The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Faroe Petroleum Norge AS a drilling permit for well 31/7-1 A, located offshore Norway.
Well 31/7-1 A will be drilled from the Transocean Arctic (mid-water semisub) drilling facility in production license 740. Faroe Petroleum Norge AS is the operator of the license with an ownership interest of 50 percent. Core Energy AS is a licensee holding the remaining 50 percent stake.
The area in this licence consists of parts of blocks 31/7 and 30/9. This is the first well to be drilled in the license. The permit is contingent upon the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities prior to commencing drilling activities.
TOKYO, June 21 (Reuters) – Tokyo Gas Co said on Tuesday it has bought a 25 percent stake in an Eagle Ford shale gas formation, in what could be among the first shale investments in the United States by a Japanese firm since the tumble in energy prices.
Japan's biggest city gas supplier said it purchased the stake from VirTex Producing Co. The company did not give a break-down of the value of the stake but said it expects to spend up to 8 billion yen ($76.64 million) for the stake plus investments in subsequent drilling combined.
The Nikkei newspaper said earlier on Tuesday the company plans to buy a 25 percent interest in an Eagle Ford shale development for more than 5 billion yen. The project, which already is under commercial production, is expected to supply gas equivalent to 200,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) output for 20 years, Tokyo Gas said.
Tokyo Gas in 2013 bought a shale gas stake in Texas' Barnett Basin from Quicksilver Resources that gave it gas output equivalent to 0.35 million to 0.5 million tpy of LNG output for $485 million. But hurt by falling energy prices, the company has posted impairment losses for the project twice.
The company's senior general manager of global business department, Hisashi Nakamura, told Reuters after a briefing the firm is considering buying more U.S. stakes in future.
Encana announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to sell itsGordondale assets in northwestern Alberta to Birchcliff Energy for a total cash consideration of C$625 million.
The sale includes approx. 54,200 net acres of land and associated infrastructure. In addition, through the transfer of current and future obligations, Encana is reducing midstream and downstream commitments by more than C$100 million on an undiscounted basis. No drilling or completions capital has been spent or was planned for the area in 2016.
Encana's Gordondale assets produced an average of 25,200 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day on a net after-royalty basis during the first quarter of 2016, comprising 65 percent natural gas and 35 percent liquids. Based on Encana's development plan at year-end 2015, estimated proved reserves were approximately 50 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) on a net after-royalty basis.
The sale of Encana's Gordondale assets is subject to the satisfaction of normal closing conditions, as well as regulatory approvals and post-closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to close in the summer of 2016 with an effective date of January 1, 2016.
[collapse title=英文原文请点击]
Lekoil, an oil and gas company focusing on operations in West Africa, has said that it is closing in on commercial production at Otakikpo field in Nigeria.
The field development plan for Otakikpo, located on the shoreline in the south-eastern part of the Niger Delta, consists of two phases: Phase 1 comprises the recompletions of two wells, Otakikpo-002 and Otakikpo-003 with the installation of an Early Production Facility of 6,000 bopd capacity and export via shuttle tanker. Phase 2 covers the subsequent incremental development of the rest of the field with a new Central Processing Facility and seven new wells expected to come on stream during 2017.
According to the operational update on Monday, Otakikpo-002 well has been completed, evacuation facilities are nearing completion and the drilling rig has been mobilized to Otakikpo-003.
The company on Monday said it was nearing commercial production and first cargoes were expected to be lifted in Q3 2016.
“The Company is targeting production of 10,000 bopd by year-end 2016 and will then proceed to phase two of the Otakikpo Field Development Plan, with new wells planned to bring aggregate production to a target of 20,000 bopd by the end of 2017, subject to requisite approvals,” Lekoil said.
[/collapse]
[collapse title=英文原文请点击]
BP announced Monday that, together with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), it has sanctioned the development of the Atoll Phase One project in Egypt.
The project is an early production scheme that will bring up to 300 million cubic feet per day gross of gas to the Egyptian domestic gas market, starting in the first half of 2018. The early production scheme (EPS) involves the recompletion of the existing exploration well as a producing well, the drilling of two additional wells and the installation of the necessary tie-ins and facilities required to produce from the field.
“BP is proud to progress the acceleration of the Atoll project which will bring critical gas to the Egyptian market and establish a new material hub offshore East Nile Delta,” said Hesham Mekawi, regional president, BP North Africa, in a company statement.
“Our confidence in the prospectivity of the area along with our ongoing commitment to Egypt and our successful history of partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum, EGPC and EGAS is allowing us to fast track Atoll from discovery to production in less than three years which is a significant achievement,” he added.
BP recently completed multiple transportation and processing agreements accelerating the development of the Atoll field which contains an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 31 million barrels of condensates. Onshore processing will be handled by the existing West Harbour gas processing facilities.
