Noble to Drill Cyprus A Prospect in 4Q

- Noble to Drill Cyprus A Prospect in 4Q

Thursday, September 08, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Karen Boman

Noble Energy will relocate one of three deepwater rigs it is operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to drill the Cyprus A prospect during this year's fourth quarter, said Noble Chairman and CEO Charles D. Davidson at the Barclays Capital 2011 CEO Energy Conference earlier this week.

Noble said its prospect offshore Cyprus is analogous to the structures it has drilled offshore Israel, and anticipates that prospects offshore Cyprus also will contain gas. Drilling offshore Cyprus is still risky, but they basically are the same system, said Davidson.

"The prospect is an important data point, could change the dynamics further on how gas is marketed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea," Davidson said. "In our view, they have some demand for natural gas, and the scale of the projects in Cyprus will far exceed demand there."

Noble and the Cyprus government signed a production sharing contract to launch exploration activities in the 324,000-hectar economic zone southeast of the island.

According to media reports, tensions have mounted between Cyprus and Turkey over the island nation's plans to begin oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Greek Cypriots, who control Cyprus' internationally recognized government, and Turkish Cypriots are at odds over how revenue from oil and gas production will be shared. Turkey, which backs the Turkish Cypriots, said it would take action if exploration begins before the dispute can be resolved.

Noble operates approximately three million gross acres in the eastern Mediterranean, where is recently acquired additional 3D seismic data and has identified multiple prospects and leads.

The Tamar and Leviathan discoveries offshore Israel, which include 25 Tcf of gross mean resources, are the largest global deepwater gas discoveries made in the past decade. "With the discovery of Tamar, Israel became energy independent in terms of gas," said Davidson. "The discovery of Leviathan has turned Israel into a potential energy exporter."

The company is on track to commission the Tamar production facility in late 2012, with production set to begin in 2013. A rig is on location drilling development wells, and construction of the production platform is underway. The initial development phase calls for five subsea completions with 200 MMcfe/d to 250 MMcf/d per well, and process capacity expanded to 1 Bcf/d at existing onshore facility. Mari-B infrastructure will be utilized as part of this development phase. The Tamar discovery has a resource estimate of 8.4 Tcf.

Noble also is moving ahead with the Noa development, which includes a two-well tieback to the Mari-B facility. First production is expected in the second half of 2012, and will supplement Mari-B deliverability by 100 MMcf/d. Mari-B is nearing full operational reliability, with the Mari-B compression project finalized and second quarter demand up 40 percent from 2010.

"Our current production [in Israel] is extremely strong, with high demand in Israel for gas, with a very strong draw for supplies from Mari-B," Davidson said

Noble expects results in this year's third quarter from its appraisal work to further define the Leviathan resource, which is estimated to hold gross gas resources of 16 Tcf. The company will return to assess deeper stratigraphic sections of Leviathan and is evaluating development scenarios for the discovery, including domestic and export options.

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Blackdog Preps to Drill Well in Alberta

- Blackdog Preps to Drill Well in Alberta

Friday, September 02, 2011
Blackdog Resources Ltd.

Blackdog is participating in the drilling of an approximate 3000 meter deep Leduc Reef Exploration well (the "Well") near Sylvan Lake, Alberta. The target was defined using extensive 3D seismic analysis and the Company believes the target is prospective for light oil.

Under the terms of a farm in agreement, Blackdog is paying 25% of all costs to testing or abandonment to earn a 15% working interest ("W.I.") in the Well and entire section of land the Well is situated on. The Company believes that a successful well could lead to the drilling of two additional wells on the same section of land.

Also under the terms of the farm in agreement, Blackdog received an option, at the Company's discretion, to participate in the drilling of a second Leduc Reef Exploration well in the Sylvan Lake area. Blackdog would pay 25% of all costs to testing or abandonment to earn a 16.25% W.I. in this well and the land it is situated on. Blackdog has a 72 hour window from the casing or abandonment of the first exploration well to exercise this option.

The first well has been spud and the Company expects to announce results during the month of September.

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Tower Resources to Drill Uganda Well in 4Q

- Tower Resources to Drill Uganda Well in 4Q

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tower Resources plc

Tower Resources provided an operational update.

In Uganda, the high resolution aero gravity gradiometry survey over the Company's Exploration Area 5 was completed in June 2010 and the interpreted data clearly indicated an area expected to be favorable for the generation of hydrocarbons. It also highlighted a clearly defined structural high in the vicinity of the newly defined hydrocarbon kitchen.

