Offshore247.com - Weekly Summary - 21

Published 31.05.2010 10:56:44 by Erlend Keilen

GoM oil spill can mean demands for new rigs. Norwegian rig owner and operator Seadrill says BP's Macondo well oil spill will have uncertain implications for the rest of the world's drilling industry but the company also believes it will underline the need for modern equipment in the US Gulf of Mexico in future. Aker Solutions wins USD 180 million contracts. The company has been awarded two contracts with Daewoo.
The scope of work for Aker Solutions is to deliver complete drilling equipment packages consisting of equipment deliveries and commissioning services.
Shtokman on the rise? A senior Total executive has signalled that he expects the first liquefied gas from the Shtokman field to be produced in 2017.

EXPLORATION

Conan concludes dry
Drilling on the Conan gas prospect in the Eastern Irish Sea off the UK mainland has reached a total depth without encountering gas in the target structure.
Operator Serica Energy said that the 113/26b-3 Conan exploration well which was drilled with the Ensco 80 jackup reached a total depth of 1,827 metres (5,992 ft) without finding hydrocarbons.
Based on well data, Serica said although the target Triassic Sherwood sandstones were encountered at a depth of 1,776 m (5,825 ft), “...no hydrocarbons are present in the saneds at this location.”
Now the well is to be plugged and abandoned as a dry hole.
Serica's next well will be on the Oates prospect in the UK Central North Sea which is due to spud in July.

Leader set for new Norway well
Statoil has gained a green light for a new exploration well between the Gudrun and Sigrun discoveries in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
Permission has been granted for the Transocean Leader to drill the 15/3-9 well in Production Licence 187, located between the 15/3-1 S Gudrun discovery and the 15/3-4 Sigrun find, and 45 km (28 miles) north from Sleipner.

Aerial survey next for Uganda says Tower
Updating progress on its exploration in Uganda Tower Resources says an aero-gravity programme is due to start next month to further investigate the hydrocarbon potential of the Albertine Basin area.
After obtaining a renewed licence for Exploration Area 5 from Uganda's Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Tower has agreed a forward exploration programme which will include an aero-gravity gradiometry survey over all the remaining licence area once some areas have been relinquished.
“This is an important step in planning a new [2D] seismic survey which could extend to 500 kilometres,” Tower indicates

Oil confirmed by Circle appraisal
Circle Oil's latest well on its Northwest Gemsa concession in Egypt has completed and logs have confirmed an oil bearing structure.
London-listed Circle said its Al-Amir XE 6E appraisal well around 300 kilometres (1190 miles) south of Cairo encountered oil-bearing Upper Shagar and Lower Rahmi Kareem Sandstones and the hole has now reached a depth of 13,900 ft – 4,237 metres.

FIELD DEVELOPMENT

Bentley almost in the bag
Heavy oil field specialist Xcite Energy is nearing the launch of its North Sea Bentley field project with a rig ready to drill a pre-development well and a new partner on board to share some of the cost.
An alliance comprising BP which is providing an oil offtake route for Bentley, Amec, Transocean and drill contractor ADTI is now in place, ready to bring the Bentley field into development Xcite declared as it published its first quarter results.
Also the company has completed a capital funding programme to raise £23.1 million for the costs of the 9/3b- R pre-development well on the field, which is regarded as one of the largest remaining untapped deposits in the UK sector of the North Sea
Transocean is to supply a jack up rig to drill the pre-development well, and Challenger Minerals is now a partner in the project through a farm-in deal announced earlier this year through which it will contribute US $4 m towards the cost of the 9/3b R well - due to be drilled this summer - to earn a 4% stake in the project.
Xcite is planning an early production system for Bentley which is scheduled to come onstream at the end of 2011.

Signals on Shtokman gas
A senior Total executive has signalled that he expects the first liquefied gas from the Shtokman field to be produced in 2017.
In an interview Arnaud Breuillac, Total's senior vice president for Continental Europe and Central Asia indicated the schedule while speaking to Dow Jones.
He said the final investment decision on the deepwater subsea field development will be taken in 2011, by Total, Statoil and Gazprom, who together formed the Shtokman Development Company to progress the huge gas project.

Ithaca confirms FPSO name change
Published 26.05.2010 08:56:12 by John Bradbury
BW Offshore''s tanker BW Carmen is to be renamed BW Athena before it commences operations on the UK Central North Sea Athena oil development, operator Ithaca Energy has confirmed.
After securing a deal to source the Carmen from Norway's BW Offshore, Ithaca confirmed the name change as it published its first quarter results.
Ithaca reported a net profit of US $5.4 million for the first quarter this year, compared with a $7.9 m figure for the full year last year.
While it was debt free and had current assets worth $62.3 m, Ithaca also said its cash flow from operations in the first quarter was $19.6 m.

