The repair of the Forties pipeline has enabled BP to resume production from three North Sea fields from which oil and gas is transported to the United Kingdom. The Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields are all operated by BP will transfer to Serica Energy in mid-2018 as part of a sale and purchase agreement. Serica has acquired BP’s interests in the Bruce (36%), Keith (34.83%) and Rhum (50%) fields, with BP retaining 1% of Bruce. The deal was effective from January 1, 2018 and completion of the acquisition is expected in mid-2018.
Company Updates
TIME TO REGISTER – URGENT ACTION REQUIRED NOW
The Standard Registration fee ends on 18 January 2018, one month before the AEGC 2018 starts in Sydney at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. Assuming you were not a member last year, if you do the numbers you can join now or re-join, pay the PESA new member registration fee before 18 January 2018 and register for the Conference and still pay less to register than what you would if you waited a week.
Blue Energy courts top international investor in capital raising
Blue Energy Limited (ASX: BUL) has announced that it has raised approximately $2.0 million (net of fees) through a targeted share placement to a global institutional investor. The Brisbane-based company said it will issue a total of 13,000,000 fully paid Blue Energy ordinary shares, at an issue price of $0.155 per share to the new participant, IFM Investors. IFM Investors is a top tier global institutional investor with over $100 billion in funds under management.
Polarcus and TGS extend agreement by another year
Marine geophysical company Polarcus has extended a collaboration agreement signed in October 2016 with Norway’s TGS for another year. The multi-client and vessel agreement made provision for both companies to jointly select 3D multi-client projects. The new agreement extends TGS’ vessel commitment with Dubai-headquartered Polarcus to the end of 2018 for up to 10,000 sq.km. Polarcus said the recently announced XArray project in the Gulf of Mexico with TGS forms part of this commitment and that additional awards under this commitment will be announced separately.
Santos and GLNG partners deliver another 15PJ into domgas market
Santos and its GLNG partners have signd an agreement to deliver 15 petajoules of gas from its export portfolio into the Australian east coast domestic market in 2018. Santos holds a 30 per cent interest in GLNG. The Adelaide-based producer said 15 PJ of gas represented approximately 2 per cent of expected 2018 domestic demand and was enough to cover half of any shortfall that might arise under the ACCC’s high demand case for next year. Origin has agreed to purchase this gas from GLNG for supply to its Australian household, industrial and power generation customers.
Flow testing imminent at Po Valley’s new Italian gas well
A new Italian gas production well for Australia’s Po Valley Energy Limited is to be flow tested this month after being successfully cased for production. Po Valley announced that it had successfully cased, perforated and completed the Podere Maiar 1dir exploration well on the Selva gas field within the Podere Gallina Exploration licence in Northern Italy. Perforations of a total of 11m were executed successfully on two identified gas reservoirs C1 and C2 in the Medium Upper Pliocene sands of the Porto Garibaldi Fm. The well is now completed (single selective) for production and is "on gas".
W&T hits a duster in Gulf of Mexico exploration well
W&T Offshore’s ST 224#1 exploration well has failed to find hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico offshore the United States. W&T’s partner in the project, Otto Energy, said the well had been drilled to a total measured depth of 3,322 meters. Otto said the targeted BN sand interval was intersected close to prognosis at 3,149 meters measured depth, however based on log observations the sand is considered to be water bearing, Otto said. The well will now be plugged and abandoned.
WA gas report warns of declining exploration consequences
An independent review of Western Australia’s gas market highlights the urgent need for more exploration to secure future supply. The Australian Energy Market Operator’s annual WA Gas Statement of Opportunity (GSOO), released recently, warns of a gas shortage in the west if new supply is not developed in the next five to seven years. The report shows exploration in WA in 2017 was at its lowest level since 1990.
Polarcus gets permission for seismic survey in Australia
Polarcus has secured significant industry prefunding and has been granted the environmental permit for a broadband 3D marine seismic project in Australia. Polarcus did not provide details on the project, but the Australian offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA has revealed that the project is called the Zénaïde 3D. NOPSEMA recently accepted the environment plan for the project, a three-dimensional multi-client marine seismic survey to be undertaken in Commonwealth waters located approximately 50 km off the Kimberley coast of northern Western Australia.
CNOOC hits gas in Bohai Bay
China’s CNOOC has announced a mid-sized natural gas field discovery, Bozhong 19-6 in Bohai Bay, offshore China. The company said Bozhong 19-6 trap was located in the southwest sag of Bozhong south central Bohai, in average water depths of about 22 meters. The discovery well Bozhong 19-6-1 was drilled and completed at a depth of 4,181 meters and encountered oil pay zones with a total thickness of approximately 25 meters and a gas reservoir with a total thickness of about 348 meters. The well was tested to produce about 1,000 barrels of oil and 6.