Jeremy Beckman - Houston
Americas
Brazilian national oil company Petrobras has begun producing oil from the Jabuti accumulation in the Marlim Leste field in the Campos basin. The well, connected to the FPSOCidade de Niteroi, started flowing in February at an initial rate of 35,000 b/d. Petrobras claims this is the first light oil to be produced from carbonatic reservoirs in ultra deepwater, in this case 1,413 m (4,636 ft).
PetroVietnam has signed a co-operation agreement with Petroleos de Nicaragua (Petronic) to evaluate acreage offshore Nicaragua. Assuming the two parties identify potential for hydrocarbons, they will negotiate terms for an oil and gas contract. PetroVietnam has E&P interests in Cuba, and has recently held investment talks with other countries in the region, including Bolivia.
Europe
Offshore activities in the oil and gas sector are continuing to fall - the latest industry figures released by Deloitte show that exploration operations within the UK Continental Shelf have decreased significantly in the last 12 months.
Deloitte’s North West Europe Review, which summarizes drilling and licensing in the region and is produced by its Petroleum Services Group (PSG), reports that while the same number of appraisal wells were spudded in the UK during the first quarter compared to the year before, the number of exploration wells has fallen 78%.
Eighteen exploration and appraisal wells were spudded – a 41% decrease in drilling activity on the same period last year. Of those, the majority (44%) of wells were located in the central North Sea, with a further 28% in the southern North Sea, 17% in the Moray Firth, and 11% in the northern North Sea.
“The decrease in activity in the UKCS can be wholly attributed to the sharp drop in exploration drilling as oil and gas companies reassess their priorities in light of the difficult economic conditions,” says Derek Henderson, senior partner for Deloitte in Aberdeen. “Cash continues to be a priority as credit conditions remain extremely tough for organizations in the UK, despite the recent base rate cuts.”
Melrose Resources has signed a farm-in agreement with Sterling Resources relating to the Pelican XIII and Midia XV blocks in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea. Midia XV contains the undeveloped Ana and Doina gas fields, which have combined probable reserves estimated at 288 bcf.
Both blocks should be sanctioned for development early next year, and Melrose believes they hold numerous other exploration prospects and leads. Melrose will earn a 32.5% interest in return for providing $12 million of funding to Sterling. It will also carry Sterling for $63-78 million of the development costs, depending on the gas price negotiated, and will operate any development projects through end-2011.
West Africa
Repsol has discovered gas offshore Morocco with a well in the Tanger Larache license, 40 km (25 mi) from the coast. The Anchois-1 well, drilled to a total depth of 2,435 m (7,989 ft), encountered two intervals of high-quality gas-bearing sands. The combined gas columns totaled around 90 m (295 ft), with close to 40 m (131 ft) of net pay.
Partner Dana Petroleum estimates reserves at around 100 bcf. The joint venture group is analyzing the well data before deciding whether to resume drilling on the license. Repsol views this program as part of a wider-ranging search for gas-bearing sands in the region, including the Canary Islands.
Geneva-based Vitol has taken a 21.55% interest in the Marine XIV block off Republic of Congo through its subsidiary Raffia Oil. The shallow water block is adjacent to the company’s other license in the Lower Congo Basin, Marine XI. Previous activity on Marine XIV has led to numerous oil finds, and Vitol currently is processing a new multi-azimuth 3D seismic survey which has imaged various pre- and post-salt prospects.
Tullow Oil has conducted a study on the potential application of compressed natural gas technology for its Kudu gas field offshore Namibia. It intends to present a new development proposal to the government later this year ahead of starting negotiations with potential gas buyers.
Offshore Liberia, the company has acquired interests in three blocks where it hopes to identify possible analogues to its deepwater discoveries offshore Ghana. A 3D survey is being acquired to delineate prospects identified from existing 2D data.
In Uganda, Tullow recently awarded a front-end engineering and design contract to Dietswell in Paris for an offshore drilling unit to operate in 45 m (147 ft) of water in Lake Albert. The company and its partner Heritage Oil aim to start exploratory drilling in 2010.
Mediterranean Sea
Noble Energy has achieved its second deepwater gas discovery in the Israeli Levantine basin, on the Dalit structure in the Michal license. The well was drilled by the semisubmersibleAtwood Hunter in 4,500 ft (1,372 m) of water, 30 mi (48.3 km) from the coast. Formation logs identified more than 110 ft (33.5 m) of net pay in a high quality, subsalt Lower Miocene reservoir.
President Charles Davidson says the com- pany plans to acquire new 3D seismic over various leads in other licenses in the area. The results, he adds, could lead to further exploration during the second half of 2010. Following production testing on Dalit, the rig will return to the earlier Tamar find for appraisal drilling to better delineate that structure.