This interpretation provided the basis for a focused 187 km 2D seismic program, which was completed on August 4, 2011 and the final data is being processed and interpreted. Once interpretation is complete, this high quality data will enable the choice of a suitable well location within the next month. Proposals from rig contractors and other service providers are being finalized and it is envisaged that a well can be drilled in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Offshore Namibia, in which the Company has a 15% carried interest in License 0010, the Company has been notified by Arcadia Expro Namibia, the operator and 85% interest holder, that it is continuing its farm-out process and is expecting farm in proposals shortly from a number of potentially interested international oil and gas companies ahead of drilling a well on the very large Delta structure. Tower Resources is working with its drilling consultants in order to ensure that the drilling program remains on track to spud a well as early as possible in the first half of 2012, currently anticipated in Spring.

Peter Kingston, Executive Chairman of Tower Resources, said, "With the recently acquired seismic data we should be in a position to spud a well in Uganda in the fourth quarter of this year. As Arcadia progresses its farm-out, the Tower Board continues to review the optimal route to maintain the Namibian project's schedule."

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American Petro-Hunter Starts Drill Site Ops at N. Oklahoma Proj.

- American Petro-Hunter Starts Drill Site Ops at N. Oklahoma Proj.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011
American Petro-Hunter Inc.

American Petro-Hunter announced that drill site operations have commenced in preparation for the next horizontal oil well at the Company's North Oklahoma Mississippi Project development.

Site arrangements are underway including permitting and requisite documentation in advance of the spud of the newly designated NOW-2H well. The directional drilling contractor has been secured and the Company expects a spud date shortly.

The well is a direct offset to the NOM-1H well, which began production in July and will involve a similar lateral drilling operation into the recently discovered Mississippi reservoir. The Company has purchased full working interest participation in up to 11 additional horizontal wells within the play with the NOW-2H becoming the 2nd well implemented under the planned development program.

The leases in the horizontal play are being developed on 80 acre parcels, however the well spacing will be evaluated after each well is put into production for a period of 30-45 days prior to engineering any additional infill wells. This prudently engineered plan will ensure the maintenance of reservoir integrity over the life of the proposed 24 month drilling schedule. The program is envisioned to involve the drilling of approximately one horizontal Mississippi formation well every 30 to 60 days.

Given the dramatically increased levels of activity in the area, rig availability has become a key scheduling issue. As a result, the Company and partners have accelerated the spud date of the NOW-2H and have further determined that the previously announced vertical NOS-2-22 required a shift to October based on current rig logistics which ultimately provides greater overall benefits allowing for improved operational efficiency across both wells.

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Escopeta's Jackup Arrives in Cook Inlet, Set to Drill

- Escopeta's Jackup Arrives in Cook Inlet, Set to Drill

Monday, August 15, 2011
Alaska Journal of Commerce
by Tim Bradner

Spartan Drilling Co.'s Blake 151 jackup rig arrived Aug. 7 in Cook Inlet and cleared U.S. Customs before proceeding to an exploration location in upper Cook Inlet Aug. 10, a spokesman for Escopeta Oil and Gas Co. said.

The rig waited briefly in Kachemak Bay near Homer, Escopeta spokesman Steve Sutherland said in an interview.

"We [held] in Kachemak Bay until we clear customs and finalize some matters with the state Department of Natural Resources. We expect to be moving the rig to the drilling location in the Kitchen Light Unit," Sutherland said.

Escopeta has most of the permits it needs from the state. "Escopeta has an approved plan of operations from Department of Natural Resources," agency spokeswoman Elizebeth Bluemink said. "We plan an informal inspection after they arrive at the drill site but we don't have any pending DNR permits. What's still pending will come from other agencies, the AOGCC (Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission) drilling permit, for example."

"We approved the plan of operations in July. The plan covers drilling related activities and not the transit period to get to the drill site," Bluemink said.

Escopeta is the main leaseholder in the Kitchen Lights Unit and will be operator of the exploration well.

If the rig moves to the location and successfully spuds the well it will qualify for a special state exploration incentive that will pay up to 100 percent of the first $25 million of costs of the first exploration well drilled with a jackup rig in Cook Inlet. Wells drilled by the same rig are eligible for follow-on incentives for the second and third exploration wells, of 90 percent of costs up to $22.5 million on the second well and 80 percent f the first $20 million for the third well.

However, the wells must be drilled for different companies.

The Blake 151 was towed from Vancouver, B.C. To Cook Inlet by three Foss Maritime Co. tugs. The rig was in Vancouver for several weeks undergoing modifications after being moved to the west Canadian city from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico by a Chinese heavy-left vessel.