The Atoll wells will be drilled by the DS-6 rig which arrived in Egypt last month and is expected to start drilling in August for the next 24 months. Success of the Atoll Phase One EPS could lead to further investment in the Atoll Phase Two full field development.
[/collapse]
Oil Rallies Over Brexit Debate. Oil rallied on Monday, lifted by a wave of investor confidence and a weaker dollar after polls showed a diminishing chance that Britain may vote to leave the European Union later this week. [CNBC]
Exxon's Argentine Plans. ExxonMobil may invest more than US$10 billion on developing the giant Vaca Muerta shale play. The new conservative government’s efforts to convince investors of Argentina’s appeal could be about to pay off, with ExxonMobil considering a major new oil and gas development. [Oilpro]
With Oil Near $50, Resilient U.S. Shale Producers Eye New Chapter. Two years into the worst oil price rout in a generation, large and mid-sized U.S. independent producers are surviving and eyeing growth again as oil nears $50 a barrel, confounding OPEC and Saudi Arabia with their resiliency. [Reuters]
Oil Bust Leaves States With Massive Well Cleanup. The worst oil bust since the 1980s is putting Texas and other oil producing states on the hook for thousands of newly abandoned drilling sites at a time when they have little money to plug wells and seal off environmental hazards. [Oilpro, ABC News]
Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Multibillion Dollar Tax Refund To Drillers. Texans could have been faced with billions of dollars in new taxes or lost services, had the Texas Supreme Court ruled differently Friday. The case turned on whether oil and gas companies can claim state sales tax exemptions for drilling equipment. [Dallas Morning News]
OPEC Net Oil Export Revenue Fell 46% In 2015, EIA Says. OPEC earned about $404 billion in net oil export revenues in 2015, representing a 46% decline from 2014, the EIA said in a report. The fall in oil prices is the main reason for the decline. To a lesser extent, decreases in the level of OPEC net oil exports was a factor. [Oilpro]
Rosneft 'May Seek $11bn Stake Sale'. Russian state player Rosneft is reportedly considering a possible 700 billion rubles ($11 billion) sale of a large minority stake to China and India, prompting a spike in the company's shares. [Upstream]
16 Top Former Military Officials Urge Obama To Keep Arctic O&G Leases In Next 5-Year Plan. 16 high ranking former military officials sent a letter to the Obama administration requesting that Arctic O&G leases be kept as part of the next Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) five-year plan for national security reasons. [Oilpro]
Trump vs. Clinton: What Does It Mean For Canadian O&G? The proposed energy policies of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominees for the 2016 U.S. presidential race, are highly divergent and if adopted in their current forms would have significantly different impacts on the western Canadian oil and gas industry. [Oilpro, jwnenergy.com]
Statoil To Use C-Kore’s Subsea Monitoring Tools for North Sea Field. Statoil has awarded C-Kore Systems a contract to supply subsea electrical monitoring tools. Statoil will be using the tools to monitor the insulation resistance and continuity of a new control umbilical during its installation at a field outside Bergen in the northern part of the North Sea. [Oilpro]
HOUSTON -- OneSubsea, a Schlumberger company, has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract totaling more than $170 million from Belayim Petroleum Company (Petrobel). OneSubsea will supply the subsea production systems for the first stage of Zohr field, located in the Shorouk Concession, offshore Egypt.
“Zohr is one of the largest gas fields discovered in the Mediterranean Sea to date, and is also the world’s second longest step-out, a distance greater than 150 km. This step-out will be enabled by OneSubsea controls systems with fiber-optic communications technology,” said Mike Garding, president, OneSubsea. “Our supplier-led approach to the field development, coupled with our FasTrac program capability, and our integrated offering that includes flow assurance, subsea productionsystem and landing string capabilities, will help Petrobel meet their first gas commitment.”
The award follows an accelerated FEED study by OneSubsea in which a multidisciplinary team collaborated with Eni and Petrobel to develop the subsea equipment architecture and control system to validate handling of high gas volumes, considering reservoir characteristics and subsea equipment specifications.
The scope of contract includes six horizontal SpoolTree subsea trees, intervention and workover control systems, landing string, tie-in, high-integrity pressure protection system, topside and subsea controls and distribution, water detection and salinity monitoring provided by the AquaWatcher water analysis sensor, and installation and commissioning services. The FasTrac program comprises a strategic inventory capability with the flexibility to configure the system to the customer needs and deliver on a fast turnaround.
UTTARAKHAND, India (Bloomberg) -- Oil and Natural Gas Corp., India’s biggest explorer, is preparing to spend on its biggest ever crude binge as sub-$50 oil halves the cost of rigs and services.
State-run ONGC is contracting as many as five deepwater drillships and dozens of jackup rigs as it launches a $5-billion development program in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the east coast of India, Chairman Dinesh Kumar Sarraf said in an interview. The company wants to make use of the drop in hiring rates for vessels and oilfield services to lower costs and boost profit, he said.
