Magseis Fairfield clinches two OBN seismic projects in Gulf of Mexico
Oslo-listed seismic data acquisition company Magseis Fairfield has secured two deepwater ocean bottom node projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Rem Saltire – Image source: Rem Offshore
The company said Friday it had been awarded two consecutive deepwater ocean bottom node (OBN) projects in the Gulf of Mexico by an undisclosed repeat customer.
The surveys will be carried out in the Mississippi Canyon and Garden Banks areas and will cover a total area of more than 900 square kilometers.
According to Magseis Fairfield, work is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020 and is expected to take approximately 100 days.
“The award of these two projects demonstrates our technology leadership position in the Gulf of Mexico. This ZXPLR crew has been in high demand, and the award strengthens our 2020 backlog significantly,” says Carel Hooijkaas, CEO of Magseis Fairfield.
The ZXPLR crew led by the REM Saltire node handling vessel was established in the Spring of 2019 and has since been in continuous demand for projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Magseis Fairfield said. According to the company, this contract extends the project coverage for this crew through August 2020.
The ZXPLR node, per the company, is a hybrid system capable of dual-mode deployment in both deep and shallow water. According to Magseis Fairfield, it is designed to simplify node management, maintenance, and inventory control, reducing overall costs by supporting multiple operations. ZXPLR can be deployed with a passive rope or by ROV.
Magseis Fairfield ZXPLR node – Image by Magseis Fairfield
Dutch geophysical services provider Fugro has entered into an agreement to acquire CGG’s 40 percent shareholding in Seabed Geosolutions.
Illustration; Seabed Geosolutions’ Hugin Explorer; Source: Flickr; Author: nz_willowherb – under the CC BY-NC 2.0 license
Fugro said on Monday that this would terminate the Seabed Geosolutions’ joint venture agreement effective December 30 in exchange for a cash consideration of $35 million, paid by CGG before year-end 2019.
According to the company, the proceeds will be used to lower Fugro’s outstanding debt position and strengthen Seabed Geosolutions’ balance sheet.
Fugro remains fully committed to divest the Seabed Geosolutions business, which is a non-core asset held for sale.
It is expected that this transaction, which will result in Fugro becoming the sole owner of Seabed Geosolutions, will facilitate the divestment process.
It is worth noting that CGG agreed to transfer its 40 percent shareholding in Seabed Geosolutions to Fugro before the end of the first quarter of 2020, which is in line with CGGs strategy to exit the data acquisition business.
ExxonMobil said that the acquisition included 1.2 million acres in the North Marakia Offshore block, located approximately five miles offshore Egypt’s northern coast in the Herodotus basin. The remaining 543,000 acres is in the North East El Amriya Offshore block in the Nile Delta.
Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, said: “These awards strengthen our exploration portfolio in the Eastern Mediterranean. We look forward to working with the government and deploying our proven expertise and advanced technology.”
According to the company, ExxonMobil will operate both blocks and hold a 100 percent interest. Operations, including the acquisition of seismic data, are scheduled to begin in 2020.
Hesham Elamroussy, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Egypt, added: “ExxonMobil has been a partner in Egypt’s growth for more than 115 years, and these awards reaffirm our commitment to pursuing high-quality opportunities in the country.”
The awards add upstream interests to ExxonMobil’s long-standing downstream presence in Egypt, where it has been a fuel, lubricants, and specialties marketer since 1902.
New Zealand: OMV to sell Maari oil field to Jadestone for $50M
Austria’s OMV will sell its 69% interest in the Maari Field offshore New Zealand to Jadestone Energy for $50 million, to focus on gas production in the country.
Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Raroa / Image by OMV
The Maari Project is a mid-life producing asset located in permit PMP 38160, in the offshore Taranaki Basin, in 100 meters water depth, approximately 80 kilometers southwest of New Zealand’s North Island.
The project includes the Maari and Manaia oil fields, produced via a self-elevated jack-up wellhead platform, FPSO Raroa, owned by the joint venture partners (being Horizon Oil Limited (26%) and Cue Taranaki Pty Ltd (5%)) and the associated decommissioning liability with respect to all facilities, which is shared by the partners in accordance with their respective working interests.
The effective date of the transaction between OMV and Jadestone is January 1, 2019, and the closing of the transaction is subject to Joint Venture and New Zealand Government approvals. The average production of the divested assets in 2018, net to OMV, was around 5 thousand barrels of oil equivalent.
Jadestone, an independent oil company focused on the Asia Pacific, said it would fund the acquisition from its cash resources.
Johann Pleininger, OMV Board Member Upstream and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board: “The divestment of the Maari Field further optimizes our portfolio and will shift us in New Zealand to a gas-only producer. This underlines OMV’s strategy to produce significantly more natural gas than oil to reduce the carbon intensity of the product portfolio in the future.”
