Norwegian seismic player SeaBird Exploration has secured an offshore survey contract in the Gulf of Mexico.
SeaBird said the contract was for source work in the US Gulf of Mexico with a repeat customer. The survey has an expected duration of 40 – 60 days and will begin in mid-May 2019.
The Osprey Explorer vessel, which recently completed an OBN-survey for another customer, will perform the work. SeaBird did not say who the client for the new Gulf of Mexico contract was.
As for the Osprey Explorer vessel, it joined the fleet August 2006 after being converted to 2D Long offset/source vessel in Poland. According to MarineTraffic, the vessel is currently moored in Galveston, Texas.
OTC 2019: Hess VP says offshore oil ‘a growth business’
Growing demand for petroleum products will spur offshore activity in the near term, says Gerbert Schoonman, Vice President, Global Production—Offshore, Hess Corp.
May 12th, 2019
Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Growing demand for energy and for petroleum products will spur offshore activity in the near term and the upstream oil and gas industry needs to be ready to answer that need, said Gerbert Schoonman, Vice President, Global Production—Offshore, Hess Corp., at the Offshore Technology Conference on Thursday.
In his presentation entitled “Keeping the Faith,” Schoonman stated that offshore and deepwater will remain critical to meeting future energy demand.
Schoonman noted that credible long-term energy forecasts predict that global energy demand will grow by about 25% by 2040. “The energy mix will change, and the use of renewables will grow,” Schoonman said. But oil demand will also be growing as part of that mix, “and offshore oil is a growth business.”
He noted that upstream investment has declined by 40% since 2014, and while onshore shale production has stepped in to fill a production void, “it won’t be enough” going forward, Schoonman said. “Offshore has a key role to play in meeting future demand.”
The global oil and gas industry will need to invest $6 trillion in offshore development by 2040 to meet future demand, Schoonman said. “We will have to add twice what the US is producing now,” he predicted. Some $200 to $250 billion/year will need to be invested in the global offshore market to do that, he said, including shallow-water, deepwater, and ultra-deepwater fields.
Going forward, Schoonman said that it will be vitally important for operators to maintain their investments, both onshore and offshore, and throughout the cycles of price fluctuations that inevitably occur.
The offshore market, he added, currently benefits from some “compelling economics.” He noted that while the onshore Bakken play has breakevens of $55/bbl, the offshore Liza discovery has a breakeven of $40/bbl.
Schoonman conceded that at present, there are not too many new projects being developed in the Gulf of Mexico. “But we have the opportunity to change that,” he said. New seismic technologies are can image hydrocarbon reserves below the salt layers, drilling costs have come down, and operators are turning to standardized production facilities. With these new technologies and cost efficiencies now in play, “we think that there will be a lot of projects in the Gulf of Mexico in the future.”
“We are optimistic about the Gulf,” Schoonman said. He noted that Hess has been among the top 5 players in the last two lease rounds in the US Gulf of Mexico, in terms of acquiring acreage. “So we are putting our money where our mouth is.”
He also noted that Hess continued to develop a number of offshore projects even in the midst of the downturn: Tubular Bells and Stampede in the Gulf of Mexico; North Malay Basin in the Gulf of Thailand; and the Liza project offshore Guyana.
At present, drilling and other work is continuing at the Tubular Bells field, and at the nearby Esox prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. If successful, the Esox prospect could become another high-return tieback for Hess, Schoonman said.
He also noted that the three offshore projects that Hess has brought onstream in recent years – Tubular Bells, Stampede, and North Malay Basin – are now generating positive cashflow. Hess has been able to keep the projects moving and profitable, he said, through its “lean” approach to field development and operations. This approach has enabled Hess to work with the vendors and contractors in its supply chain to improve safety, quality, delivery and reduce costs.
Hess is now in Phase 2 of its North Malay Basin project, and the platforms and production facilities now being constructed as part of this phase are benefiting from this lean approach, Schoonman said.
Schoonman also noted that Hess has been able to reduce the cycle times of its wells significantly on both the North Malay Basin and Stampede projects, and had also been able to reduce non-productive time on rigs.