The rig movement from the gulf was controversial because Escopeta's original plan was to move it directly to Cook Inlet after obtaining a waiver of the U.S. Jones Act from the Department of Homeland Security.

The rig was diverted to Canada after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano turned down the waiver request. U.S. Shipping interests who work to protect the Jones Act had urged Napolitano to turn down the waiver.

The Jones Act requires shipments of cargo between U.S. Ports to be made with American-built ships. Escoptea hired the Chinese heavy-lift ship because no U.S. Vessels were capable of moving the rig safely around the tip of South America, where there are rough seas, company president Danny Davis said earlier.

U.S. shipping groups are pushing for a penalty to be imposed on Escopta for a Jones Act violation.

"We expect the customs to issue a significant fine once the rig has completed its transit and positioned for duty in Cook Inlet," said Richard Berkowitz, Director of the Transportation Institute, a Seattle-based maritime industry association.

Even with the rig's voyage on a Chinese heavy-lift vessel terminated in Vancouver, B.C., a Jones Act violation has occurred, Berkowitz said.

Meanwhile, a second jackup rig may soon be headed to Cook Inlet. Buccaneer Energy, an Australian company, is purchasing a heavy jackup rig in Asia for drilling in Cook Inlet waters and elsewhere in coastal Alaska. That rig may be moved to Alaska this winter or by early spring.

Copyright (c) 2011, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage

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HRT Plans to Drill 65 Wells by End-2014

- HRT Plans to Drill 65 Wells by End-2014

Friday, August 12, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
RIO DE JANEIRO
by Diana Kinch

Brazilian oil and gas company HRT Participacoes em Petroleo, plans to drill 65 exploration wells and develop production at 52 wells by the end of 2014 in a $3.14 billion expenditure program, the company said Friday.

HRT is drilling its first wells in Brazil's Solimoes Basin and in Namibia this year, chief executive Marcio Rocha Mello told analysts on a conference call. The company's net potential resources at the two sites were recently announced at a total of 7.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

HRT has a cash position of 2.2 billion Brazilian reais ($1.37 billion) to finance its development program, the executive said.

"We have a queue of people knocking on our door to join the Namibia project," he said.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Gulfmark to Drill 1st Eagleford Shale Well

- Gulfmark to Drill 1st Eagleford Shale Well

Friday, August 05, 2011
Gulfmark Energy Group Inc.

Gulfmark Energy announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Gulfmark Resources, Inc., has filed for drilling permits with the Texas Railroad Commission and intends to drill its initial test well on its 4,261 acre Kiefer Lease in Zavala County, Texas, upon permit approval. The Kiefer lease is situated in the northwestern portion of the oil window of the Eagleford Shale trend of South Texas. Gulfmark intends to drill vertically through the Escondido, Olmos, San Miguel, Austin Chalk and Eagleford Shale formations and will evaluate results by open hole logs and core samples. The Company's primary objective is to penetrate the Eagleford Shale and plans to drill horizontally approximately 3,000 to 4,000 feet upon reaching this prolific shale play.

Michael Ward, President and CEO, stated, "With recent discoveries within the Eagleford Shale formation, we are very excited to begin our development drilling program and increase our shareholder value. With success through the drill bit, we hope to expand our horizons and fully exploit the resources that lie within our leasehold."

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Statoil Gets Green Light to Drill N. Sea Block 15/8

- Statoil Gets Green Light to Drill N. Sea Block 15/8

Thursday, July 21, 2011
Petroleum Safety Authority Norway

Statoil has secured consent to conduct exploration drilling in the central part of the North Sea using the COSLPioneer mobile facility.

The consent relates to the drilling of exploration well 15/8-2 in production license 303. The well is located about 250 kilometers southwest of Stavanger. The consent also covers the drilling of a potential sidetrack.

The well has the following geographical coordinates: N 58° 24' 55.08", E 01° 32' 49.89" Water depth at the site is approx. 119 meters.

Drilling is scheduled to start in late July/early August 2011. The expected duration of the activity is about 79-124 days, depending on potential discoveries.

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Lukoil, Partners Award Deal to Drill 23 Iraq Wells -Source

- Lukoil, Partners Award Deal to Drill 23 Iraq Wells -Source

Thursday, July 14, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Hassan Hafidh

Lukoil and its partners have awarded a deal to a "known" service company to drill some 23 new wells at Iraq's supergiant West Qurna Phase 2, a person familiar with the project said Thursday.

"The central contracts committee at the Iraqi Oil Ministry is studying the contract and we expect them to take a decision shortly," the person told Dow Jones Newswires.

