GLOBAL E & P
Jeremy Beckman • London
Worldwide investments in oil and gas pipelines could exceed $269 billion over the next five years, according to analysts Infield Systems Ltd. ItsGlobal Perspectives Pipelines & Control Lines Market Update Report to 2014 predicts steady growth of over 5% annually in installations. And for the first time, the SURF (subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines) sector should surpass “conventional” pipelay. This is due to partly to the emergence of large regional development projects, including long subsea gas tiebacks off northwest Australia, and demand for flexibles in Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt basins. Infield also foresees growth in subsea power lines feeding offshore production complexes.
North America
Cairn Energy has completed its first-phase drilling program in Baffin Bay, offshore Greenland. The company used two rigs to drill three wells, the first in the region for nearly 35 years. One of the wells, T8-1, encountered gas in thin sands, while Alpha-1S1, has been suspended for a possible re-entry. Cairn plans further work next year, based in part on newly acquired 2D seismic on the offshore Eqqua and Sigguk blocks.
Exxon Mobil has awarded the new Kiewit-Aker Contractors joint venture a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the Hebron platform gravity-based structure. Hebron is an oil and gas development, 350 km (217 mi) offshore St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. The contract could be extended to include detailed engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services. Site preparation will start at the local Bull Arm fabrication yard, once permits have been received.
West Africa
Togo has awarded ENI two production-sharing contracts covering the country’s entire offshore area. ENI will operate blocks 1 and 2 with a 100% interest; both are in the little explored Dahomey basin, east of the prolific Tano basin off Ghana.
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Chevron has contracted Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Enegineering (DSME) to build a new production platform for installation in block 0 offshore Cabinda. The 18,758-ton facility, which will be built in Geoje, South Korea, should be delivered by late 2013.
Sonangol and SBM Offshore have agreed to admit DSME to their Paenal Yard joint venture. This was established in Porto Amboim in 2007 to provide fabrication of topsides modules and FPSO integration. DSME will perform module and FPSO construction and integration at the yard for Total’s new deepwater CLOV development in Angolan block 17. This will involve extending the quayside to accommodate low berthing of FPSOs, and adding a heavy-lift crane.
Earlier, Total contracted KBR for topsides detailed design for the floater, which will process around 160,000 b/d of oil and 230 MMcf/d of gas from the Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea, and Violeta fields.
Total has become operator of its first deepwater exploration permit off Cote d’Ivoire, following a farm-in agreement with Yam’s Petroleum. The CO-100 block covers nearly 2,000 sq km (772 sq mi), southeast of Abidjan, in water depths of 1,500-3,100 m (4,921-10,170 ft). Total, Yam’s and state oil company Petroci will commission a 1,000-sq km (386-sq mi) 3D seismic survey to complete coverage of the block, followed by a first well by 2012 latest. Total sees geological analogies with the deepwater discoveries in neighboring Ghana.
South America
Shell has initiated the Phase II development of the Parque das Conchas (BC-10) project offshore Brazil. This will involve drilling a further seven wells to subsurface depths of 1,100 m (3,600 ft) to recover 300 MMboe of reserves. Under Phase 1, which came onstream in 2009, nine wells were drilled on the Abalone, Ostra, and Argonauta B-West fields, with production sent to the FPSOEspirito Santo for processing.
Petrobras has drilled its ninth successful well so far on the Tupi pre-salt field in Brazil’s Santos basin. The Tupi SW well was drilled in a water depth of 2,152 m (7,060 ft). According to partner BG, it located the oil/water contact at the deepest of potential depths that had previously been considered, thereby reducing uncertainty over hydrocarbon volumes in the Tupi area.
BG has upgraded its estimate of recoverable resources from Tupi and the nearby Iracema and Guara discoveries by 2.7 Bboe to 10.8 Bboe, following analysis of new reservoir models. The assessment, provided by independent consultants, was based in part on this latest well and data from Tupi’s ongoing extended well test.
ThePolarcus Asima will expand 3D data coverage over the North Falkland basin.
The semisubOcean Guardian was due to resume work last month on the Rachel North prospect in the offshore North Falkland basin. Operator Desire Petroleum won approval to drill a new vertical well, 1.7 km (1.06 mi) from the Rachel 14/15-1Z sidetrack – the latter encountered oil shows, but had to be prematurely abandoned following mechanical failure of the wellbore.
Desire, Rockhopper, and Argos Resources have jointly contracted thePolarcus Asima vessel for a large 3D seismic survey over their exploration acreage in the region. Argos has identified five prospects in its license area, based on a 1996 2D survey, and plans to drill its first well in late 2011.
Mediterranean Sea
UTE ACS Cobra Castor has contracted Saipem to install a gas pipeline for the Castor offshore gas storage project from end-2011. The pipeline, 22-km (13.7-mi) long and 30-in. (76-cm) in diameter, will extend from Vinaroz in mainland Spain to an offshore field where a new wellhead platform was erected in August. The facilities will produce, compress, treat, and re-inject gas into the Spanish national grid.
Noble Energie France and Melrose Resources have contracted a vessel to acquire 2D seismic over the deepwater Rhone Maritime concession off southern France. The 8,000-km (4,971-mi) program was due to start mid-November. Noble, which recently became operator of the permit, will cover the costs under the farm-in terms. Melrose says the acreage has hydrocarbon potential at both Pre- and Post-Messinian intervals.