“This is the largest ever campaign undertaken by us,” Sarraf said. “Never in the past have we had five rigs in offshore deepwater at one time. We believe this is the right moment when we can increase our investment.”
The company, which intends to spend 11 trillion rupees by 2030 to raise output, is key to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of cutting import dependence by 10% in the next six years. That goal is crucial for a country that imports most of its oil. India will be the fastest-growing crude consumer in the world through 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.
‘Exceptional Strength’
“It makes immense sense for an oil explorer to undertake capex in the current times when oil field services costs and charter rates have dropped so sharply, especially if they have strong financial profile,” said K. Ravichandran, co-head, corporate ratings at assessor ICRA Ltd. “Lower debt in relation to reserves gives ONGC exceptional strength in comparison to others.”
Offshore jackup rigs which cost as much as $90,000 a day when oil was surging, now cost about half that, Sarraf said.
ONGC shares rose as much as 1.1% to 213 rupees as of 10:57 a.m. in Mumbai. The benchmark index S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.3%.
The flagship explorer in Asia’s third-largest economy is betting its spending will pay off once oil prices revive. Production has declined in fields accounting for almost three-quarters of ONGC’s output, adding pressure to bring on stream new assets.
“While the big investments are going to help ONGC in the long term, it can strain the profits in coming years if crude prices were to remain around $50/bbl levels,” said Dhaval Joshi, a Mumbai-based analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.
The company has awarded 36 major contracts across the country’s eastern and western coasts, worth a total 340 billion rupees ($5 billion), in the past year-and-a-half, including 13 offshore rigs.
“We expect production would increase this year,” Sarraf said. “That’s why we need to add more and more fields.”
The company expects to start gas output from the KG-basin block by mid-2019 with a peak production of 15 MMscmd. Crude oil output will begin a year later and may go up to 77,000 bpd.
[collapse title=英文原文请点击]
Australian oil and gas production and exploration company Triangle Energy has executed a share sale agreement with AWE for the purchase of its 57.5% participating interest in the Cliff Head oil field, located in the offshore Perth Basin, Western Australia.
Roc Oil, the operator of the Cliff Head field with the remaining 42.5% interest, will remain the operator of the field.
AWE last week announced the agreement to sell its Cliff Head stake but, at the time, the company did not reveal the buyer. AWE initially planned to sell the stake to Elixir Petroleum, an international oil and gas exploration company.
Under the share sale agreement, the total upfront consideration is A$3.2 million ($2.4M) of which Triangle has paid a deposit of A$819,777. In addition, Triangle will pay AWE a royalty of US$5/bbl for oil sales in excess of $US70/bbl.
The effective date of the transaction is January 1, 2016. The cash benefits accrued and payable to Triangle since the effective date total A$1,670,786 up to the end of May 2016 and is subject to final adjustments at completion. Settlement of the acquisition is expected to occur on or before June 30, 2016. Importantly, the company will fund the acquisition from current cash reserves, Triangle said.
Triangle Managing Director, Robert Towner, stated: “Oil prices are at the lowest that we have seen for many years but the price volatility in the commodity markets is a constant factor and periods of uncertainty can present short to medium term opportunity.” Towner added, “The acquisition of a majority stake in the Cliff Head project is a major milestone for Triangle. The low up-front acquisition cost and positive provides exceptional leverage to Triangle shareholders.”
[/collapse]
来自/Offshore Energy Today 6月20日消息 编译/赵美园石油圈原创www.oilsns.com
[collapse title=英文原文请点击]
Australian oil and gas exploration company Quadrant Energy started drilling the Outtrim East-1 well, offshore Australia, on June 18, 2016.
The Outtrim East-1 well is located within the WA-155-P(1) exploration permit in the North West Shelf of Australia where Quadrant is the operator with 71.5%, and Carnarvon Petroleum is its partner with 28.5%.
Carnarvon reported in May that the well would be drilled with the Noble Tom Prosser jack-up drilling rig.
The aim of the Outtrim East-1 well is to explore for additional hydrocarbon bearing sands to the North and East of the hydrocarbon reservoir seen at the Outtrim-1 oil discovery.
Carnarvon said on Monday that the forward plan is to drill to approximately 1,300m MD, which is expected to be just above the Pyrenees Formation, which was oil-bearing in the Outtrim-1 well situated approximately 1 km away. It is then planned to obtain around 90m of conventional core.
After obtaining the core, the final section of the well will be drilled to a Total Depth (TD) of 1,440m. The company said it expects to be in a position to report on whether the target formations are hydrocarbon-bearing, and the extent of any reservoir sands intersected, after completion of the wireline logging and pressure and fluid sampling program.