Along with Norway's Statoil and Iraq's state South Oil Co., Lukoil is expected to award four other major deals in August to help develop the 12.9-billion-barrel field located in Basra governorate in southern Iraq.

The four contracts include a crude processing facility, a 126-megawatt power station, an export pipeline linking the field with a tank farm in Tuba near Iraq's southern export terminals, and six large storage tanks, the person said, adding the largest contract would be the crude processing facility.

The person said that Lukoil has shortlisted five oil services companies for this plant--Saipem, SNC-Lavalin Group, Punj Lloyd, Globalstroy-Engineering and South Korea's Samsung Engineering.

For the power station the Russian supermajor has received offers from a number of companies such as Petrofac and Greece's ENKA, the person said.

The contracts are part of an initial development plan to start production from the untapped oil field, set by Lukoil and Statoil and approved by Iraq's Oil Ministry last year. They are expected to help production at the field hit 150,000 barrels of oil a day in 2013, the person said.

Lukoil and Statoil were awarded a 20-year service contract for West Qurna Phase 2 in Iraq's second licensing round held in December 2009. The companies promised to get the southern field pumping at a rate of 1.8 million barrels a day for payment of $1.15 a barrel.

The development project is one of several that Iraq awarded last year with the ambitious objective of expanding its oil production capacity to 12 million barrels a day by 2017. But Iraq's oil minister said last month that Baghdad was considering scaling down this goal and could renegotiate deals.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Rockhopper Adds Additional Appraisal on Semisub

- Rockhopper Adds Additional Appraisal on Semisub

Thursday, July 07, 2011
Rockhopper Exploration plc

Rockhopper has entered into a further assignment agreement to secure an additional well slot on the Ocean Guardian drilling rig. Rockhopper will shortly drill well 14/10-6, its third appraisal well on the Sea Lion feature, followed by an additional three wells in succession.

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Property, Mineral Rights In Conflict

- Property, Mineral Rights In Conflict

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Ry Rivard, Charleston Daily Mail, W.Va.

In a case that may give West Virginia landowners a stronger bargaining chip in dealings with natural gas companies, a Marion County man is suing two of the state's largest gas producers to pay up or get off his land.

Richard Cain argues that gas producers don't have a right to put large Marcellus shale wells on his land in order to get at gas on his neighbors' property. If Cain prevails, it could become more difficult and expensive for gas companies to place multi-acre Marcellus well pads.

David McMahon, a lawyer who co-founded the West Virginia Surface Owners' Rights Organization, filed the lawsuit last week in Marion County Circuit Court. Cain is suing XTO Energy, a division of Exxon Mobil, and Glenville-based Waco Oil and Gas.

The lawsuit argues XTO can't take over up to 36 acres of Cain's 105-acre property just to put in Marcellus shale wells. The plans make Cain, a 61-year-old farmer and crane operator, "heart sick," McMahon said in a telephone interview last week.

Cain bought the land in 1989 to eventually give to his children. But he only owns the top of the land -- more than a century ago, the mineral rights had been sold off.

The law gives mineral owners the right to come on a surface owner's land to get at coal, gas or oil beneath. Cain doesn't dispute that companies can use his land to get gas from beneath his 105 acres or even from the other 33 acres near him that were part of an original 138-acre tract.

But Cain argues the law doesn't give XTO or Waco the right to use his land as staging area for several large well pads that will drain gas from hundreds and hundreds of acres around his property that the companies have the mineral rights to.

The companies "do not have any rights at all to use his surface to drill horizontal wells to, or to explore for or produce gas from, any neighboring mineral tracts," the lawsuit reads.

A spokesman for XTO said the company does not comment on pending litigation. Waco did not return a phone call Friday afternoon seeking comment.

Cain's case arises mostly because of a change in technologies. Traditionally, drillers were using vertical gas wells with a relatively small footprint. These vertical wells were like straws and didn't draw gas from very far away.

But now drillers are building pads with several acre footprints and wells that run horizontally underground for nearly a mile apiece. Cain's case is testing whether these horizontal wells should be treated differently in the eyes of the law.

According to the lawsuit, XTO has received approval for one 12-acre well pad on the southwest corner of Cain's land. From it, at least three and up to six horizontal wells will be drilled underground.

XTO plans to put two more pads on his land. If the two pads disturb the same 12 acres as the first one, nearly 40 percent of Cain's land will have been taken without his permission.

None of the underground wells on the first well pad will drain much of Cain's gas, according to the lawsuit. Instead, the three wells will travel underground away from the corner of his land for 5,500 feet, 4,600 feet and 3,300 feet.