Jadestone said the transaction represented exceptional value to Jadestone shareholders, as it would increase the company’s net production by approximately 30%, and 2P reserves by 33%, and would pay back in less than 12 months from anticipated transaction closing.
Paul Blakeley, Jadestone President, and CEO said he was delighted to establish a new operating presence in New Zealand and to begin building relationships with local regulators, communities, staff, and other stakeholders.
He said: “Adding the Maari Project to our growing portfolio of high-value assets in the Asia Pacific region demonstrates our ability to bolt on new assets and provides more than a decade of additional free cashflow, even in the 2P reserves only scenario, as supported by our external reserves audit.”
“The Maari project adds both significant additional opportunity as well as diversity to our operations. New Zealand is a natural strategic fit for Jadestone, where we see many shared values with regards to sustainable energy investment, through maximizing recovery of existing resources and world-class expectations for health, safety, and environmental stewardship.”
“The Maari Project has achieved very modest recovery factors to date, relative to the substantial estimated original oil in place, making this an ideal platform to showcase our differentiated technical capabilities.”
He said Jadestone’s focus was also on extending the life of existing infrastructure that may otherwise not realize its full potential, “thereby continuing to generate income, growth, and ongoing employment for local communities and the New Zealand economy.”
On the OMV side, the company said it would continue to operate the Māui and Pohokura gas fields – which together produced 37 kboe/d year to date (net to OMV) and contain about a third of New Zealand’s gas reserves.
OMV is investing a further USD 300 mn on a range of projects to extend the lives of the Māui and Pohokura gas fields over the next two years and to maintain New Zealand’s gas supply, the company added.
The European Investment Bank will stop funding fossil fuel energy projects from the end of 2021, under its New Energy Lending Policy.
In what it described as a „quantum leap“ in its climate action and environmental sustainability ambitions, the EIB has said it will stop financing fossil fuels and that it will launch “the most ambitious climate investment strategy of any public financial institution anywhere.”
Under the revised energy lending policy, the EIB has said it will no longer consider new financing for unabated, fossil fuel energy projects, including gas -which has been seen as the least polluting fossil fuel – from the end of 2021 onwards.
More specifically, the move implies that EIB end support to the production of oil and natural gas; traditional gas infrastructure (networks, storage, refining facilities); power generation technologies resulting in GHG emissions above 250 gCO2 per kWh of electricity generated, averaged over the lifetime for gas-fired power plants seeking to integrate low carbon fuels; and large-scale heat production infrastructure based on unabated oil, natural gas, coal or peat.
Phasing-out support for fossil fuel projects reflects a decision by the Bank to focus its limited resources on investments needed to meet the EU 2030 targets.
“The Bank acknowledges that fossil fuels will continue to play a role within the global energy system up to 2030 and that switching from oil or coal to natural gas may reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term. These investments are very likely to take place even without EIB financing,” EIB said.
Going forward, the bank has said it will aim to support EUR 1 trillion of investments in climate action and environmental sustainability “in the critical decade from 2021 to 2030.”
EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro, in charge of climate action and environment, said: “To meet the Paris climate goals we urgently need to raise our level of ambition and this is precisely what we have done today. Two weeks before the United Nations climate change conference in Madrid, these decisions send an important signal to the world: The European Union and its bank, the EIB, commit to mobilize investments on an unprecedented scale to support climate action projects around the world. In addition, we commit to align all EIB Group activities with the principles and goals of the Paris agreement by the end of 2020. Any financing that is not green will be made sustainable, according to the requirements of the Paris deal.”
Woodmac: Tide might turn on gas as it has on coal
Commenting on EIB’s move energy intelligence group Wood Mackenzie’s research director Nicholas Browne said: “The EIB’s new financing criteria will make lending to gas projects very difficult. It highlights that gas is also increasingly in the spotlight of the climate debate.
“When burnt, gas releases less carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides than coal and oil. Furthermore, coal-to-gas replacement has had a profound impact on air quality in northern China to the huge benefit of public health. It also has significantly lower full life-cycle carbon emissions than coal. However, while the comparative combustion benefits are undoubted, the sector may not be able to rely exclusively on this argument to make the case for gas and LNG. The benchmark looks like it will be set higher. Gas and LNG may be better but are they good enough?
“Methane and carbon dioxide are lost to the atmosphere by creating LNG through a combination of vents, flares, liquefaction, regasification and pipeline leakage. Currently, there is no consistent method of assessing the data through the value chain for how much gas is lost by the time it reaches a consumer. However, media reporting and political scrutiny of this issue will intensify. This might increase the risk that the popular and political tide turns on natural gas like it already has on coal in most countries. If this does occur, it may slow the rate of growth of gas and LNG demand. In turn, this would be a major strategic challenge for companies that have identified gas as the key driver of future growth.