Driller starts on Don phase two
Transocean's John Shaw semi-submersible is now on location in the UK North Sea drilling the first of a batch of new wells to access the Horst area of the Don Southwest field as part of a second phase of development.
Project partner Valiant Petroleum has reported that the rig arrived towards the end of last week and commenced drilling on Don Southwest, where it holds 40% equity.
Don Southwest phase II involves developing the Horst compartment within the north of the field, between areas 5 and 6, which was discovered during a 2009 drilling campaign.

Russian field tests oil
Russian explorer Matra Petroleum reported that an appraisal well on the Sokolovskoe field in the Orenburg region has confirmed oil.
Well 13 was drilled to a depth of 3,718 metres (12,195 ft) and encountered a net oil interval of 7 m (23 ft) and an open hole test produced oil at a rate of 110 b/d, Matra indicated

COMPANY NEWS

Fivefold rise for Northern
Rig owner Northern Offshore notched up a fivefold increase in net income from a year ago and a 33% rise from the figure for the fourth quarter 2009 based on higher rig revenue and tariff income from the Northern Producer production vessel operating on the North sea Don West and Southwest fields.
Northern reported net income for the first quarter at US $23.2 million, up 540% from $3.60 m in the first quarter 2009 and up 33% from the $17.40 m figure achieved for the fourth quarter 2009.

Losses narrow for Rocksource
Norway's Rocksource narrowed its net losses for the first quarter 2010 to NKr 35.2 m (US $5.41m) down from NKr 41 m the previous year.
Rocksource said exploration expense was cut to NKr 42.5 m from NKr 62.9 m in the previous quarter and NKr 23 m in the first quarter last year, while operating income hit NKr 19.8m, which was down by NKr 9.3 m last year.

CONTRACTS

Aker Solutions bags USD 180 million contracts
Solutions has been awarded two contracts worth USD 180 million with Daewoo.
The scope of work for Aker Solutions is to deliver complete drilling equipment packages consisting of equipment deliveries and commissioning services.

Re work for Nigeria
Acergy collected a US $120 million contract for removal of existing risers and installation of new pipelines and risers for an undisclosed field offshore Nigeria in shallow water.
Oslo-listed Acergy said the deal covers the re-installation of 15 km (9.3 miles) of new pipelines and related rises plus associated diving and hook-up work.

Batch drilling work booked
Drilling contractor KCA Deutag has collected an onshore deal from Abu-Dhabi-based TAQA for operations in The Netherlands.
KCA has been contracted to provide drilling and related services with its T45 land rig for Taqa Energy BV, in Holland.

FINANCIAL

Dong banks more cash
Denmark's Dong Energy has put more cash in the bank after arranging a new €750 million (US $918 m) credit facility.
Dong said it has signed a five year revolving credit facility, replacing an earlier €1.5 Bn facility dating back to May 2005, which has been signed with 11 Nordic banks led by Nordea and Royal Bank of Scotland who are acting as bookrunners for the facility. Funds will be used for general corporate purposes

Cecon secures loan extension
Subsea contractor Cecon has been granted a further extension period for the repayment of interest on a US $100 million bond loan which was due on 4 May.
Creditor Norsk Tillitsmann has given Cecon a period of extended grace until 28 May to come up with the necessary cash to service the debt on the $100 m bond loan, or face being held in default of the loan.

LICENSING

BG bowls into Tanzania
Britain's BG Group is farming into acreage offshore Tanzania in East Africa in a deal with Ophir Energy which will give the UK-based explorer stakes in two basins in shallow to deep water.
BG is taking a 60% stake in offshore blocks 1, 3 and 4 covering 27,000 sq. km held by Ophir Energy offshore Tanzania in a deal in which BG will pay 85% of the costs of an initial exploration programme.

HSE

Top kill continues
BP said early last Wednesday that attempts were continuing through the previous night with its top kill operation in an attempt to stop the flow of oil gushing from a Gulf of Mexico well.
At this stage BP said “There are no significant events to report at this time,” but the Anglo-American oil major said it would provide a further update on the progress of the operation when appropriate.
Earlier a Reuters report from Houston citing BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said that only drilling mud, and not oil, appeared to flowing from the well, six hours into the top kill operation.