Even though XTO may be getting little gas from Cain's property, there could be advantages to its putting wells there. Companies drill down nearly a mile before they turn horizontally through the shale formation from where they get gas. These vertical legs also need room, though, because they slope a bit before become horizontal and run through the shale -- so moving the well pad on the surface even slightly can hurt companies by giving them less access to the profitable gas.

McMahon alleges XTO is shifting the burden of the multi-acre well pads to Cain's property.

If Cain prevails, companies that don't own surface rights will have to spend more time negotiating.

Plus, there's the cost. Under state law, the companies have to pay surface owners for lost income, expenses and damages. But McMahon said the formula in law isn't enough for the loss Cain faces.

"I think that the value shouldn't just be what it's worth to the seller, but what it's worth to the buyer, who is the driller in this case, and I think it's $25,000 a well in this case to the buyer," McMahon said.

The lawsuit also gives a look at the dealings between reluctant surface owners and companies eager to drill.

XTO began efforts to use Cain's land in June 2010, according to the lawsuit.

Cain "delayed as much as he could" to see if lawmakers would pass new rules in Charleston that could clarify or even add to his rights. They didn't.

An XTO agent didn't give Cain any say on where the company would locate its wells or its access roads. But, according to the lawsuit, an agent suggested XTO could pay Cain several thousand dollars for each pad -- the highest offer being $12,000.

An XTO agent also told Cain, "We will leave you a little," the lawsuit said.

On April 5 of this year, Cain sent XTO a letter that read, "You do not have permission to enter this property" to develop horizontal wells that would primarily take his neighbor's gas.

On April 14, XTO replied that they didn't need his permission.

When Cain went to his land April 17, he found part of his property had been cleared and his timber had been cut down.

Copyright (c) 2011, Charleston Daily Mail, W.Va.

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Statoil Gets Go-Ahead to Drill Aldous Wells

- Statoil Gets Go-Ahead to Drill Aldous Well

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Det norske oljeselskap ASA

Statoil has as operator of production license 265, received the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway's consent for drilling two exploration wells on the prospects Aldous Major and Aldous North. Det norske has a 20 percent share in the license.

Det norske has expectations for the Aldous wells, as there is a chance that the prospects are an extension of Lundin's major discovery on Avaldsnes in 2010.

There have been several encouraging discoveries in this area in the North Sea.

In PL 265 a promising gas discovery at Ragnarrock was made 2009. In wellbore 16/2-4 Statoil discovered both oil and gas in the license, in 2007.

The wells 16/2-8 and 16/2-9S are two of four planned wells in the area in 2011, to define the discoveries in both PL 265 and Avaldsnes.

Expected start of the first well is in week 28. The second well will be drilled immediately after. The whole operation is expected to take around 75 days. The wells will be drilled by the semisubmersible drilling rig Transocean Leader.

Licensees in production license 265:

• Statoil (operator) 40 percent
• Petoro 30 percent
• Det norske 20 percent
• Lundin 10 percent

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Kosmos to Drill Additional Well Offshore Ghana

- Kosmos to Drill Additional Well Offshore Ghana

Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Kosmos Energy Ltd.

Kosmos provided an update on the company's operations in Ghana, Cameroon and Morocco.

Ghana

Kosmos will drill an additional well as part of its 2011 exploration campaign offshore the Republic of Ghana on the West Cape Three Points Block. The company has secured additional rig capacity on the Transocean Marianas semi-submersible rig to drill the Cedrela-1 well west of the Makore prospect near the block's southern boundary. The well will target multiple objectives that the company previously has encountered on the block and is located nine kilometers (km) (six miles) north of the Paradise-1 discovery well recently announced by Hess. Kosmos anticipates that the well will be spudded in the third quarter of 2011.

The Atwood Hunter semi-submersible rig currently is drilling the Makore-1 exploration well in the southern portion of the West Cape Three Points Block. The Makore-1 well is targeting Upper Cretaceous Turonian-age reservoirs similar to those encountered in Kosmos' Jubilee oil field. The Atwood Hunter will remain on the West Cape Three Points Block to drill the Akasa-1 well, formerly known as the Dahoma Up-dip prospect.

The drilling of the Cedrela-1 well will bring Kosmos' 2011 capital spending budget for Ghana to $430 million, $260 million of which will be spent on exploration and appraisal drilling.

Kosmos is the operator of the West Cape Three Points Block in which the company holds a 30.875% interest. An affiliate of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has a 30.875% interest; an affiliate of Tullow Oil plc has a 22.896% interest; E.O. Group Limited has a 3.5% interest; Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Limited has a 1.854% interest; and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation has a 10% carried interest.

