Frank Hartley • Houston
Aker Kvaerner to build Gjøa semi
Statoil and Aker Kvaerner have signed a memorandum of understanding for the contract for the semisubmersible platform to be located at the Gjøa field offshore Norway. A final contract is expected to be signed in October, with an estimated contract value of approximately NOK 8 billion. Aker Kvaerner will start preparation work immediately and upon completion the platform will be towed to the field in 2010.
Statoil discovered Gjøa, a combined oil and gas field located off the coast of the Norwegian city of Florø, in 1989. Statoil (20%) is the operator in the field development phase, while Gaz de France (30 %) will be the operator. The other partners are Petoro (30%), AS Norske Shell (12%), RWE Dea Norge AS (8%).
Statoil will connect the Camilla, Belinda and Fram B fields (known as CBB and operated by Hydro) to the Gjøa semisubmersible platform by a common flowline subsea tie-back solution. Statoil will send the gas to Scotland and oil will be exported to Mongstad in Norway.
Statoil’s Gjøa production facilities topsides measures 110 m long and 85 m wide and weighs in just below the 20,000 tons mark. The hull weighs 14,200 tons. Aker Kvaerner is currently performing the front-end engineering design for the platform under a smaller contract that was signed in January 2006.
Aker Kvaerner’s scope of work following the contract signing in October will be the detail design of topside and hull, procurement, construction and hook-up of topside, and mating of topside and hull. Statoil will place a separate fabrication contract for the hull and a separate engineering, procurement and construction contract for the living quarters.
Aker Kvaerner’s office in Oslo will head up the detailed engineering and a significant part of the engineering hours will be carried out by Aker Kvaerner’s engineering entity in Mumbai in India. In total, more than 500 Aker Kvaerner engineers will be mobilized to design the platform and the peak manning will reach 2,000 persons. Aker Kvaerner Stord AS will construct the platform at its yard, who also is Statoil ASA’s contract partner.
Weatherford to install expandable screens
Weatherford International Ltd. has received a two year, multimillion-dollar contract from Petro-Canada. The contract is for four 5 1/2-in. expandable sand screen (ESS) completions in open-hole applications for oil producing wells. The initial four-well program is located in the Guillemot and Saxon fields, located Northeast of Aberdeen. Petro-Canada’s first of the four wells is expected to be completed by the end of 2006 with theGSF Arctic III semisubmersible drilling rig. In total, approximately 11,000 ft of ESS will be installed.
Baker Oil Tools installs intelligent well systems in the GoM
Baker Oil Tools recently installed the first two Intelligent Well Systems (IWS) in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. The installations set two new milestones for IWS: deepest water installation over 8,000 ft (2438 m) of water and the longest single subassembly (93 ft -- 28 m). The operator saved 12 to 14 hours of rig time by terminating and testing the control lines on the deck prior to lifting the assembly (comprised of three IWS lines, one TEC line and two chemical injection lines). Another achievement included the installation of a Baker Neptune safety valve at 12,400+ ft (3780 m) depth.
SPC spuds Vietnam well
Singapore Petroleum Co., Ltd., together with its partners in blocks 102 and 106, has spudded the Thai Binh-1X exploration well on the Thai Binh prospect in block 102, Song Hong Basin offshore northern Vietnam. SPC’s prospective area is about 50 km south of Hai Phong City and 28 m of water.
The Thai Binh-1X exploration well spudded offshore Vietnam.
SPC will test the Thai Binh-1X for hydrocarbon potential of the Miocene sands within a four-way depth closure and fault dependent structure. SPC will drill the Thai Binh-1X as a vertical well to a planned total depth of 3,200 m subsea which is expected to take approximately 38 days.
The drilling will not have any material impact on the earnings per share and the net tangible asset per share of the SPC group of companies for the current financial year.
EVTN will supply an offshore deck water drainage system and the Voraxial 2000 separator on the Sedco 702
Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. will supply the Transocean semi submersible rigSedco 702 with an offshore deck water drainage system that will feature EVTN’s proprietary Voraxial 2000 separator. The Sedco 702 will utilize this system to protect the environment by separating oil from drainage water prior to discharge.
The offshore deck water drainage system provides a discharge level of 30ppm (parts per million) to meet local environmental requirements. The system will be utilized to handle contaminated drill floor run-off water containing solids and drilling fluids. The Voraxial separator’s ability to conduct efficient separation without the need of a pressure drop allows for easy installation and a reduction of cost. The Voraxial-powered system provides for highly efficient separation while providing features that are critical to offshore platform operation: a small footprint, low energy requirement and a no-pressure drop.
Contango drills exploration discovery at its Dutch Prospect
Contango Oil & Gas Company drills an exploration discovery at its Dutch prospect (“Eugene Island 10”) located offshore Louisiana and operated by Contango Operators, Inc. (“COI”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
A production liner has been set, electric logs run, and the Company is continuing to drill further. Contango’s independent third party engineer estimates this well to have proved reserves net to Contango of 25 Bcfe. Completion and testing operations have not yet begun, but first production is estimated to commence by the end of the year. Estimated cost net to Contango to bring this well to full production status is $2.7 million.
COI has an 18.3% working interest and Republic Exploration LLC (“REX”), a subsidiary in which the Company owns a 43% interest, has a 65% working interest in Dutch. The net revenue interests to COI and REX are estimated to be approximately 13% and 47%, respectively. The net revenue interest before payout to Contango, as a whole, is approximately 33%.