San Leon Energy has been awarded permits for three licenses offshore Sicily. Permit D352 CR-SL, southwest of the island in the Canal Zone C, includes the heavy oil Narciso Oligocene limestone discovery. Although Agip applied successfully to develop the field in 1986, it cancelled its plans when the oil price dropped to $10/bbl.
The DR353 CR-SL permit, to the southwest, lies just east of the Norma, Naila, and Nilde oil fields. D354 CR-SL, the largest of the three awarded areas at 4,825 sq km (186 sq mi), is closer to the coast.
India
ONGC has taken delivery of the jackupGreatdrill Chetna from Keppel Fels. The KFELS B-class rig will operate for three years in the Mumbai High oil field. It can work in water depths of 350 ft (107 m) and drill wells to a depth of 30,000 ft (9,144 m). It incorporates Keppel’s automated high capacity rack and pinion elevating system.
Caspian Sea
Azerbaijan International Oil Co. has contracted KBR for front-end engineering and design for the Chirag Oil project in the Azeri sector. This relates to a large drilling platform tying into the existing Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil field. KBR will manage the studies from its offices in Baku and in Leatherhead, UK.
KC Kazakh (The Netherlands) has contracted Friede & Goldman to design a drilling barge to operate in the shallow waters of the northern Caspian Sea. F&G will manage this work in coordination with Korea National Oil Corp, the representative company acting on KC Kazakh’s behalf.
Middle East
Saudi Aramco has contracted J. Ray McDermott for further offshore structures under its Long Term Agreement with the company. J. Ray will procure, fabricate, and install three decks, jackets, and shallow water crude pipelines in the South Safaniya field. The pipeline will divert crude through three existing platforms to other facilities prior to reaching the Safaniya onshore gas-oil separation plant.
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and three Chinese companies have agreed on a $3.2-billion deal to produce LNG from the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf. A European company also is likely to participate, according to NIOC. The two-stage project is expected to take six years to complete.
Asia-Pacific
CNOOC has discovered further oil in the Bohai Bay. Well BZ 2-1, drilled in 26 m (85 ft) of water, 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of the BZ 3-2 oil field, intersected oil pay zones with total thickness of 50.9 m (167 ft).
In the same region, the company recently started production from the Bozhong (BZ) 28-2S oil field via four wells. Development facilities include a central platform and an FPSO. Production should ramp up to 25,000 b/d by 2011.
Elsewhere the company has achieved first gas from its PanYu (PY) 30-1 gas field in the Pearl River Mouth basin in the eastern South China Sea. This is the second of a two-phase development, also encompassing the HuiZhou (HZ) 21-1 oil and gas field, which came on stream earlier. PY30-1’s facilities include an integrated platform and three subsea pipelines – the gas is piped to a process terminal onshore at Zhuhai.
Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE) is set to farm in to the block 06/94 production sharing contract offshore Vietnam. Subject to the approval of the Vietnamese government, AWE will carry Serica Energy’s 33.33% share of the costs of a three-well drilling program, thereby earning a 23.33% interest in the PSC. TheOcean General should drill the first exploratory well on the Tuong Vi prospect in June.
In block 31 offshore southern Vietnam, Salamander Energy has signed a PSC with PetroVietnam which it will operate with a 60% interest. The license area covers more than 5,000 sq km (1,931 sq m) and lies next to Salamander’s existing Cuu Long River Delta 01 block – the company believes this acreage is analogous to the prolific Cuu Long basin blocks to the east. It plans geological and geophysical studies ahead of exploration drilling in 2010.
Australia
The joint venture partners for the Basker-Manta-Gummy (BMG) project have opted to revise the development plan and schedule. During 2009-10 the partners will focus on enhancing production from the Phase 1 oil project, while scaling back commitments for the Phase 2 gas project.
By swapping one of the originally contracted rigs, theSonga Venus, for a rig already operating in the Bass Strait, the partners have saved substantial mobilization costs. The commitment to the other rig, the Kan Tan IV, has been cut from 143 days to 30 days starting late 2010. As for BMG’s FPSO Crystal Ocean, upgrade work, including installation of a low pressure flare recovery compressor, should be concluded this fall.
Canadian company Bengal Energy has been awarded a 100% interest in a 3,485-sq km (1,345-sq mi) permit in the Timor Sea. One well was previously drilled on the acreage in 1973, down-dip of what is thought to be a large area of structural closure with potentially high quality Triassic reservoir rocks.
To the east, the Vulcan Graben is an established oil-producing area. The permit carries an initial six-year term, with obligations for 2D reprocessing and 3D acquisition during the first three years, followed by an exploration well in a water depth of around 2,600 m (8,530 ft).
