkwell gas field in the UK southern North Sea, following a farm-in agreement with operator Dana Petroleum. The partners, also including Gas Plus E&P UK and Dyas UK, plan to drill a new well to further appraise the field. Granby also has farmed out a 25% interest in North Sea blocks 9/22 and 9/23c to Valiant Petroleum.

Gas has started flowing from StatoilHydro’s Njord field in the Norwegian Sea, following a $220-million investment program. Under the second-phase scheme, StatoilHydro has put in new producer wells and also phased in additional reserves close to the Njord infrastructure. This is allowing the field to deliver around 20,000 b/d of oil and up to 6 MMcm/d (212 MMcf/d) of gas.

ATP Oil & Gas has begun first production from Wenlock W1 well in block 49/12a of the Southern Gas basin, UK North Sea.

Nexen Petroleum’s Ettrick project in the UK North Sea is on schedule for first oil in mid-2008. Ettrick is being developed via three subsea producer wells and one water injector tied back to a leased FPSO. Nexen expects to achieve peak production of around 25,000 boe/d by end-2008.

Faroe Petroleum is set to gain interests in three North Sea licenses following a proposed asset swap with Germany’s E.ON Ruhrgas. Subject to approval from the UK and Norwegian governments and the various license partners, Faroe will cede half its 30% interest in the Norwegian license PL433, which it secured under Norway’s 2006 APA licensing round. E.On Ruhrgas also will receive from Faroe a $13.98 million cash consideration and a well carry. In exchange, Faroe will gain a 4.83% interest in the producing Schooner gas field and a 7.53% stake in the undeveloped Topaz gas field (both in the UK sector); and 10% of Norwegian North Sea license PL376.

Asia-Pacific

Participants in the Kipper gas field development in the Gippsland basin have approved the first phase of the project, which includes two subsea wells, three pipelines, and platform modifications. Gas and liquids will be processed via Esso and BHP Billiton’s Gippsland joint venture facilities.

The Kipper field is approximately 45 km (28 mi) from shore in about 100 m (328 ft) of water, and has a confirmed resource of approximately 620 bcf of recoverable gas and 30 MMbbl of condensate/LPG. The estimated field life is 15 years and first production is expected in 2011. Costs for this phase of the development are $1.1 billion; BHP Billiton’s share is 45%.

Salamander Energy has been awarded two exploration concessions, L26/50 and L15/50, in the Thai 20th Licensing Round. The acreage is adjacent to the company’s Savannakhet PSC in Lao PDR.

Salamander also has received notification that its bid for block L15/50 has been approved by the Cabinet and will be signed in the near future. L15/50 is west of the Nam Phong power plant in northeast Thailand. The block contains an existing gas discovery called Dao Ruang.

PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. (PTTEP) has won partial rights to three blocks in the Gulf of Thailand that contain marginal fields to be developed using existing production facilities. The development plan for blocks G6/50, G7/50, and G8/50 is to use facilities in Unocal 3, Pailin, and Arthit.

The South Sembakung-2 (SS-2) and South Sembakung-3 (SS-3) appraisal wells both were drilled by theApexindo-2 rig. Both wells encountered multiple gas-bearing sandstones and successfully flowed gas during testing. They have been suspended as potential future producers, says Salamander Energy.

New Zealand Oil and Gas has produced the 5 millionth barrel of oil from its Tui area project off the Taranaki coast. Production from the field began in July and the company achieved the milestone in just over four months.