World of Oil and Gas
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Seadrill wins $712M deal |
Statoil has offered Seadrill a new five-year, $712 million contract for the use of the West Venture rig on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Under the terms of the new contract, the rig will be used by Statoil until August 2015. Statoil has the option up until January 2011 to extend the contract by an additional one or two years at the same rig price. The West Venture is a fifth-generation semisubmersible rig. It has been in operation for Statoil on Troll Field in the North Sea since it was built in 2000. |
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Aker wins Tamar contract |
Aker Solutions has been selected to supply subsea umbilicals for US independent Noble Energy’s Tamar project offshore Israel in the Mediterranean Sea. The initial order is worth about $111 million and is for about 150 mi of steel tube umbilicals. The estimated delivery date is second-quarter 2011. |
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FMC signs Perdido supply agreement |
FMC Technologies signed an agreement with Shell to supply subsea and topside systems for the Perdido deepwater development project in the Gulf of Mexico. The scope of supply includes five subsea production trees and three subsea water injection trees, each rated at 10,000 psi. Deliveries will commence in third-quarter 2010. Shell operates the project. |
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Swagelok acquires RHPS |
Swagelok Company has acquired the shares of Netherlands-based RHPS B.V, a manufacturer of pressure regulator products used mostly in oil and gas, chemical/petrochemical, alternative fuel, semiconductor and biopharmaceutical applications. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. |
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Apache deploying Firefly in Argentina |
ION Geophysical Corp. announced that its cableless land seismic acquisition system, Firefly, will be used by Apache Corp. to acquire data on two separate projects in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The Apache projects in Mendoza will utilize conventional geophones, marking the first time Firefly has been deployed using analog seismic sensors. About 5,500 Firefly stations will be used during this project, which is expected to start in May 2010 and finish by August 2010. |
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Deepwater Horizon incident response continues |
BP, operating with the US Coast Guard, is continuing its efforts to establish well control and recover leaking crude oil in the aftermath of the April 19 explosion and sinking of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible at 5,000-ft depth in the Mississippi Canyon 252 block of the Gulf of Mexico, 52 mi southeast of Venice, Louisiana. “We are attacking this spill on all fronts, bringing into play all and any resources and advanced technologies we believe can help,” said Tony Hayward, BP Group chief executive. BP began preparations to drill a relief well following the arrival on site of the Transocean Development Driller III. More than 2,000 personnel are active in the oil recovery effort using 10 offshore response vessels and seven skimming vessels. Of the 126-member crew aboard the semisubmersible, 115 were safely evacuated, but 11 crew members are missing and presumed dead. |
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Halliburton to acquire Boots & Coots |
Halliburton has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire all of the outstanding stock of well control company Boots & Coots in a stock and cash transaction valued around $240 million. Following completion of the transaction, a new product service line within Halliburton will be created to include Halliburton’s existing coiled tubing and hydraulic workover operations and Boots & Coots’ intervention services and pressure control business. Boots & Coots’ management will be retained to lead Halliburton’s Boots & Coots product service line with operating results reported through Halliburton’s Completion and Production reporting segment. Under the merger agreement, Boots & Coots stockholders will receive $3.00 per share for each share of Boots & Coots common stock they hold, comprised of $1.73 in cash and $1.27 in Halliburton common stock, subject to election, proration features and an exchange ratio based on Halliburton’s five-day average share price prior to closing. The transaction is expected to close in the summer of 2010, subject to regulatory approvals. |
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Gazprom apprehensive about shale gas revolution |
