Archives for March 2017

Statoil strikes oil and gas with wildcat

27/03/2017 Posted by Dale

Norway’s Statoil has struck oil and gas at a wildcat well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. This comes after the Norwegian oil and gas E&P, as operator of Gimle Unit and production licence 193, had completed drilling the 34/10-55 S well. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Statoil had encountered a total oil and gas column of about 170 meters, of which 60 meters are in sandstone with good to very good reservoir properties in the Statfjord group and 10 meters in sandstone with moderate to good properties in the Lunde formation. The well was drilled by the…

OGA unveils UK offshore frontier licence awards

27/03/2017 Posted by Dale

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has offered for award 25 licences for 111 blocks or part blocks to 17 companies in the 29th Offshore Licensing Round to enable further exploration and production across frontier areas of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The 29th Licensing Round was the first licensing round in two decades to focus solely on frontier, under-explored areas of the Rockall Basin, Mid-North Sea High, and part of the East Shetland Platform. It attracted applications from 24 companies for 113 blocks when it closed in October 2016. OGA said all areas generated interest, with highlights including: three…

Eni savours sweet taste of crude in Mexico

27/03/2017 Posted by Dale

Italian oil company Eni announced it had “successfully drilled” the Amoca-2 well in the shallow waters of Campeche Bay, offshore Mexico, confirming the presence of oil in multiple reservoirs. Amoca-2, located in the Contractual Area 1, 200km west of Ciudad del Carmen in 25 meters of water, is the first well drilled by an international oil major in Mexico since the 2013 Energy Reform. The well reached a total depth of approximately 3,500 meters and encountered approximately 110 meters of net oil pay from several “good quality Pliocene reservoir sandstones, of which 65 meters were discovered in a deeper, previously…

CGG and Eidesvik create new fleet ownership company

27/03/2017 Posted by Dale

CGG has announced the creation of a new company with longstanding partner Eidesvik and its Nordic lenders that will establish a new ownership set-up for its operated fleet. In a statement CGG said the new company would take possession of the five vessels currently owned by CGG which were cold-stacked, Geo Coral, Geo Caribbean, Geo Celtic, CGG Alize and Oceanic Challenger, as well as the two vessels co-owned by CGG and Eidesvik, Oceanic Vega and Oceanic Sirius. The new company will be jointly and equally owned by CGG and Eidvisk and will carry all outstanding debts related to the vessels.…

PTTEP Contracts Jack-up Rig

27/03/2017 Posted by Dale

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has been awarded a contract by PTTEP for redeployment of the rig Tom Prosser in Australia for a single new production well at Montara. The 2014-built jack up rig, which had been warm stacked in the United Arab Emirates since last October on expiry of its drilling contract with Quadrant Energy, will be deployed for two months from early September to late October 2017 at a day rate of US$130,000. It will be involved in work for PTTEP in the Bonaparte Basin in which the Montara oil project is located as well as the undeveloped…

SA ups the PACE to hit the gas

20/03/2017 Posted by Dale

Against the gloomy background of a looming gas famine and associated energy crisis in Australia, South Australia announced the recipients of the first round of PACE Gas Grants with five exploration and development projects to share in $24 million in State Government funding. Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the grants would generate up to $174 million in new investment by oil and gas companies in local production projects. In a statement Mr Koutsantonis said gas extracted through the grant scheme will be offered to South Australian electricity generators first, increasing the affordability of supply and putting downward pressure…

Geoscientist employment recovery stalls

20/03/2017 Posted by Dale

The improvement in employment prospects for Australia’s geoscientists evident during 2016 came to an end in the final quarter of 2016. This was revealed in a report released by an AIG Australian Geoscientist Employment Survey from data collected during February 2017 which elicited 485 responses with an estimated one in 10-15 geoscientists contributing to the survey. At 31st December 2016, the unemployment rate amongst Australian geoscientists was 14.4% and the under-employment rate was 19.5%, up slightly from 13.9% and 18.8% respectively at the end of September 2016. More than half of Australia’s self-employed geoscientists were unable to secure more than…

Gas supply warning a result of flawed state policies

13/03/2017 Posted by Dale

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s warning of severe gas shortages in eastern Australia as early as next summer is the consequence of many years of policy failure by successive state governments in Victoria and New South Wales. APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts said the Gas Statement of Opportunities released last week was the latest in a long list of credible warnings that eastern Australia was racing towards a gas supply cliff. “For years now, politicians in Victoria and New South Wales have wilfully ignored these warnings,” Dr Roberts said. “AEMO, the ACCC, APPEA, gas producers and their customers have…

Cairn clarifies timeline for SNE Oilfield development

13/03/2017 Posted by Dale

SNE Oilfield Operator Cairn Energy has announced a timetable for the development of the offshore oilfield that encompasses development concept selection this year and first oil between 2021 and 2023. Cairn, with a 40% working interest in three blocks offshore Senegal (Sangomar Deep, Sangomar Offshore, Rufisque Offshore) counts Australian independent Woodside (35%), Melbourne-based exploration junior Far Ltd (15%) and the Senegal National Oil Company, Petrosen (10%) as its JV partners. In 2015 the JV, which then included ConocoPhillips prior to the sale of its interest to Woodside, submitted a three-year evaluation work plan to the Senegal government. This plan envisaged…

Exxon inks $2.8 billion Mozambique deal with Eni

12/03/2017 Posted by Dale

SUPERMAOR ExxonMobil has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Eni to acquire a 25% indirect interest in the natural gas rich Area 4 block, offshore Mozambique. In a joint statement the two companies said terms included a cash price of approximately US$2.8 billion and that the acquisition would be completed on a number of condition precedents being met, notably clearance from Mozambican and other regulatory authorities. Eni holds a 50% indirect share in the block via a 71.4% stake in Eni East Africa, which owns 70% of the Area 4 concession which has been estimated to contain 85 trillion…