UK reviews oil spill response
Following on from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after the blowout and loss of Transocean's Deepwater Horizon rig an energy industry leadership group in the UK North Sea has formed a new oil spill advisory group.
Oil and Gas UK says the new group has been formed to anticipate the outcome of investigations into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and it will be chaired by Fairfield Energy chief executive Mark McAllister.
“In light of the recent Gulf of Mexico incident, it is only right that we take a fresh look at our practices in the UK for oil spill prevention and response,” McAllister declared.
He points out that although there are already regulations in place which require the UK's offshore industry to have checks and oil spill contingency plans, a review of those procedures is now underway, through the new Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (Osprag).
“The review conducted under OSPRAG will be comprehensive and will help ensure that the arrangements in the UK continue to be fit for purpose,” he said.

BOP fault found on deepwater well
London-listed Indian explorer Hardy Oil and Gas has said its deepwater exploration well in the Krishna Godavari Basin has hit a mechanical problem and has had to be temporarily suspended.
Hardy stated that the KGV D3 W 1 well operated by Reliance Industries off India's East coast has been hit by “... unresolved mechanical issues associated with the blow out preventer,” on the Transocean rig Deepwater Expedition.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Prosafe chief resigns
Rig group Prosafe has kicked off a recruitment process after accepting the resignation of president and chief executive Arne Austreid who is giving up his role after 12 years.
After tendering his resignation Austreid has nevertheless agreed to stay on with the Norwegian accommodation and rig group for up to six months while a replacement is found.
“I have been with Prosafe for 12 years. It has been exciting to be a part of the successful development of Prosafe, and a privilege to lead Prosafe to what it is today,” Austreid said in a statement released to announce his departure.

Bowyer becomes Senergy COO
Energy services group Senergy has appointed a North Sea stalwart as its new chief operating officer.
Mechanical engineer Mike Bowyer who has played a leading role in the UK North Sea over several years becomes COO for Senergy. He previously worked for PES International Ltd, which was responsible for developing the first smart well completion, and for Baker Hughes Well Services, and was country manager and vice president for Halliburton in the UK.

POLITICS

Green energy and low carbon in Queen's Speech
Britain's Confederation of British Industry welcomed the Queen's Speech which outlines the legislative programme of the new Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government which signals how major issues in the UK economy are to be tackled including energy policy.
Support for a low carbon economy is promised as part of the legislative programme to be rolled out by the new government with Secretary of State for Climate Change Christ Huhne promising the UK's new government will be the greenest ever.
“We welcome the Government’s commitment to the climate change agenda. Improving energy efficiency among consumers and businesses could take us a long way towards meeting our emissions reductions targets. This Bill should encourage more people to take advantage of immediate opportunities to cut carbon emissions and save money,” the CBI declared, responding to the green energy bill proposals.

Better access to infrastructure in Queen's Speech
Management consultancy Deloitte has said the proposals outlined in the Queen's Speech could spell a better deal for smaller North Sea players seeking to gain access to existing infrastructure for their developments.
“We note from the Queen’s Speech that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) may include measures in the forthcoming Energy Bill to ensure North Sea infrastructure would be available to all companies to ease the exploitation of smaller and more difficult oil and gas fields,” declared Carl Hughes, head of energy, infrastructure and utilities at Deloitte.
Welcoming such a proposal, Hughes says he would encourage this type of legislation for the UK North Sea.

Hendry is the oil man
Britain's Department of Energy and Climate Change has spelled out exactly who will have direct responsibility for the North Sea oil and gas sector within the coalition government.
In a bulletin detailing the exact responsibilities of each minister within the DECC serving under Secretary of State Chris Huhne, it is Charles Hendry who will have direct responsibility for both oil and gas exploration licensing and revenue, plus management of the offshore environment and decommissioning, as well as renewable energy.

RIG NEWS

Oil spill means new Gulf rigs says Seadrill
Norwegian rig owner and operator Seadrill says BP's Macondo well oil spill will have uncertain implications for the rest of the world's drilling industry but the company also believes it will underline the need for modern equipment in the US Gulf of Mexico in future.
In a market outlook statement issued as part of its first quarter results, Seadrill said the Macondo incident has “...Introduced uncertainty to future drilling activity in the US Gulf of Mexico.”
But Seadrill goes on to say: “Although it is hard to estimate the effect of the this oil spill, we continue to be optimistic on the long-term market outlook for offshore drilling units and believe that any additional governmental requirements related to deepwater drilling will only support the demand for new and modern equipment.”

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