Amerada Hess Corp. made another oil discovery off Equatorial Guinea with the G-19 exploration well drilled on block G in the Rio Muni basin. The G-19 well reached a total depth of 7,483 ft in 1,263 ft of water and encountered 113 ft of net oil pay. The G-19 well is 1 mi northeast of the northern block G field area and offers the potential for a satellite tieback to the Okume Complex development.
Amerada Hess operates the block with 85% interest. Partners are Energy Africa Equatorial Guinea Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil plc, which has the remaining 15% working interest. GEPetrol, Equatorial Guinea’s state oil company, will have a carried 5% participating interest in any commercial production from the G-19 well.
Americas
Petroléos Mexicanos (Pemex) is on the cusp of a new era. The company has had its first deepwater discovery in the Bay of Campeche with the Nab-1 well, drilled in 2,230 ft of water. Nab-1 tapped a field that could produce as much as 100 MMbbl of oil.
The deepwater discovery comes as very good news to Pemex, which is looking to increase domestic production. The next step is to secure the technical expertise to get the oil to market.
Staatsolie signed a production-sharing agreement with Denmark's Mærsk Oil for the 13,800-sq-km shallow-water block 31, which lies 30 km offshore Suriname.
Pemex has begun to look to foreign companies for the technology to produce oil in deepwater, but legal restrictions still prevent outside operators from working in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico. Alliances with foreign operators could be the first tentative step toward opening the door to full-scale foreign operatorship.
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Late last year, Suriname’s state-owned Staatsolie signed a production-sharing agreement with Denmark’s Mærsk Oil for offshore block 31.
The contract covers exploration and development of the block, which lies 30 km offshore and covers more than 13,800 sq km in 20-50 m of water. This PSA was the second offshore agreement Staatsolie signed in 2004.
The total duration of the contract is set at 30 years and is divided into exploration, development, and production periods. Exploration includes seismic surveying, which could begin soon. Repsol YPF has a seismic vessel in the area that could begin a program for Mærsk immediately following the signing. In the initial exploration stage, Mærsk will collect 5,600 km of seismic data.
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Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd. won sole operatorship for a new production license offshore the Falkland Islands. Edit this paragraph
Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd. recently landed sole operatorship for a production license offshore the Falkland Islands.
FOGL already holds a 77.5% interest in licenses covering 33,000 sq km to the south and east of the Falkland Islands with its joint venture partner Hardman Resources. With the addition of the new 50,000-sq-km area, FOGL now has an interest in 83,000 sq km.
The company contracted Geophysical Services Inc. to perform a 2D seismic survey on the joint venture acreage, and that survey will now be extended to include the new area. The survey will investigate the eight leads already identified in the 33,000-sq-km joint venture area and will provide a 5,000-km reconnaissance grid of new seismic lines in the newly licensed area.
Europe
ChevronTexaco Corp. proved once again that the North Sea still holds surprises, announcing a significant oil and gas discovery at the Rosebank/Lochnagar well (213/27-1Z) in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel.
The deepwater well, completed last August, encountered two oil and gas accumulations late last year for a total net pay of 169 ft, with oil quality ranging from 27-36° API. A shallower reservoir holds non-associated gas. Later drilling will appraise the find.
This discovery justifies the company’s continued activity in the North Sea.
According to Gary Luquette, president and managing director for ChevronTexaco Upstream Europe, “This is an exciting opportunity and endorses our company’s continued commitment to exploration in the Atlantic Margin test area and ongoing investment on the UK continental shelf.”
ChevronTexaco operates the license with 40% interest. Partners are Statoil with 30%, OMV with 20%, and Dong with 10%.
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Statoil has tested oil at its Topas prospect between the Gullfaks and Visund A fields in the Norwegian North Sea.
Designated 34/10-48S, the wildcat was drilled to a total measured length of 7,393 m and a depth of 2,849 m beneath the sea surface. The water depth is 217 m. The well terminated in Middle Jurassic rocks, with oil proven in Middle Jurassic and Upper Triassic sands. Statoil drilled the well from its Gullfaks C platform.
“This strike is important for exploiting existing installations and other infrastructure,” says Bengt Beskow, exploration manager for the Tampen area. “It also shows that more oil is available in a mature region. We’re committing substantial resources to exploring around the major fields we operate.”
Statoil is considering a request to the Norwegian authorities for approval of pilot production from Gullfaks to secure important information about the size and commercial value of the discovery.
Topas lies about 3 km northeast of Gullfaks and roughly 5 km south of Visund. Extensive logging was carried out in the well during the 102-day drilling operation, along with gathering of cores and mud samples.
Statoil operates production license 120, embracing Visund, and has a 30.07% interest. Its partners are Norsk Hydro 29%, Petoro 16.93%, Total 11%, and ConocoPhillips 13%.
The group is also operator for Gullfaks license PL 050, where it has 61%, while Hydro holds 9%, and Petoro 30%.
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Statoil is looking for ways to expand its presence in Russia and expects to sign contracts to that end this year.
