Latest News

Australia exported record LNG cargoes in 2020

19/01/2021 Posted by Dale

EnergyQuest estimates that Australia exported a record 78.0 Mt of LNG in 2020, up from 77.5 Mt in 2019. This is a good result given the disruptions to Gorgon, the fact that Prelude hadn’t produced since early February, issues seen at Wheatstone with reduced production, and the COVID-19 destruction of LNG demand, particularly early in the year.

Australian production was above Qatar nameplate capacity of 77 Mtpa. (The precise level of Qatar LNG exports is uncertain because Qatar does not disclose its actual LNG export volumes.)

The Australian projects operated at 89% of operation nameplate capacity of 87.8 Mtpa.

Western Australian production was up by 5% on 2019 to 43.7 Mt, but Northern Territory again proved the standout with production up by 11% on 2019 to 11.7 Mt.

Searcher releases MapStand and NVentures data layers on its on-demand sAIsmic platform

15/01/2021 Posted by Dale

Searcher has launched new data layers functionality on its on-demand seismic web platform, sAIsmic, from Searcher’s partnerships with MapStand and NVentures.

The new MapStand and NVentures layers functionality on sAIsmic with an info tab that allows users to view blocks, wells and field information, anywhere in the world, providing valuable location context for sAIsmic users.

“We are very excited to have launched this latest functionality on sAIsmic through the partnerships with MapStand and NVentures which highly complement the on-demand platform,” Alan Hopping, VP at Searcher stated.

“Continually developing, adding functionality and new data to the sAIsmic platform is Searcher’s primary focus to assist in advancing our clients exploration efforts.

PGS picks up as multiclient sales double in fourth quarter

15/01/2021 Posted by Dale

PGS expects to report segment revenues for Q4 2020 of approximately $158 million. Contract revenues ended at approximately $21 million. MultiClient pre-funding revenues were approximately $61 million and MultiClient Late Sales approximately $70 million.

“We achieved a sequential revenue increase from our vessel operations in Q4, and a MultiClient pre-funding level benefitting from additional sales from ongoing surveys. Our MultiClient Late Sales more than doubled, compared to the average in the previous three quarters of the year.

"The drivers for the increased Late Sales were a mix of the usual seasonal Q4 increase and sales relating to licensing rounds in West Africa and Brazil,” PGS President and CEO, Rune Olav Pedersen, said.

Searcher announces onshore Peru multiclient campaign

15/01/2021 Posted by Dale

Searcher has announced a new onshore Peru Campaign, in collaboration with PeruPetro S.A. 2D & 3D Seismic Rectification and a Well Atlas including post-drill analysis to provide a renewed and enhanced dataset to support future bid rounds, regional evaluations and due diligence of existing commercial opportunities.

The Onshore Peru 2D & 3D Rectification consists of both 2D and 3D vintage seismic data which has been rectified with Searcher’s proprietary post-stack reprocessing method. The post-stack reprocessing rectifies navigation, metadata, amplitude, phase and time to create a contiguous database that can be easily loaded into any interpretation software.

Ironbark exploration well delivers a disappointing duster

12/01/2021 Posted by Dale

The eagerly-anticipated Ironbark exploration well offshore north-western Australia has failed to produce hydrocarbon discoveries and will be plugged and abandoned.

The well in WA-359-P had hoped to discover up to 15Tcf of gas, measuring up to Gorgon and was drilled to a total depth of 5,618m, intersecting the primary target of the Mungaroo Formation at 5,275m.

However, Beach Energy announced the disappointment last week, saying in a statement: “no significant hydrocarbon shows were encountered in the target sandstones. The exploration well will now be plugged and abandoned, in line with pre-drill planning.”

The Ironbark well spudded on October 31 and was drilled by Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Apex semi-submersible.

Santos makes FID for Timor Sea drilling and expansion

12/01/2021 Posted by Dale

Santos has made a final investment decision for the $306 million, Phase 3C infill drilling program at the Bayu-Undan field in the Timor Sea offshore Timor-Leste.

The Adelaide-based company said the program would include three production wells (two platform and one subsea) to develop additional natural gas and liquid reserves, extending field life as well as production from the offshore facilities and the Darwin LNG plant.

Santo, with 68.4 per cent of the Bayu-Undan joint venture, became operator in June last year after acquiring ConocoPhillips’ northern Australia and Timor-Leste assets.

The Noble Tim Proser jack-up rig will de deployed to drill the wells with the first spud scheduled for the second quarter of 2021 and production targeted in the third quarter.

Shell sells 26% stake of Queensland Curtis LNG to fund manager

12/01/2021 Posted by Dale

Shell has sold a 26.5% interest of its 100% stake in Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) project to Global Infrastructure Partners Australia for $3.25 billion in a deal which includes LNG storage tanks, jetties and operations infrastructure.

“This decision is consistent with Shell’s strategy of selling non-core assets in order to further high-grade and simplify Shell’s portfolio,” Shell said in a statement.

“The sale will contribute to Shell’s expected divestment proceeds, without impact on people or the operations of the QCLNG venture and aligns Shell’s interest in the common facilities with its 73.75 per cent interest in the overall QCLNG venture.”

Shell’s Prelude resumes production after almost one year

12/01/2021 Posted by Dale

Prelude has resumed LNG cargoes shipments after being offline for 11 months as a result of technical issues, Royal Dutch Shell announced this week.

Prelude was forced to suspend production last February after an electrical trip and subsequently faced a series of technical issues that delayed the restart.

However, Shell said that Prelude was back in production and on January 8 the LNG tanker Symphonic Breeze loaded a cargo destined for Japan.

The restart couldn’t have come at a better time for Prelude and its JV partners Shell, Japan’s INPEX Corp, Korea Gas and Taiwan’s CPC Corp,...

Total withdraws workers as attacks close in on Mozambique LNG project

05/01/2021 Posted by Dale

Total SE has removed workers from the Mozambique LNG plant under construction in the northern part of the country with Islamic militant attacks encroaching ever closer to the US$30 billion project.

Reports said that while the heavily guarded LNG facility had not been breached yet by the insurgents, a recent attack was launched on a town which is located less than 5km away from the gas processing site.

Total SE has taken every precaution to protect workers and said it was continuously reviewing the situation at Africa’s biggest investment.

Mozambique has battled to curtail the insurgency in the Cabo Delgado region that is believed to have claimed about 2,500 lives with and 500,000 people forced to flee their homes.

Emperor Energy given drilling extension for Gippsland Basin permit

05/01/2021 Posted by Dale

NOPTA has approved Emperor Energy’s application to extend the primary term of the VIC/P47 exploration permit in the Gippsland Basin.

Emperor Energy said the extension had been given based on two factors, the imminent availability of new seismic data that will be generated from the Multi Client 3D seismic acquisition completed across the Offshore Gippsland Basin, including the Judith Gas Field in Vic/P47 in July 2020 by CGG.

The second criteria was the combined impact of COVID-19 on the petroleum industry.

The approval has extended the final date for drilling of the Judith 2 Exploration Well by 30 months from February 2021 to August 2023.