“But driving efficiency alone is not enough,” Schoonman said. “We also need innovation.” As an example, he noted that fracking and horizontal well technologies have fundamentally changed the industry. “Technology and innovation will continue to be disruptive,” he observed.
That disruptive technology, he noted, will likely come from outside of the oil and gas industry. “We have to watch what’s going on in robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning,” he said. In particular, Schoonman predicted that the “autonomous field of the future” will be made possible by AUVs and unmanned platforms. In the future, these types of new technologies and production systems will make smaller and more remote offshore fields economic.
“We believe in offshore and we believe in the Gulf of Mexico,” Schoonman said in his concluding remarks.
Petronas acquires stake in two fields offshore Brazil
Petrobras has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Petronas Petróleo Brasil Ltda. for 50% working interest in the Tartaruga Verde field and Module III of the Espadarte field in the deepwater Campos basin. The value of the transaction is about $1.3 billion.
Apr 26th, 2019
Offshore staff
RIO DE JANEIRO– Petrobras has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Petronas Petróleo Brasil Ltda. for 50% working interest in the Tartaruga Verde field and Module III of the Espadarte field in the deepwater Campos basin. The value of the transaction is about $1.3 billion.
Petrobras will maintain 50% working interest and the operatorship of the fields.
TheTartaruga Verde field began production on June 22, 2018 through the FPSO Cidade de Campos dos Goytacazes MV29. According to Petrobras, the field currently produces about 103,000 b/d of oil and 1.2 MMcm/d of gas.
The Module III is an area of the Espadarte field to be developed in an integrated way with the Tartaruga Verde field. First oil is expected in 2021.
The completion of the transaction is subject to the closing conditions, including the approval from the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense and the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels.
Occidental to offload Anadarko’s Africa interests to Total if bid is successful
Total has reached an accord with Occidental to acquire Anadarko’s E&P interests in Africa for $8.8 billion, if Occidental succeeds in its bid for Anadarko.
May 6th, 2019
Offshore staff
PARIS – Total has reached an accord with Occidental to acquire Anadarko’s E&P interests in Africa for $8.8 billion, if Occidental succeeds in its bid for Anadarko.
The offshore assets include a 27% stake in the Jubilee field and 19% in the TEN fields offshore Ghana, which last year delivered gross production of 143,000 b/d; a 26.5% operated interest in Area 1 off Mozambique containing more than 60 tcf of proven deepwater gas resources, of which 18 tcf will be developed under an initial two-train project 12.8 MM metric ton/yr (14.11 MM tons/yr) LNG project, set to come into production by 2024; and exploration licenses offshore South Africa, close to Total’s recent deepwaterBrulpadda gas/condensate discovery.
Overall, these assets, plus Anadarko’s field interests onshore Algeria, represent around 1.2 Bboe of 2P reserves, with 2018 equity production of 96,000 boe/d which is likely to grow to around 160,000 boe/d by 2025. “If completed, the acquisition of Anadarko by Occidental offers us the opportunity to acquire a world class portfolio of assets in Africa, further enhancing our position as the leading IOC on the continent,” said Patrick Pouyanne, Total’s chairman and CEO.
“We would be able to leverage our expertise in LNG by operating a major project in Mozambique and in deepwater in Ghana and we would become operator of major Algerian oil assets where we are already a partner.”
Wood Mackenzie research director Nicholas Browne said that if the deal went through, Total would become the second-largest IOC LNG seller globally after Shell, and the fourth largest after Qatargas, Shell, and Petronas.
“The potential acquisition of Anadarko’s stake inMozambique LNG is representative of Total’s ambitious and aggressive expansion of its LNG position. It acquired Engie’s LNG business in 2018 and has a plethora of pre-FID opportunities which it is aiming to sanction within the next two years,” Browne said.
“However, the company is entering a phase of strong cash flow growth. As such, we still expect Total to keep strict investment criteria in terms of deciding which LNG project goes ahead.
“Its focus on LNG investment is part of a wider company shift to ‘cleaner fuels.’ The group views its LNG portfolio as long term in nature, as a facilitator for monetizing its own molecules, but has also become more active as an LNG trader in recent years.”