In 2004, OAO Gazprom, OAO NK Rosneft, and Statoil ASA signed a memorandum of understanding for six months of joint studies on several projects, including phase one of the 3.2-tcm Shtokmanovskoye gas condensate field in the Barents Sea.
Statoil reportedly is also looking into opportunities off Sakhalin Island on the east coast and in the Timan-Pechora region, in the Pechora Sea between the island of Novaya-Zemlya and northwestern Russia.
The company sees the Barents region as a natural growth area and is looking toward long-term cooperation with Russian companies as a means to that end.
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The Dutch Parliament announced late last year it would support the cabinet in allowing gas production and future exploration in the Wadden Sea.
Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) is happy with the decision to open the sea and is looking ahead to filing permit applications.
NAM’s director expects permitting and technical adjustments will take about three years, but is optimistic that first gas could be achieved in 2007.
Asia-Pacific
Exxon Neftegas Ltd., Sakhalin-1 operator, held a ceremony at the welding of the first joint of a pipeline that will connect Sakhalin Island to the Russian mainland.
The 225-km pipeline will transport Chayvo crude oil west across Sakhalin and across the Tatar Strait to the DeKastri terminal in the Khabarovsk Krai. The pipeline design incorporates advanced technologies, including directional drilling for subsurface crossing of water bodies, automated shut-off valves for emergencies, and a software-based leak detection system. Pipeline capacity is 250,000 b/d.
ENL operates Sakhalin-1 with 30% interest. Partners include Japan’s Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd. 30%, India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd. 20%, Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf 11.5%, and RN-Astra 8.5%.
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The government of Australia recently awarded three offshore petroleum exploration permits in Victoria. All of the blocks carry an initial term of six years with a maximum of two five-year renewals. The permits resulted from bids submitted in the bidding round that closed last March.
Now, the country is gearing up for this year’s bidding round, which will close March 31, 2005.
Some previously offered areas will be re-released in the upcoming bidding round. Blocks T04-1 and W04-10, which attracted no bids in the last round, will be on offer again. Additional blocks from all of the major offshore areas will also be licensed in this year’s bidding round.
Central Asia
The North Caspian PSA companies have awarded Saipem a contract for construction and installation of an offshore pipeline system. The pipeline is part of the development program for the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea.
The $520-million contract covers engineering and bulk material procurement as well as coating, laying, and pre-commissioning the pipelines, fiber-optic cables, and umbilicals.
Saipem will install the pipeline system between 2006 and 2007 using a new lay barge and new trenching equipment.
The North Caspian PSA covers almost 1.4 million gross acres. Eni operates the PSA with 16.67%. Partners are ExxonMobil, BG, Shell, and Total, each with 16.67%, and ConocoPhillips and Inpex, each with 8.33%.
Middle East
In 4Q 2004, Lukoil Overseas began exploration drilling on the North-East Geisum block in the Gulf of Suez offshore Egypt. The company acquired the right to work on this block and the neighboring West Geisum block, in January of 2003 through the public tender organized by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. Lukoil Oversees signed a concession agreement with the Egyptian ministry of petroleum in June 2003.
Five oil and gas prospects have been identified within the blocks, which cover a combined area of 175 sq km. Estimated combined reserves total 183.5 MMbbl of oil.
The exploration program for the blocks covers four years.
Lukoil will spud the first exploration well on the West Geisum block in February 2005.
Mediterranean
SOCO has decided to let go of its assets offshore Tunisia. The company entered into a sale and purchase agreement of its interests in the Zarat permit in the Gulf of Gabes, which includes its 22.22% interest in the producing Didon field and a 22.22% interest in the remaining permit area that includes the undeveloped Zarat and Elyssa fields.
The transaction was completed Dec. 8.
India takes the show on the road for NELP V
India’s NELP V Licensing round opens up 20 blocks for bid this year, eight of them offshore. Six of the blocks are in deepwater, and two are in shallow water.
Recent world-class discoveries in the Bay of Bengal in the deepwater Krishna-Godavari basin and shallow-water Mahanadi-NEC basin could bring significant interest to this round.
Reliant Industries, the largest exploration acreage holder among private sector companies in India, holds 30 domestic exploration blocks covering 300,000 sq km. With the major gas discoveries on its east coast offshore blocks of KG-DWN-98/3 and NEC-OSN-97/2, Reliance has intensified its exploration activities. The company has also filed a development plan for producing 40 MMcm/d of gas from the KG-D6 block to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.
Reliance discovered natural gas in the very first well it drilled in deepwater block D6 in the Krishna-Godavari basin and has had exceptional success ever since. Expect Reliance to be among the active bidders in the upcoming licensing round.
Other interested parties can take a look at India’s offerings this month at official road shows to be held in Delhi, London, Houston, Dubai, and Calgary.
The opening dates and the addresses of the data rooms are available on www.indigopool.com, www.petroleum.nic.in, and www.dghindia.org.