Following the recent entrance of dozens of international companies, including world majors, into the burgeoning US shale plays and emerging shale gas prospects like Poland, Russian gas giant Gazprom’s Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev branded shale gas projects as “dangerous” and expressed doubt that European environmental regulators would allow shale development. The Gazprom chief’s harsh words in March fuel suspicion that Russia could be unnerved by the latest developments in the world gas market. In 2009, Russia was beaten by the US for the title of the world’s leader in gas production, although it still satisfies more than a quarter of Europe’s gas needs. According to estimates by consultants Advanced Resources International, Poland alone could have 106 Tcf of recoverable reserves of shale gas, enough to satisfy domestic demand for more than 200 years. Russian daily Kommersant has reported that Europe’s gas reserves could jump 47% if Poland’s gas reserves are confirmed. Poland consumes 495 Bcf of gas a year and imports more than 70% of it from Russia. |
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| ExxonMobil sets drilling record offshore California | ExxonMobil has completed the world’s longest extended reach well drilled from an existing offshore fixed platform, increasing the company’s oil production from existing facilities at the Santa Ynez unit offshore southern California. The well drilled from the Heritage platform extends more than 6 miles horizontally and more than 7,000 ft below sea level. Exxon says the well will be able to produce an additional 5.8 million boe, an amount equal to the annual energy consumption of more than 144,000 Californians. Since 1981, the Santa Ynez unit has produced more than 450 million bbl of oil. | ||||
| Shell starts production at ultra-deepwater Perdido | Shell produced its first oil and gas from the Perdido drilling and production facility in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The Perdido facility sits in 7,800 ft of water, and will produce from the Great White, Silvertip and Tobago offshore fields, requiring perhaps as many as 35 wells over the life of the fields, according to Shell. All subsea fields will utilize a subsea separation and boosting system. Perdido is planned to ramp up to peak production of more than 100,000 bpd of oil and 200 MMcfd of gas. Shell says Perdido will also be the company’s first fully integrated application of its proprietary digital oilfield technology, incorporating continuous optimization, remote-assisted operations, exception-based surveillance and collaborative work environments. | ||||
| Talisman to sell non-core Canadian assets for $1.9 billion | Talisman Energy Inc. has agreed to sell a number of non-core assets in Canada with total proceeds of about $1.9 billion through five separate transactions. These transactions include about 1 million net acres of land in the greater Peace River Arch, Central Alberta Foothills and Greater Hinton areas in Alberta, as well as the company’s Ontario properties. The assets are currently producing 42,500 boepd, of which about 90% is natural gas, with net proved reserves of 120 million boe. The sale equates to about $44,000 per boepd of production, $16 per boe of proved reserves, and seven times cash flow. These transactions are expected to be finalized by the end of second-quarter 2010, subject to normal regulatory approvals. | ||||
| Statoil increases stake in ultra-deepwater St. Malo project | Statoil has increased its working interest in the Union-operated St. Malo development to 21.5% by exercising its preferential rights on a proposed sale of Devon’s share in the development. Union is a subsidiary of Chevron. St. Malo is scheduled to be sanctioned later this year together with the Chevron-operated Jack development. The combined Jack and St. Malo development is scheduled to come onstream in 2014. The Jack and St. Malo discoveries are both in the lower Tertiary trend of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, commonly known as the Paleogene play. Statoil has made two additional discoveries in the area and is the third largest leaseholder in these ultra-deep waters. Statoil is also currently engaged in two deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling operations. | ||||
| Technip awarded $48 million Baltic Sea contract | The consortium developing the Nord Stream pipeline project in the Baltic Sea has awarded offshore service company Technip a frame contract worth about $48 million. The contract covers four tie-ins on the two parallel pipelines that will run through the Baltic Sea, from Vyborg, Russia, to Lubmin, Germany, crossing Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish and German waters. The pipelines will have a total length of about 760 miles. The subsea tie-in operations will be performed using the Statoil-operated Pipeline Repair System (PRS) and Technip’s Skandi Arctic diving support vessel, and are scheduled for mid-2011 for the first pipeline and mid-2012 for the second one. The PRS comprises a wide range of equipment for pipeline repair, both manned and remotely operated, including welding machines, installation structures and pipeline retrieval tools. Technip will be responsible for maintenance and modification services for the PRS. | ||||