He said there was no industry consensus on how or whether companies should act to mitigate this risk. He said: “There are some industry bodies such as the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative that are seeking voluntary reductions through their members. Additionally, several governmental bodies are seeking to introduce more data transparency to this question. However, if voluntary measures don’t prove enough, more restrictive environmental measures could be introduced due to shareholder pressures such as what we’ve seen with the EIB guidelines.
“Beyond financing, it is possible that the debate could start to impact procurement decisions from carbon-intensive projects and portfolios, likely accelerating carbon capture, carbon offsetting and electrification of liquefaction. This year already saw the first carbon neutral LNG cargoes delivered while several companies are implementing or investigating using renewable power to drive the liquefaction process.”
BP revealed as buyer of KrisEnergy’s stake in block offshore Indonesia
Oil and gas company KrisEnergy has signed an agreement with BP for the sale of its participating interest in the Andaman II PSC located in the Malacca Strait, offshore Indonesia.
In late October KrisEnergy said it had accepted a binding letter of offer by an unnamed ‘major international oil and gas company’ for the disposal of its 30% non-operated working interest in the Andaman II production sharing contract.
KrisEnergy announced on Tuesday that it had entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with BP for the disposal, subject to obtaining all necessary approvals including from the Government of Indonesia for the assignment of the working interest.
The disposal comes after taking into consideration the future exploration cost and risks associated with deepwater activities, the company explained.
The company said that the board believed it was more prudent to allocate KrisEnergy’s limited capital to funding near-term development.
However, there is no certainty or assurance as at the date of this announcement that the disposal will be completed.
The Andaman II PSC is an exploration block over the North Sumatra Basin covering an area of 7,400 sq. km. The disposal is in line with the group’s risk mitigation, intention to reduce future exposure to exploration capital expenditure and strategy to focus its limited financial resources on optimizing operations at its existing producing assets in Bangladesh and the Gulf of Thailand and progressing the development of the Apsara oil field in Cambodia block A.
Premier Oil is the operator of the Andaman II PSC with a 40% interest and Mubadala Petroleum has a 30% interest.
It is also worth mentioning that Mubadala last July signed an agreement with Premier Oil to farm out a 20 percent participating interest in each of the Andaman I and South Andaman Gross Split Production Sharing Contracts. Mubadala Petroleum is the operator of both the Andaman I and adjacent South Andaman PSCs.
TGS expands Argentina survey and adds second Shearwater vessel
Multi-client geoscience data provider TGS has decided to expand the Malvinas 3D multi-client seismic program offshore Argentina. The survey will now employ two Shearwater-owned vessels instead of only one.
Amazon Warrior vessel; Source: Shearwater
Back in September 2019, Shearwater was awarded a large survey in South America. At the time, the name of the client was left unknown. The company said the six-month project would be acquired by the Amazon Warrior vessel.
Later, at the end of October, TGS said it would undertake a new 3D multi-client project in the Malvinas Basin offshore Argentina. TGS said the survey would employ one Shearwater vessel, with operations set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019 and run until the second quarter of 2020.
In a statement on Wednesday, Shearwater announced an expansion of the previously announced South America survey to two vessels and also confirmed this survey was for TGS in Argentina.
Shearwater added that the additional phase was for five months bringing the total award to 11-vessel months. One of Shearwater’s high capacity seismic vessels will be used for the project, capable of deploying large streamer spreads in tough environments.
“We are very pleased to see a second vessel added to the TGS Argentina program,” said Irene Waage Basili, the CEO of Shearwater GeoServices.
“Market visibility for 2020 has increased significantly and clients are booking capacity earlier than in previous years.”
In a separate statement on Wednesday, TGS said that the Malvinas 3D seismic survey would cover approximately 17,800 square kilometers of the highly prospective Malvinas Basin. This expansion represents a 10,500 square kilometer increase from the previously announced 7,300 square kilometers.
TGS said that the initial products would be available in early 2021, with final products slated for H2 2021. The project is supported by industry funding.
Kristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, commented, “We are delighted to announce the expansion of the Malvinas 3D project. The increased commitment from clients to fund new projects offshore Argentina demonstrates the value that E&Ps place in seismic as a vital tool to make informed drilling decisions.”
The Argentine foreign ministry said last October that three oil companies – Rockhopper, Premier Oil, and Argos Resources – were carrying out oil and gas activities on the continental shelf near the Falkland Islands – without the authorization of the Argentine government.