Cameroon

Kosmos reports that the company's N'gata-1 exploration well, recently drilled onshore Cameroon on the Kombe-N'sepe Block, encountered multiple reservoirs containing subcommercial quantities of natural gas. The results of drilling, wireline logs and reservoir fluid samples show the N'gata-1 well penetrated 44 meters (144 feet) of reservoir with 10 meters (33 feet) of net gas-bearing pay. An additional deeper thick sand interval with gas shows was encountered, but complete wireline logs were unable to be obtained over this target due to operational difficulties. The well has been plugged and abandoned. Kosmos has now completed its initial drilling program commitment on the Kombe-N'sepe Block. This program has demonstrated viable reservoirs and a working hydrocarbon system. Future technical evaluation will focus on identifying these play elements in areas of the block where liquid content and trap effectiveness may improve.

Kosmos Energy holds a 35% interest in the Kombe-N'sepe Block. Perenco operates the block with a 40% interest, and Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) has a 25% interest in the block.

Morocco

Kosmos has entered into a petroleum agreement with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), the national oil company of Morocco, covering the Foum Assaka area offshore the Kingdom of Morocco. The agreement will become effective upon publication of a ministerial order in accordance with Moroccan law. The Foum Assaka area, which covers approximately 6,500 square kilometers (1,606,179 acres), is located in the Atlantic Ocean's Agadir Basin about 43 kilometers (27 miles) west of the port city of Agadir and contains play elements similar to those seen in Kosmos' other West African acreage. Kosmos will be block operator and will have a 37.5% participating interest in the agreement. ONHYM will have a 25% interest that will be carried through the exploration phase, and Pathfinder Hydrocarbon Ventures Limited will hold the remaining 37.5% participating interest.

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Rep. Gardner Bill to Help Oil Cos Drill Off The Coast of Alaska Slate

- Rep. Gardner Bill to Help Oil Cos Drill Off The Coast of Alaska Slate

Monday, June 20, 2011
Greely Tribune, Colorado
by Nate A. Miller, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner is the driving force behind legislation slated for a vote in the House this week that would make it easier for oil companies to drill off the coast of Alaska.

"Energy security and job creation is very important to me," the Republican said. "This bill accomplishes both goals."

The bill, H.R. 2021, would streamline the process for air permits on deep-water drilling operations off the coast of the U.S., with the exception of the Gulf of Mexico, which is controlled by the Department of the Interior. It also would require the Environmental Protection Agency to make a ruling on permit requests within six months.

Fort Collins resident Gary Wockner, who is the Colorado program director of Clean Water Action, said the bill is misguided.

"This bill will increase polluters' profits at the expense of public health and the environment," he said.

While it may seem strange for a Colorado congressman to take up the cause of offshore oil drilling in Alaska, Gardner, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said it's a good fit.

"We need an all-of-the-above energy policy in this country that lessens our dependence on Middle Eastern oil," he said. "Whether it's natural gas produced in Weld County or oil produced in our deep-water reserves. We need to be doing everything we can to help reduce the price of gasoline and to help ween ourselves off of Middle East oil."

Gardner said permits to drill off the coast of Alaska have become stuck between the EPA and the Environmental Appeals Board, which the EPA created to address administrative appeals involving the major environmental statutes the EPA administers.

"Congress said these permits had to be approved or denied within a limited time frame. The EPA created a bureaucracy without Congress that has delayed some of these permits by as much as six years," he said. "It's the EPA end-run around Congress that's hurting our energy independence."

Gardner's legislation would remove the duplication created by the EPA and appeals board permitting process.

In testimony last month before the subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation Regina McCarthy said the appeals board ensures all parties are heard and often actually makes the process more efficient.

"Rather than adding a step, the board usually serves as a cheaper, faster, more expert substitute for judicial review," she said. She used the example of a group of subsistence fisherman concerned that an EPA permit didn't address their concerns about air pollution. "They would not be required to hire a lawyer; they could attend oral arguments via video conference; and they would know that their concerns were being heard by experts."

She also said offshore drilling operations can have very real impact on air quality, and it's important to ensure effective, efficient oversight of the operations.

Gardner said the permitting process gives ample time for public comment without the added bureaucracy of the appeals board. He said the permits can be held up even when there aren't health concerns. He gave the example of a Royal Dutch Shell permit for Alaska drilling which he said the EPA held up for six years, even though EPA head Lisa P. Jackson said health concerns weren't an issue.

Gardner estimates the measure, if it becomes law, would create 50,000 jobs across the country -- including some in Colorado -- and help ease the pressure at the pump for drivers by allowing more than 1 million barrels of oil a day to be pumped from Alaska.