| BP awards drilling contracts worth $500 million in Iraq | British supermajor BP announced that it awarded contracts worth around $500 million to rehabilitate the giant Rumaila oil field in the south of Iraq. BP selected oilfield services provider Schlumberger, through a partnership with the Iraqi Drilling Co., Petrochina subsidiary Daqing Drilling and US drilling company Weatherford, to provide work on rigs at Rumaila. BP said it plans to drill 70 wells in Rumaila in 2010. The company touts the giant field near the southern port city of Basra as one of the largest in the world. Current production reaches about 1 million bopd. | ||||
| Apache, Mariner to merge in $2.7 billion deal | Globetrotting independent Apache and deepwater explorer Mariner Energy have entered into a merger agreement. Under the agreement, Mariner shareholders will receive, in aggregate, 0.17043 of a share of Apache common stock and $7.80 in cash for each outstanding share of Mariner’s common stock, subject to an election feature and proration. Apache also will assume $1.2 billion in debt. In February, Mariner produced 63,000 boepd from the US Gulf Shelf and deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the Permian Basin and unconventional onshore plays. At year-end 2009, Mariner had estimated proved reserves of 181 million boe (47% liquid hydrocarbons) as well as unbooked resource potential of 2 billion boe. | ||||
| Saudi Aramco to drill 300 wells in 2010 | Saudi Aramco will drill at least 300 development wells on- and offshore this year, as well as 48 exploration probes. Aramco would maintain the level of rigs it is now operating at 96, of which 17 are for exploration and the rest for development wells. Decreased oil activity last year led to a fall in the number of rigs used in Saudi Arabia to 104 from 130. The kingdom saw its crude output fall after OPEC announced supply curbs of 4.2 million bpd in December 2008. Falling global oil consumption has left the kingdom sitting on its biggest supply cushion in years and allowed it to shift attention from oil to booming gas demand that is growing by 7% annually. Drilling for gas will continue, with 50% of the rigs in use hunting for gas. | ||||
| CNOOC makes shallow-water find in eastern Bohai Bay | China National Offshore Oil Corp. announced what the company calls a “significant” new oil discovery in the eastern extension of China’s Bohai Bay. CNOOC reports that the new discovery, Peng Lai (PL) 9-1, was made in the Bozhong Block 11-05 in the Miaoxibei Uplift where the well, PL9-1-2, penetrated oil pay zones with a total thickness of 253 ft and a fractured zone of buried hill with a total thickness of 518 ft. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,938 ft at a site where the water depth is approximately 95 ft. The company said that it has conducted a drillstem test on the three layers, and during the test the well flowed at an average rate of 540 bpd of oil. | ||||
| Petrobras acquires interest in Australian Basin | Petrobras’ wholly owned subsidiary Petrobras Internacional Braspetro acquired from MEO Australia a 50% participating interest in the exploratory Block WA-360-P, located in the Australian North Carnarvon Basin, for $39 million. Spanning 297 acres, the block lies in a water depth of 1,640 ft and is located near an area that houses several gas discoveries. The concession contract is in the fifth year of its exploratory period with 3D seismic already performed, indicating good potential for gas discoveries. Under the farm-in contract and subject to regulatory approval, Petrobras will fund 100% of the drilling expenses of the first well, Artemis-1, limited to $41 million. Drilling of the well is scheduled for second-half 2010. If a discovery is made, Petrobras will also pay a bonus of $31.5 million to MEO and will carry MEO’s participation (20%) of the cost to drill two additional wells, capped at $62 million per well. MEO remains the operator of the block, holding a 20% interest, and Cue Exploration Pty Ltd. and Moby Oil and Gas Ltd. each hold 15%. Petrobras has the option to become operator once the first well is completed. | ||||
| TransAtlantic to explore for tight gas in Turkey | TransAtlantic Petroleum has entered into an agreement with Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi (TPAO) to participate in two tight gas licenses in Turkey—one in the Thrace Basin and one in the country’s southeast. Under the terms of the agreement, TransAtlantic will re-enter a total of four wells and drill a total of four wells over the next year. These wells will target tight sand and shale formations that do not produce under normal conditions. The company is mobilizing hydraulic fracturing and other equipment into Turkey to enable it to explore for unconventional resources. |
| Seadrill buys into Scorpion Offshore | Deepwater drilling company Seadrill announced that it will make a cash offer for all remaining shares of jackup rig manufacturer Scorpion Offshore Ltd., having recently acquired 1.3 million shares in Scorpion at a price of $6.13 per share. The acquisition made Seadrill the owner of almost 35 million shares in Scorpion representing a total of 40.1% of the rig maker’s issued shares, and triggered an obligation on Seadrill to make a mandatory cash offer for Scorpion’s remaining shares or to reduce its holding below the 40% threshold within four weeks of the purchase. |
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