Anadarko has not so far responded to Total’s move, although the company has confirmed that it has received a revised proposal from Occidental providing greater cash value than the latter’s previous offer.
In accordance with the terms of the earlier agreement with Chevron, Anadarko’s board will review the latest proposal. But the company added thatChevron merger agreement remains in effect and accordingly the board reaffirms its recommendation of this transaction.
French seismic company CGG has started its first multi-client ocean bottom node (OBN) survey in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The survey is being carried out in the north-central region of the Gulf of Mexico.
CGG said OBN survey would provide well-sampled, full azimuthal coverage with long offsets, “to deliver exceptional data for imaging the geologically complex structures in Mississippi Canyon.”
Acquisition services are being provided by Seabed Geosolutions and the data will be processed by CGG Geoscience’s Subsurface Imaging in Houston.
CGG said the survey would provide an improved definition of drilling targets, with preliminary data expected to be available in the third quarter of 2019.
“Supported by industry prefunding, CGG’s Mississippi Canyon Node survey paves the way for further CGG multi-client OBN surveys in the future,” CGG said.
Sophie Zurquiyah, CEO, CGG, said: “We are pleased to initiate our first multi-client OBN survey, in this strongly growing market, as clients take advantage of the enhanced geologic understandings that OBN data and advanced imaging can deliver.”
Seabed Geosolution, the company carrying out the survey, in a separate statement said the ocean bottom nodes would be deployed by remotely operated vehicles to 2,100-meter water depths, “illuminating a challenging target area in one of the deepest offshore production areas in the world.”
Stephan Midenet, CEO, Seabed Geosolutions: ‘We are excited to embark on our first OBN project with CGG over the highly prospective Mississippi Canyon area using our proven CASE Abyss node technology. The survey will combine our expertise in ocean bottom seismic operations with CGG’s advanced OBN imaging technology and experience.’
Map showing the location of CGG’s Mississippi Canyon Node survey.
Siccar Point CEO ‘encouraged’ by Blackrock offshore well results
Siccar Point Energy has completed drilling the Blackrock exploration well 204/5b-2 in the West of Shetland, and according to the CEO, the result is encouraging.
Located 140 kilometers north-west of Shetland, the Blackrock license is located directly between the Equinor’s Rosebank oil field and Siccar-operated Cambo oil field. The well was drilled with the Diamond Ocean GreatWhite semi-submersible on Licence P1830 in 1115 meters of water, 10km north of the Cambo field.
The target of the well was the intravolcanic Paleocene Flett reservoirs of the Colsay Member which lie on-trend with equivalent oil filled sandstones in the Rosebank field.
The well encountered a 34m gross package of intra-volcanic siliciclastic sediments which contained a number of thin oil-bearing sandstones from which oil samples were obtained. Gas was also encountered in the overlying Hildasay supravolcanic Member, Siccar Point said.
According to the company, the well has proven the existence of intra-volcanic charged reservoirs between the Cambo and Rosebank fields.
“The well results will now be incorporated with existing regional data to better define and target thicker reservoir packages,” Siccar Point said
The P1830 partnership are Siccar Point (52.5%), Suncor (25.0%) and Shell (22.5%).
Jonathan Roger, CEO of Siccar Point said: “I am very encouraged by this well result and look forward to further exploring this material exploration play with our partners.”
When starting the drilling campaign back in March, Siccar said it expected the drilling campaign to take approximately five months. The oil company will now drill the Lyon exploration prospect North of Shetland.
As for the rig being used, owned by Diamond Offshore, the Ocean GreatWhite weighs in at 60,800 tonnes and is a 6th generation harsh environment drilling rig capable of drilling down to 10,000 meters in 3,000 meters of water.
OTC: Schlumberger EM technique detects formations ahead of drill bit
Schlumberger has unveiled IriSphere, a new service which applies electromagnetic technology for detecting formation features ahead of the drill bit in oil and gas wells.
May 7th, 2019
IriSphere
Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Schlumberger has unveiled IriSphere, a new service which applies electromagnetic (EM) technology for detecting formation features ahead of the drill bit in oil and gas wells.
