Asia-Pacific E&P activity maintains fast growth
JVs sustain momentum by sharing risks and costs
Pam Boschee, International Editor
There is no dearth of recent announcements involving the Asia-Pacific region.
China continues to gear-up its infrastructure in its attempts to stay ahead of the curve as its demand for oil and gas grows. The country is planning to build another natural gas pipeline from west to east in the coming five years from 2006 to 2010.
The proposal was raised in the draft of Guidelines for the Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2006-2010) submitted for examination and approval by the ongoing Fourth Session of the 10th National People’s Congress.
Still in the feasibility research stage, no further details have yet been revealed.
On the supply side, China National Offshore Oil Corp. stands to gain up to a 51% interest in the event of any commercial discovery in deepwater block 29/26.
Husky Energy will drill an oil well at a water depth of 1,500 m in the South China Sea at the end of April. The drilling is expected to require 45 days.
The deepwater block is one of 12 for which Cnooc invited public bidding in 2002. Covering an area of 3,965 sq km, the contract block has a water depth between 300 and 2,000 m.
Exploration will be divided into three phases. Husky will drill one well in each phase, and all expenditures incurred during the exploration period will be borne by Husky.
Thailand’s Energy Ministry has awarded concessions for three offshore oil exploration blocks to four companies: PTTEP (Thailand) Ltd., Chevron Pattani Ltd., Total E&P Thailand, and Thai Energy.
The operators will pay about $12 million for a six-year exploration concession on each block.
If oil is discovered, the companies can apply for production rights, which are valid for 20-30 years.
Chevron Pattani, part of Chevron Corp. and formerly known as Unocal Andaman, won the concession for block G4/48, covering 504 sq km.
The concession for block G12/48, covering 622 sq km, has been awarded to PTTEP (Thailand), Total E&P Thailand, and Thai Energy, with PTTEP holding the major share of 44.4%.
Thai Energy is a unit of BG International Ltd.
Block G9/48, covering 252 sq km, has been awarded to PTTEP (Thailand) and Chevron Pattani, with PTTEP holding an 84% interest.
The Thai government is offering a total of 82 offshore and onshore blocks spanning 440,704 sq km in the country’s latest petroleum concession bidding round. So far, 14 parties have submitted bids for 16 blocks.
The ministry has selected Apico LLC for block L13/48 and JSX Energy (Thailand) for block 17/48, but the concessions on the two blocks are still pending Cabinet approval.
India plans to keep up with the surging demand for offshore support services as global activity expands.
Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. and Shipping Corp. of India have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for setting up a joint venture company called Offshore Marine Services Ltd.
The JV company will provide end-to-end solutions for vessel operations for ONGC and other oil and gas companies.
It will also develop capabilities for acquisition, repair, and maintenance of offshore floating units and undertake repair and construction on long-term arrangements with shipyard facilities on preferential terms and a competitive basis.
PPL Shipyard is on track to deliver its first in-house proprietary designed Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 deep drilling offshore jackup rig to JV company, Kristiansand.
The high-specification BMC375 Pacific Class jackup,Deep Driller I, has the ability to operate in water depths of up to 375 ft and to drill high-pressure and high-temperature wells of over 30,000 ft deep. It can accommodate 120 men.
Deep Driller I will be chartered by Kristiansand to Hardy Exploration & Production (India) Inc. for a drilling contract in block CY-OS/2 offshore the East Coast of India with an estimated duration of around 130 days to complete two wells.
A second chartering contract to an undisclosed company will begin in direct continuation after Hardy Exploration & Production (India) Inc. for a period of 18 months plus two optional periods of six months each.
Kristiansand is a JV formed between Sembawang Shipyard (S) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of SembCorp Marine, and Deep Drilling I Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Sinvest ASA.
As part of another JV, Anadarko International Energy Co. has committed $80 million to drill exploration wells to test some 20 prospects over three years in major Indonesian basins.
As part of its JV model with Medco Energi Indonesia., Anadarko will be drilling in production sharing contracts (PSC) held by Medco in South Sumatra, East Java, and Terakan basins, says John W. Harkins, Anadarko’s VP for international business development.
A successful hydrocarbon yield from a well drilled under the unique drill-to-earn model would win the company a 40% stake in a PSC while a dry well would mean nothing.
Harkins is confident of success through the approach, which would be the basis of Anadarko forming a number of more JVs with PSC holders in Indonesia seeking farm-in or risk-sharing partners.
Industry observers see the Anadarko approach working with small- to medium-scale exploration companies as well as cash-strapped national oil and gas enterprises, including Pertamina.
Abadarko has also already helped Pertamina reprocess some 7 million acres of seismic data, which included 12 PSC blocks.
Anadarko is set to drill the first of the six wells planned from the middle of this year in the North East Madura III offshore block in 150-250 ft of water.
Japan’s Inpex Corp. is focusing on developing two of its major gas finds in Indonesia and Australia, aiming for production from 2010-2013.
“We will drill more appraisal wells from the middle of this year in the Abadi field in Indonesia’s Masela block,” says Kunio Kanamori, Inpex’s managing director and COO for Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa business division.
Kanamori sees a floating LNG plant for the Abadi field, which is closer to Indonesia’s border with Australia. He ruled out the possibility of processing Abadi at an Australian LNG plant despite the closer proximity.
Inpex is also working on plans to develop the Ichthys gas field in WA-285-P offshore Western Australia along the same time frame.
Inpex is working on LNG, GTL, and dimethyl technology for the field.•