Jeremy Beckman • London
North America
Cairn Energy has started drilling its first exploration well offshore Greenland. The Alpha prospect is in the Sigguk block, 175 km (109 mi) off Disko Island on the western side of the mainland. This is one of four wells the company hopes to drill this year on the Sigguk and Eqqua blocks, using the semisubStena Don and the drillship Stena Forth. Greenland’s government has so far authorized the first two in the planned sequence, both of which were due to be drilled using a pilot hole through the initial tophole section.
J. Ray McDermott has won a contract from Pemex to construct and install the Kull-A wellhead platform in the Bay of Campeche. The company’s yard in Altamira, Mexico, will build the two-level deck and 4,000-metric ton (4,409-ton) four-legged jacket and piles. Delivery is scheduled for spring 2011.
South America
A group of operators have hired the semisubAtwood Beacon to drill its debut wells offshore Suriname and Guyana. Repsol, Teikoku Oil, and Murphy/Suriname Oil have engaged the rig for four wells under three separate contracts over a minimum of 210 days, at a rate of $115,000/d.
Repsol’s partner CGX Energy was also hoping to add a fifth well to the program on its 100%-owned Corentyne license off Guyana. The rig is due to mobilize to Suriname in September from its present location offshore Cote d’Ivoire.
Petrobras has had further drilling success on pre-salt structures offshore Brazil. Well 6-ABL-570-RJS found oil below the Albacora Leste field’s productive sandstone layer in the Campos basin, in a water depth of 1,956 m (6,417 ft). Petrobras also tested light oil from Tupi Alto, its seventh well on the Tupi deepwater field in the Santos basin. Results from this and earlier wells suggest potential for 5-8 BBoe recoverable, according to partner BG Group.
Location of Total’s Agge discovery off western Nigeria.
Teekay has agreed on a contract extension with Petrobras through 2018 for the FPSOCidade de Rio das Conchas. The vessel had been working on the Badejo field as a test facility for production of heavy oil in this part of the Campos basin. Following an upgrade program, it will be re-deployed later this year to the Aruana field in the same basin.
West Africa
Total has discovered gas in shallow-water oil lease OML 135 offshore western Nigeria. The Agge-3B.T1 well, targeting an undrilled compartment of the Agge structure, encountered numerous gas-bearing reservoirs, with a test over the lower intervals flowing at 21 MMcf/d. Total and partner Conoil are assessing development options for this and other discoveries on the block.
GDF SUEZ has contracted Foster Wheeler for pre-FEED studies for a new gas development project off Cameroon. The aim is to establish a national transportation network taking the country’s offshore gas to an LNG plant near Kribi on the southern coast. The project will include subsea pipeline tie-ins to offshore production facilities.
SOCO Exploration says it has received a Presidential Decree for a production-sharing agreement for block 5 in the Albertine Graben area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The concession includes part of Lake Albert. SOCO and its partners Dominion Petroleum and state company COHYDRO have agreed to acquire at least 300 km (186 mi) of seismic and to drill two exploratory wells during the first five-year period.
Work is under way to validate FEED studies performed in 2005-06 for a proposed gas-power project offshore Namibia. Tullow Oil, operator of the undeveloped Kudu gas field, is working with Namibian state energy company NAMCOR, Gazprom International, and Itochu to finalize the Kudu license. The partnership aims to define an optimum concept for a development – surplus Kudu gas could be diverted to a new 800 MW power station in South Africa.
Mediterranean Sea
Italy’s Environment Ministry has proposed banning all drilling activity within 5 mi (8 km) of the nation’s coasts. If passed into law, at least two imminent E&P programs could be at risk. One is Petroceltic’s planned appraisal well this fall on the 1992 Elsa oil discovery in the Adriatic Sea. Mediterranean Oil &Gas’ Ombrina Mare structure is also in the nearshore Adriatic. The company is reviewing alternate development well locations outside the exclusion zone.
IGI Poseidon has contracted INTECSEA for FEED studies for the proposed IGI gas pipeline in southeast Europe. The scope includes design of the 210-km (130-mi) offshore section that would extend from Corfu off northwest Greece to Otranto on Italy’s southeast coast. Water depths along the route reach 1,370 m (4,495 ft). INTECSEA, managing the project from the Netherlands with Iv-Oil & Gas, will also design the planned compressor and receptions stations at the start/end points.
Technip will perform subsea engineering, construction, and installations for the West Delta Deep Marine VIIIa development, 95 km (59 mi) off northern Egypt. The $300-million program involves expanding the existing subsea facilities, operated by Burullus Gas Co., with three new manifolds and distribution assemblies; 67 km (41.6 mi) of rigid flowlines; 12 km (7.5 mi) of flexibles; and 88 km (54.7 mi) of umbilicals.
Israel’s government has awarded three new offshore petroleum licenses. Adira GeoGlobal and GeoGlobal Resources (GGR) India will jointly operate the shallow-water Samuel permit, which includes numerous prospective structures close to the route of the subsea Mari-B pipeline. GGR will also operate the 347 Myra and 348 Sara licenses, which cover a total area of 310 sq m (803 sq km) in the Levantine basin, close to the Tamar gas discovery.
Black Sea/Russia
Two consortia have been awarded offshore exploration blocks in the Romanian sector. Melrose Resources and Petromar Resources won blocks EX-27 and EX-28 close to the maritime border with Ukraine, an area only re-opened to exploration last year. Both blocks are northwest of the Midia and Pelican offshore concessions, where Melrose is involved in field development planning.
The other award, for the Est Rapsodia and Trident blocks, went to Lukoil and Vanco International. Both blocks are 60-100 km (37-62 mi) offshore, in water depths ranging from 90-1,000 m (295-3,281 ft). The work program includes a 3D seismic study.