Argentina said that the oil and gas exploration and production activities being carried out offshore the Falkland Islands constituted “unilateral acts contrary to international law.“
Petrobras poised to become world’s largest oil producer by 2030, Rystad says
Brazil’s Petrobras is on track to become the world’s largest oil producer among publicly listed companies by 2030, based on Rystad Energy’s latest data and forecasts.
However, national oil company Petrobras could not have asked for a better outcome, Rystad said on Tuesday.
Namely, the world’s fastest-growing oil producer gained nearly full control of more than eight billion barrels of oil in the Buzios field, where a sixth floater is being planned. To develop these and other resources off the coast of the South American country, Brazil is set for a whopping $70 billion offshore capital investment spree between 2020 and 2025, solely on field development. This program will have a monumental effect on Petrobras, Rystad said.
“Petrobras can, in a matter of years, become the world’s largest oil producer among publicly listed companies. The significance is huge and symbolic,” commented Aditya Ravi, vice president of Rystad Energy’s upstream team, specialized in E&P activities in Latin America.
“We predict that Petrobras alone can boost its production numbers by more than 1.3 million barrels per day over the next decade.”
During the course of 2019, Petrobras has evolved from fifth place to become the third-largest oil producer, reaching output of around 2.2 million bpd in the third quarter. As it stands, Rosneft and PetroChina top the list over the world’s largest public E&P companies.
Based on Rystad Energy’s latest forecasts, Petrobras could be poised to overtake PetroChina over the next few months, and potentially dethrone the ruling Russian producer Rosneft over the next decade, thanks in no small part to its latest acquisitions.
Brazil’s production could be pushed from 2.8 million bpd in 2019 average to over 5.5 million bpd thanks to Petrobras’ potential peak output of almost 3.8 million bpd by 2030.
Brazilian officials recently indicated the country wishes to join OPEC, the oil cartel dominated by Saudi Arabia and 13 other oil-producing countries. Brazil’s current output would make it OPEC’s third-largest producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
“Joining OPEC could cause a major disruption for Brazil, bringing the country into the spotlight with the potential risk of having its wings clipped by the cartel just as production takes off,” Ravi cautioned.
This potential shift in ranking has been spurred on in the aftermath of the three Brazilian licensing rounds organized over the past five weeks by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), in which 45 blocks were on offer. With only one-third of the blocks receiving bids, the rounds raised concerns that Brazil lacks the luster that in the past ensured active and competitive bid rounds.
In the wake of these rounds, the Brazilian Energy Minister remarked that the current legal and tendering structure could warrant a re-think, including a look at Petrobras’ pre-emptive rights on oil blocks. Others have voiced dismay over the steep signature bonuses.
Seabed Geosolutions eyes OBN survey job in Gulf of Mexico
Seabed Geosolutions, a joint venture between Fugro and CGG, has received a letter of intent for another 3D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey in an active area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for ‘a major energy company.’
Fugro said on Wednesday that the project would use Seabed Geosolutions’ Hugin Explorer vessel, equipped with CASE Abyss nodes that would be deployed by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
The survey, which will be performed in 2,000 meters of water depths, will start in the coming months and take approximately three months to complete. The letter of intent includes an option for another survey.
Stephan Midenet, CEO of Seabed Geosolutions, stated: “We are delighted to again partner with this major energy provider in another deepwater Gulf of Mexico field.
“We are confident that our proprietary OBN technology, coupled with our extensive expertise in the Gulf of Mexico, will aid in illuminating their target field with the data quality they need to meet their development goals.”
TGS begins new 3D survey offshore north-west Africa
Norwegian seismic player TGS has begun a new seismic survey in the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau-Conakry (MSGBC) basin, offshore north-west Africa.
Source: TGS
TGS said on Friday that the Senegal North Ultra-Deep Offshore (SN-UDO-19) 3D survey covers over 5,100 square kilometers, with a modern broadband acquisition set-up.
The project is being undertaken in partnership with GeoPartners using the vessel BGP Prospector and with the support of the Senegalese national oil company Petrosen.
This stand-alone survey is located in northern Senegal and is a continuation of the recently completed SS-UDO-19 3D acquisition in southern Senegal.
The survey has been designed to illuminate plays in the ultra-deep, enabling explorers to build upon the successes of the Sangomar field (formerly known as SNE), the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim complex, and Yakaar discoveries.
According to the company, the project has a 75-day acquisition timeline, with fast track data available three months after the acquisition, in time for evaluation of blocks available in the recently announced Senegal Offshore 2020 License Round. The full dataset will be available by the fourth quarter of 2020.
Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, said: “This survey will provide the industry with essential subsurface insight ahead of Senegal’s Offshore License Round, which is scheduled to commence early next year. SN-UDO-19 extends our coverage in a highly prospective region where TGS has been actively acquiring data for almost two years.”