[/collapse]
Crude oil exports from the Arab Gulf rose above 130 million barrels in the week ending June 18, according to Thomson Reuters’ Lead Oil Analyst for the Middle East and Africa, Giorgos Beleris.
In a research note sent to Rigzone, Beleris outlined that Iran’s exports almost doubled this week after witnessing two consecutive weeks of below par loadings.
“With the International group of Protection & Indemnity Clubs now granting extended cover for ship owners to use their tonnage for carrying Iranian oil, the country is no longer dependent on their National fleet for exports. This removes challenges that can result in increased exports in the future which will assist Iran’s plan of attaining more market share,” stated Beleris.
Iraq export numbers have also remained consistent “indicating the country is set to maintain high export volumes,” according to Beleris. Saudi crude exports rose to 49.67 million barrels in the week, a seven percent week-on-week increase, although average daily exports for June have dropped by around 600,000 barrels per day compared to May levels.
The export increase in the week ending June 18 follows gains of 9 million barrels from May 21 to May 28, compared to the week prior, and a total export figure of 121 million barrels in the seven days ending May 28.
Australia's Skyland Petroleum Ltd., a petroleum exploration and production firm focused on Central Asia, the Caucasus and Russia, announced Monday that it has commenced oil production at the Kyzyl-Tumshuk field in Tajikistan.
Oil production at the field is set to increase in the next few month as several other planned well are expected to become operational.
“We are very pleased to have brought on production of oil from the Kyzyl-Tumshuk field so quickly, particularly given the necessity to install additional surface facilities and to overcome the logistical challenges this entails. The oil produced will be sold on the local market, which will immediately generate cash flow for the Company. We have a number of other target wells on the field for both oil and gas production, and preparations for these operations are proceeding well,” Stephen Elliott, vice president Project Development said in the press release.
Skyland revealed that first production from the oil field was achieved on time and under budget.
“This is a major milestone for the Company. We have met our objectives in terms of both timing and cost, and we are confident that we can ramp up production quickly," Dr. David Robson, chairman and managing director, added.
Norway’s DOF Subsea has been awarded a contract from Petrobras for the Brazilian built ROV construction support vessel Skandi Niterói.
The vessel will commence the new contract immediately, for a period of eight months plus an option of a further eight months.
“I am very pleased with the contract award, securing utilization in a challenging market and maintaining our strong position in the Brazilian market,” commented Mons S. Aase, CEO of DOF.
Last month, Petrobras also extended the contract for DOF Subsea’s multipurpose research and supply vessel Geograph.
[collapse title=英文原文请点击]
Gazprom and Dutch state-owned gas grid operator Gasunie met June 17 to discuss areas of their collaboration, including a Framework Agreement on cooperation in the small-scale LNG sector signed in July 2015, as well as the Nord Stream-1 pipeline in which both are shareholders.
Gazprom said it exported some 20bn m3 via Nord Stream from January 1 to June 16 this year, 25% more than in the same period of 2015. Dutch Gasunie elected not to participate in the Gazprom-led Nord Stream-2 project, which signed up Shell, Engie, OMV, Uniper and Wintershall as partners.
The existing Nord Stream pipeline has 55bn m3/yr capacity and connects Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea; it is 51%-controlled by Gazprom, Wintershall, E.ON, Gasunie and Engie are its partners.
On small-scale LNG, Gasunie and Gazprom discussed a pilot project for the construction of a small-scale loading terminal in the German Baltic port of Rostock to receive, store and ship LNG for use as a bunker and vehicle fuel.
[/collapse]
[collapse title=英文原文请点击]
The controlling stakeholders offshore Israel – Noble Energy and Delek Group – are moving forward in their expansion and development plans for Tamar and Leviathan gas fields by trying to coordinate and schedule a sequence of drilling operations between the two projects.
A tender was issued for a drilling rig, which is supposed to arrive at Israel later this year. The rig will drill a new well at Tamar field, Tamar 5, the source said. The new well is part of the expansion plan for the already producing field.
Speaking at the Herzeliya Conference June 16, Delek Group CEO Yossi Abu said that by the end of the year a drilling rig would arrive in Israeli waters. However he did not refer to the Tamar field. Drilling production wells in Leviathan will follow final investment decision at the end of this year, so not before the second half of next year, at the earliest.
After completing its work plan in Tamar the rig will then move on to drill a few production wells in Leviathan field, by which time the final investment decision to develop the field should have been taken, contingent on firm gas sales agreements. Leviathan partners are US Noble Energy (the operator with 39.7%), Delek Group (45.3%) and Ratio (15%).
Further on, the drilling rig is expected to drill for natural gas at the Aphrodite gas field offshore Cyprus which is controlled by US Noble Energy (35%) the Anglo-Dutch major Shell (35%) and Delek Group (30%).
[/collapse]
石油圈