Building on the success of its 25,000 km2 3D BroadSeis™ survey, which led to the recent Boudji-1 and Ivela-1 oil discoveries, CGG is extending its Gabon multi-client data footprint with a 9,800-km long-offset 2D seismic survey in an unexplored deepwater area of the South Basin. A subset of the data over the offered license blocks will be available in advance of Gabon’s 12th offshore licensing round planned for June 2019. CGG said the new 2D data will help define the full extent of existing and new plays in the region.
Company Updates
Woodside announces Scarborough contracts
Woodside has awarded four contracts for front-end engineering design activities for the proposed Scarborough project located offshore Australia. The Perth-headquartered company said the contracts were for engineering activities related to the upstream development’s floating production unit, the export trunkline, and the subsea umbilical risers and flowlines. Woodside said each contract includes an option to progress to execute phase activities, which is subject to, among other conditions, a positive final investment decision (FID) being taken on the project by the Scarborough Joint Venture.
Schlumberger revenue beats estimates ahead of upbeat forecast for 2019
Schlumberger has reported fourth quarter net earnings of US$538 billion, or 39c a share, compared to losses of US$2.2 billion, or $1.63 per share, in the corresponding period a year earlier. Schlumberger Chairman and CEO Paal Kibsgaard commented, “Full-year 2018 revenue of $32.8 billion increased 8% year-on-year and grew for the second successive year. Performance was driven by North America, where revenue of $12.0 billion increased 26% due to the results of our OneStim® business, which grew by 41%. Full-year international revenue of $20.4 billion was essentially flat compared with 2017.
Aker BP commits to $500m exploration spend in 2019
Norwegian E&P company Aker BP is upping the ante this year with a turbo-charged exploration program in 2019 aimed at tripling production by 2025. The company said from the launchpad of a strong performance in 2018, it now plans to cut production costs from US$12 to US$7 per barrel and to significantly increase dividend payments to shareholders. “Excellent execution and rapid change towards lower cost, lower emissions and improved efficiency are key ingredients to value creation in Aker BP.
Montara back on line after maintenance shutdown
Jadestone Energy has restarted production at the Montara oil field after a shutdown for maintenance and inspection dating back to November 2018. The independent oil and gas company announced that operations had restarted at the field, located offshore north-west Australia, on January 11 and that production volumes would be ramped up while final checks are concluded. The entire facility will be restarted, including both the oil production system and the gas system, which enables gas-lift and gas re-injection so as to optimise production operations as rapidly as possible.
Norway anticipates accelerated oil and gas production
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s has predicted that oil and gas production will recover from a slight dip in 2019 and increase in the period 2020 to 2023 as it approaches record production set in 2004. The NPD Director General, Bente Nyland, said: “The activity level on the Norwegian Shelf is high. Production forecasts for the next few years are promising and lay a foundation for substantial revenues, both for the companies and the Norwegian society. There is considerable interest in exploring for oil and gas.
CGG flags solid Q4 revenue performance
CGG says it anticipates fourth quarter revenue for 2018 of around $432 million, up 16% year-on-year and 54% sequentially. In a financial update the Paris-headquartered company said it expected segment geoscience fourth quarter 2018 revenue of around $108 million, up 16% sequentially. CGG anticipates segment Multi-Client sales of around $219 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, the highest quarterly segment revenue since Q4 2015. After-sales are expected to be around $114 million.
Calima spuds three-well drilling campaign in British Columbia
ASX-listed Calima Energy has spud of the first well of a three well programme to test the prospectivity of the Montney Formation in the company’s 72,000 acre lease holdings in British Columbia, Canada. The Calima-1 vertical well, Calima Tommy A-54-C/94-G-09, is planned to be drilled to a total depth of 1,860m. Calima said core data will be collected over a substantial section of the Montney interval followed by the acquisition of a full suite of wireline logs.
Bass Oil backs out of Indonesian deal
Australian-based Indonesian oil producer, Bass Oil has decided to withdraw from the acquisition of a 100% participating interest in the North Madura Production Sharing Contract (PSC) (Java) from AziPac Limited. Bass Oil announced that finalisation of the acquisition was subject to the execution of a detailed sale and purchase agreement and Bass being satisfied with the results of its due diligence enquiries on the two AziPac subsidiaries - which were to be acquired by Bass to effect the transaction.
DUG welcomes Michael Lambert as Manager for new McCloud services
DownUnder GeoSolutions (DUG) has announced the appointment of Michael (Mick) Lambert as Manager for for the new DUG McCloud services business. A veteran of the seismic industry, Mick has spent the last 8 years with Wireless Seismic Inc. most recently as the company’s President and CEO. Mick is probably best known for the 16 years he spent with GX Technology (GXT), serving as President and CEO from 1997 until 2004 and then as President until 2006, after the company was acquired by Input/Output (now Ion).