Chevron and Rosneft are teaming up to explore the Val Shatsky (West Chernomrsky) license area in the eastern Russian sector of the Black Sea. They will establish an operating company for this program, with Chevron funding initial exploration, including seismic studies and drilling. Analysis to date has revealed 10 structures with potential resources of 860 million tons (780 million metric tons) of oil.
Romanian contractor GSP Offshore has installed the 1,300-metric ton (1,433-ton) steel platform jacket for the latest phase of TPAO’s Akcakoca gas development in the western Turkish sector. TheGSP Bigfoot 2 barge performed the work; GSP had previously fabricated and installed the associated seabed drilling template.
Korea’s DSME and Russian United Shipbuilding Corp. have agreed to build a new shipyard in Zvezda, northern Russia. This will extend the existing facility to 1.6 million sq m (17.2 million sq ft), allowing it to build large offshore structures and vessels.
Caspian Sea
AIOC has awarded $814 million in contracts for the Chirag Oil Project in the Azeri offshore sector. This forms part of the Azeri, Chirag, and deepwater portion of the Gunashli (ACG) field development. Among the awards, BOS Shelf, the joint venture between Saipem and state company SOCAR’s Baku Deepwater Jacket Factory, will fabricate the jacket, piles, and riser support frame for the new Deepwater Gunashli production, compression, water injection, and utilities platform. Apply Leirvik Emtunga will assemble the living quarters at the Azfen facility in Baku, while Kellogg Brown & Root will manage engineering of the offshore facilities.
In the Kazakh sector, Agip KCO has granted Saipem an extension to the Kashagan Trunklines contract through December 2011, covering installation of the pipeline system linking the offshore production facilities. Saipem’s remit includes fabrication and installation of production and service lines, umbilicals, power, and fiber optic cables.
Middle East
J. Ray McDermott has delivered QW8, the first of three new gas production platforms it is building for the Qatargas 3 and 4 development projects. The new facilities will each weigh 2,200 tons (1,996 metric tons), with 33 gas wells and two 65-km (40-mi) pipelines taking gas to two LNG trains onshore at Ras Laffan.
Iran has issued contracts to indigenous contractors to develop six further phases of the South Pars gas/condensate field in the Persian Gulf. Phases 13 and 14, which each went to consortia of three companies, will increase output of sour gas from the field by 3 bcf/d, according to the Iranian news service Shana. Phases 22, 23, and 24 went to Petro Sina Arian and Sadra, while phase 19 was awarded to Petropars and Iran Offshore Engineering and Construction Co.
Southeast of Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, Iran has discovered a new field named Foroz, with reserves estimated at 700 bcm of gas and 288 MMcm (7.6 bcf) of gas-liquids.
East Africa/India
Odfjell Drilling’s new semisubmersibleDeepsea Stavanger will handle Tanzania’s first deepwater drilling campaign. Ophir Energy contracted the rig for the Blocks 1, 3, and 4 joint ventures which it operates in partnership with BG Group. The $50-million contract involves two firm wells and an optional third, with work due to start later this year.
Bengal Energy International has signed a production-sharing contract for block CY-OSN-2009/1 in the Cauvery basin off southeast India. The block had been provisionally awarded last fall under India’s NELP VIII bid round. The 1,362-sq km (526-sq mi) acreage is 7-16 km (4.3-9.9 mi) offshore, mostly in water depths below 100 m (328 ft). Bengal plans to acquire 3D seismic to optimize definition of a large structure identified from 2D data.
Asia-Pacific
Eni has proved further gas while appraising its Jangkrik discovery in the Muara Bakau PSC in the Kutei basin offshore East Kalimantan. Jangkrik-2 was drilled 70 km (43 mi) from the coast, intersecting over 80 m (262 ft) of net pay in Pliocene sands. Reserves have been upgraded as a result, which could lead to a fasttrack development to funnel the gas to the Bontang LNG terminal.
In Indonesia’s offshore Sumatra basin, Blue Dolphin Energy has agreed to take a 70% working interest in the Langsa area technical assistance contract held by Blue Sky Langsa. The permit includes two oil fields with four wells completed in the Malacca formation, one of which is in production via an FPSO.
FLEX LNG says that seismic acquisition has been completed over parts of the JPDA 06-101 (A) PSC offshore Timor-Leste. Early analysis suggests gas potential in the main Chuditch and surrounding prospects could be higher than previously thought, at over 3 tcf.
Salamander Energy’s Tom Su Lua-1X, the first exploratory well in the Vinh Chau Graben system off southern Vietnam, was a dry hole, although the well did encounter potential seals and high-quality reservoir sandstones. The jackupPVD-1 has since moved 25 km (15.5 mi) to the south to drill the 31-Tom Hum Xanh-1X prospect in block 31, where Salamander estimates potential oil resources at 80 MMbbl.
Australasia
Chevron has found more gas with its third well on the Clio structure in the Carnarvon basin off Western Australia. Clio-3 was drilled on the WA-205-P permit, 90 mi (150 km) northwest of Onslow, in 3,186 ft (971 m) of water. It penetrated around 260 ft (79 m) of net gas pay. Clio could eventually be factored into facilities at the emerging Wheatstone LNG hub.
Offshore New Zealand in the Taranaki basin, Carnarvon (NZ) has farmed into 10% of AWE’s interest in the PEP38524 permit. In exchange, Carnarvon will co-fund the planned Tuatara-1 well in 50 m (164 ft) of water, 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north of South Island. Carnarvon describes Tuatara as a typical Taranaki basin structural trap, with potential oil in place of 80-100 MMbbl.
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