The service, which underwent more than 25 field trials across Asia, Australia, Latin America and Europe, employs EM-based resistivity measurements more than 100 ft (30 m) ahead of the drill bit.
These are then compared to a prepared model that incorporates offset and other data to reveal what the company says is a true down-range representation of the formation while drilling. Operators can as a result take proactive decisions rather than reacting to measurements at or behind the bit while drilling wells.
Tarek Rizk, president, Drilling & Measurements, at Schlumberger, said the company created IriSphere service in response to client requests for risk reduction, improved drilling efficiency, and optimal casing point selection.
“Knowing what conditions lie ahead of the bit while drilling enables operators to reduce uncertainties and minimize costs by identifying geological features and deciding which actions to take before encountering them,” Rizk explained.
The field trials included successful detection of reservoirs and salt boundaries, identification of thin layers, and avoidance of drilling hazards such as high-pressure formations that can lead to wellbore stability issues.
One client offshore Western Australia used IriSphere in a previously unexplored part of a field to detect the reservoir 62 ft (19 m) ahead of the bit while drilling and determine reservoir thickness to be 82 ft (25 m).
This dispensed with the need for a pilot hole, and subsequent coring operations were optimized based on data acquired while looking ahead of the drill bit.
Located in the north-central region of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi Canyon Node survey will provide well-sampled, full azimuthal coverage with long offsets.
Acquisition services are being provided bySeabed Geosolutions and the data will be processed by CGG Geoscience’s Subsurface Imaging in Houston. Implementation of the company’s OBN processing techniques is said to provide a fine-tuned velocity model and improved definition of drilling targets. Preliminary products are expected to be available in 3Q 2019, and final products are expected in 1Q 2020.
CEO Sophie Zurquiyah said: “We are pleased to initiate our first multi-client OBN survey, in this strongly growing market, as clients take advantage of the enhanced geologic understandings that OBN data and advanced imaging can deliver.”
Eni has made a light oil discovery in the Ndungu exploration prospect in block 15/06 offshore Angola.
May 14th, 2019
Offshore staff
SAN DONATO MILANESE, Italy – Eni has made a light oil discovery in the Ndungu exploration prospect in block 15/06 offshore Angola.
The drillshipPoseidondrilled the Ndungu-1 NFW well in a water depth of 1,076 m (3,530 ft) and reached a TD of 4,050 m (13,287 ft).
The well proved a single oil column of about 65 m (213 ft) with 45 m (148 ft) of net pay of high-quality oil (35° API) contained in Oligocene sandstones with “excellent” petrophysical properties.
The new discovery is estimated to contain up to 250 MMbbl of light oil in place, with further upside. Well results indicate a production capacity in excess of 10,000 b/d of oil.
According to Eni, Ndungu is the first significant oil discovery in Angola inside an existing development area. It certifies the concrete validity of the recent legislation, promoted through the Presidential Legislative Decree No. 5/18 of May 18, 2018, which defines a favorable legal framework on additional exploration activities within existing development areas.
Located about 2 km (1.2 mi) from theMpungi field, Ndungu can be fasttracked due to the proximity to the subsea production system, the company said. Production will be routed to the FPSO N’Goma, extending the West Hub’s production plateau.
Ndungu is the fourth commercial discovery since the Block 15/06 Joint Venture re-launched its exploration campaign in mid-2018. It follows theKalimba, Afoxé, and Agogo discoveries. The four discoveries are estimated to contain up to 1.4 Bbbl of light oil in place. The appraisal phase of these discoveries will target their additional upside, Eni said.
The Block 15/06 Joint Venture, comprised of Eni (operator, 36.8421%), Sonangol P&P (36.8421%) and SSI Fifteen Ltd. (26.3158%), will work to fasttrack its development.
The West Hub and East Hub projects in block 15/06 are currently producing about 155,000 b/d of oil, according to Eni.
Located 140 kilometers north-west of Shetland, the Blackrock license is located directly between the Equinor’s Rosebank oil field and Siccar-operated Cambo oil field. The well was drilled with the Diamond Ocean GreatWhite semi-submersible on Licence P1830 in 1115 meters of water, 10km north of the Cambo field.