Wockner said Gardner should focus on energy solutions Colorado has to offer.

"Rep. Gardner should be worrying about clean energy jobs in northern Colorado, not polluters' profits in Alaska," he said.

Copyright (c) 2011, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

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Gazprom Neft: Schlumberger to Drill Wells at Iraq Badra Field

- Gazprom Neft: Schlumberger to Drill Wells at Iraq Badra Field

Monday, June 20, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
MOSCOW
by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

A consortium led by Russian state oil producer Gazprom Neft has picked Schlumberger to drill the first wells at the Badra field in Iraq, the Russian company said Monday.

Schlumberger has been contracted to drill 11 wells over a three-year period, Gazprom Neft said.

The consortium--which also includes South Korea's Korea Gas Corp., or Kogas, Turkish Petroleum Corp., or TPAO, and Malaysia's Petronas--plans to start production from the Badra field in 2013.

Gazprom Neft estimates total costs for the Badra project at $2 billion and plans to drill 17 wells by 2017, when production should reach 170,000 barrels a day.

Gazprom Neft is the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Poll: Pennsylvania Voters Say, 'Drill, Baby, Drill'

- Poll: Pennsylvania Voters Say, 'Drill, Baby, Drill'

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Brad Bumsted, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Pennsylvania voters, by a more than 2-1 margin, say the economic benefits of gas drilling in the Marcellus shale outweigh the environmental impacts, a statewide poll shows.

They also believe by a 69-24 percent margin that companies doing the drilling should be taxed, according to the poll of 1,277 registered voters by Quinnipiac University. The poll released today has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points

"'Drill, baby drill' is the call from Pennsylvania voters and 'tax, baby tax,' is the follow-up as voters see natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale as an economic plus more than an environmental negative," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the university's polling institute.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who advocates regulated drilling but opposes a tax, saw his still-low approval rating begin to stabilize in the poll. His approval rating was 39 percent with 23 percent undecided, the poll found. Thirty-eight percent disapproved.

There's a growing gender gap with women disapproving of the job Corbett is doing by a 43-30 percent margin, the poll said. He took office in January and has proposed budget cuts to make up a $4.2 billion state deficit.

"Gov. Tom Corbett gets a mixed overall approval rating, despite getting a negative approval rating for his handling of the budget. Voters like him personally more than they do his policies," Malloy said.

"The good news for the governor is that his numbers apparently stabilized after falling off sharply in our last poll in April. Also, he is not in the negative territory like other Republican governors such as Florida Gov. (Rick) Scott and Ohio Gov. (John) Kasich," Malloy said.

A May 25 Quinnipiac poll found just 29 percent of Florida voters approve of the job Scott is doing, compared to 57 percent who disapprove. Kasich has an approval rating of 38 percent, with a 49 percent disapproval rate, according to a May 18 Quinnipiac poll.

Copyright (c) 2011, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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Icon to Perform Drill Stem Tests at Lydia Well

- Icon to Perform Drill Stem Tests at Lydia Well

Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Icon Energy Ltd.

Icon is currently coring Lydia-13 at a depth of 759 meters.

The Company expects that coring will be completed within the next day, following which wire line logging and drill stem tests will be carried out.

Lydia-13 is the last well in the four well drilling program in ATP626P for the current budget year ending June 30, 2011. Subject to board and joint venture partner approval, a following drilling program is expected to commence in the new budget year beginning July 1, 2011. This program would be located in the most promising areas found so far and not necessarily restricted to the farm-in area.

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Walz, Other Lawmakers Say Drill and Dedicate

- Walz, Other Lawmakers Say Drill and Dedicate

Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Mark Fischenich, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.

Congressman Tim Walz and a bipartisan group of other lawmakers are taking another shot at tackling America's looming energy crisis.

A Mankato Democrat, Walz and allies from Pennsylvania to California are pushing a proposal that would allow more oil drilling off the nation's coasts and dedicate some of the resulting trillions of dollars in drilling-rights royalties to energy independence programs.

The bipartisan group first offered the idea three years ago -- when gas prices were approaching $4 a gallon and leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties were locked into opposing positions on how to deal with the nation's long dependence on foreign oil.

After the summer of 2008, gas prices dropped dramatically, partisan gridlock derailed passage of a national energy policy, the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster unleashed the biggest offshore oil spill in American history, gas prices returned to $4 a gallon, and three years passed with no progress on a national energy plan.

On Tuesday, Walz told a group of business owners, labor representatives and energy researchers at Minnesota State University that continued inaction will cause great harm to the nation's economic outlook.