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In the deepwater Levantine basin offshore Israel, theSedco Express has started drilling the Leviathan prospect for Noble in the Rachel license. The location is 135 km (84 mi) west of Haifa, in a water depth of 1,634 m (5,631 ft). Noble plans to test three targets as the well descends to its planned depth of 7,200 m (23,622 ft).
Black Sea
First gas has flowed from the Kavarna and Kaliakra fields in the Bulgarian sector. Romanian contractor GSP Offshore installed facilities tying the two accumulations back to the Galata platform via subsea wells. The gas is exported by pipeline to operator Melrose Resources’ processing plant onshore in Varna. Melrose has further plans to tie in the nearby East Kavarna structure.
Not such good news for the company to the north in the Romanian sector, where operator Sterling Resources has terminated its proposed farm-in to the offshore Pelican and Midia blocks. Sterling blames excessive delays in obtaining regulatory approvals for the transfer. It plans to pursue programs for the Ana and Doina discoveries with its existing partners, PetroVentures Europe and Gas Plus International.
Middle East
Iraq’s South Oil Co. has awarded Leighton Offshore a $733-million EPC contract for a construction project in the Persian Gulf. This is designed to expand export facilities at and from the Fao Terminal near Al Basrah. Leighton’s work scope includes installation and commissioning of two parallel 48-in. (122-cm) offshore/onshore pipelines linking the terminal to three new offshore single-point moorings, which the company will also install, along with associated subsea pipeline end manifolds.
Iran is in negotiations with a foreign oil company to develop the Farzad B gas/oil field in the Farsi block in the Persian Gulf. Development would be in the form of a buyback contract, and would probably cost $5 billion, according to National Iranian Offshore Oil Co. Due to international sanctions, Iranian companies have monopolized all the country’s recent offshore projects, including new phases of the South Pars gas-condensate development.
East Africa
BG Group’s first deepwater well off Tanzania has discovered gas in the Pweza prospect. The well was drilled in block 4 in 1,400 m (4,593 ft) of water, 85 km (53 mi) from the southern Tanzanian coast. BG operates three blocks in the Mafia Deep Offshore basin, and plans to drill two further wells.
Anadarko has confirmed a second discovery in Mozambique’s ultra-deepwater Rovuma basin. The Barquentine-1 well intersected over 416 net ft (127 m) of gas pay in multiple sands, and over 308 net ft (94 m) of pay in two Oligocene sands. The well also encountered 108 ft (33 m) of gas pay deeper down in Palaeocene sands, which appears to be part of the same accumulation forming the Windjammer find, 2 mi (3.2 km) to the southwest. Next up for Anadarko and the drillshipBelford Dolphin was a planned well on the Lagosta prospect, 16 mi (25.7 km) to the south.
Offshore Kenya, the company may start drilling on its five contiguous deepwater blocks in 2012, according to new farm-in partner Cove Energy.
Indian Sub-Continent
Reliance Industries has contracted Mustang for FEED and detailed engineering for a gas compression system for the KG D6 block terminal on India’s east coast. This will be one of the world’s largest such facilities in a single location, providing 100,000 hp to compress incoming gas from the KG-D6 deepwater fields.
In the shallow water KG basin, 3 km (1.8 mi) from the Amalupraam coastline, ONGC has discovered gas in the IF PEKL block. Well GS-KV-1 flowed at a rate of 82 MMcf/d. ONGC may develop the accumulation as part of a field cluster.
Cairn Energy has agreed to sell its E&P interests in Bangladesh to Santos International Holdings. These include the producing offshore gas field Sangu, recently averaging around 33 MMcf/d. Santos plans to drill three wells in the Sangu area next year.
Asia/Pacific
CNOOC has started production from two shallow water oil fields in Bohai Bay, offshore China. BoZhong 26-3, in the central sector, has been developed by four wells tied into nearby facilities. LuDa 32-2, in the eastern part of Bohai Bay, was developed jointly with the LD27-2 field. Both the new fields should deliver over 6,000 b/d at peak in 2011.
Total E&P Borneo has a third discovery in block B offshore Brunei. The Ml-5 well was drilled 8 km (4.9 mi) south of the Maharaja Lela/Jamulalam field, in a new, deep fault panel. It flowed gas and condensate from high-pressure/high-temperature formations at a subsurface depth of 5,350 m (17,522 ft), setting a new depth record for a production test in Southeast Asia, the company claims.
BP has agreed to sell its assets in Vietnam to the TNK-BP joint venture. These comprise an operated interest in block 06.1 offshore southeast Vietnam, containing the Lan Tay and Lan Do fields; a 32.67% interest in the 370-km (230-mi) Nam Con Son pipeline taking gas from these fields to the coast; and 33.3% of the joint venture operating the Phu My 3 power plant in Baria Vung Tau province.
Australia/New Zealand
Apache Julimar plans to develop the Balnaves oil and gas discovery off Western Australia in license WA-356-P, following a fourth well success. The oil is contained in the Mungaroo formation beneath the gas reservoirs of the Brunello field. Apache estimates Balnaves’ recoverable resources at 14-19 MMbbl. Brunello and the nearby Julimar are much larger gas accumulations that will provide feedstock for the Wheatstone LNG project.
The partners in the Basker-Manta-Gummy development in the Bass Strait have agreed to switch the present Phase I oil program into a Non-Production Phase. Operation of theCrystal Ocean FPSO and Basker Spirit shuttle tanker will be suspended. The partnership, led by ROC, will meantime evaluate options for a separate Phase II gas development, supplies from which could be diverted to a proposed LNG scheme.
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