"(If) we don't anything about this, what does the future look like?" he asked.

The answer, according to Walz, is America sending more and more of its wealth to foreign oil producers. It's already nearly $400 billion a year going to oil-producing countries, some of which actively dislike the United States.

Failing to act now will also mean ceding the jobs and potential for exports that will be available to nations that lead the way in creating alternative energy technology.

"We have all our eggs in one economic basket," he said of the current reliance on fossil fuels. "We don't even own the basket, and it's a fragile basket at that."

No one in MSU's Minnesota Center for Automotive Research disagreed with Walz. The facility, which is doing research on alternative fuel vehicles, needs $480,000 to complete a dynamometer that would allow the testing of hybrid vehicles while they're running at highway speeds.

Federal and state funding was crucial in establishing the center, which moved into a new facility at MSU earlier this year, according to director Bruce Jones. Additional funding is likely to be harder to come by as Washington increasingly focuses on deficit reduction, but Walz made the case for continued -- and growing -- investment in alternative energy.

"We're preaching to the choir," said Joe Lorentz, a local highway contractor.

Lorentz pointed to the students and researchers across the table, urging them to talk to everyone they know about the importance of government investment in renewable energy and infrastructure improvements.

"Champion this bill," Lorentz said. "... Educate the public as best you can."

The bill -- called the Infrastructure, Jobs and Energy Independence Act -- would open up more of America's coastline to drilling for oil and natural gas. Royalties paid by energy companies for the drilling rights, which would total an estimated $2.2 trillion or more, would be dedicated to a variety of specific spending.

Infrastructure improvements -- including highways and bridges -- would get 20 percent. Research, development and production of alternative energy and energy efficiency would receive 15 percent. Another 8 percent would be aimed at cleaning up coal-fired power plants, and 5 percent would go to nuclear and carbon-free energy production.

Smaller amounts would go to environmental restoration, energy conservation, water clean-up and heating assistance for low-income Americans.

States where the additional oil drilling would occur would get 30 percent of the total proceeds, and 10 percent would be applied to reduction of the national debt.

Even as he makes his second attempt at getting the ambitious proposal off the ground, Walz said he thinks it has a genuine chance to become law. Some parts of it could be implemented sooner, but he expects the 2012 presidential election -- including a serious debate about America's energy future -- will have to run its course before the bulk of the proposal could be implemented.

Copyright (c) 2011, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.

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Atwood Aurora Contracted to Drill Offshore Cameroon

- Atwood Aurora Contracted to Drill Offshore Cameroon

Friday, June 03, 2011
Atwood Oceanics Inc.

Atwood Oceanics' subsidiaries has been awarded a contract by a subsidiary of Noble Energy for the Atwood Aurora. With contract commencement expected in October 2011, the award has an estimated firm duration of 240 days plus an option well with an estimated duration of approximately 40 days. The day rate for work offshore Cameroon will be approximately $126,000 and for work offshore Equatorial Guinea, the day rate will be approximately $134,000. With the award of this contract, the firm contractual commitments for the Atwood Aurora are expected to extend through May 2012.

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House Panel Passes Bill to Streamline Issuance of Air Permits for Oil Drill

- House Panel Passes Bill to Streamline Issuance of Air Permits for Oil Drill

Thursday, June 02, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Tennille Tracy

A bill to streamline the issuance of clean-air permits for offshore oil drilling cleared an important hurdle Thursday, with the Republican-controlled U.S. House energy committee voting to approve the measure.

The legislation aims to address challenges that Shell faced in securing air permits for exploratory drilling projects off the coast of Alaska. It also marks the latest effort by Republicans to expand or expedite offshore oil production.

The bill was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 34 to 14, with the majority of Democrats voting against the measure. Democrats said the bill would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of the ability to ensure clean-air standards would be met.

Thursday's committee vote clears the way for a vote on the floor of the House. While the bill would have a decent chance of passing the House, its fate in the Democrat-controlled Senate would be much more uncertain.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Cory Gardner (R., Colo.), imposes a six-month deadline on the EPA to either approve or deny clean-air permits being sought. It also forces opponents to object to proposed drilling projects in federal court.

Unlike drilling projects in parts of the Gulf of Mexico, where the Interior Department is responsible for granting air permits, Arctic projects require approval from the EPA.

The EPA's process for approving Clean Air Act permits for offshore drilling came into focus after Shell struggled to secure clean-air permits for drilling projects in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska. Shell has spent about $3.5 billion to explore and prepare for those projects, but legal challenges and regulatory hurdles have prevented the company from obtaining necessary approvals.

"It's time to either give the permits now or stop altogether," said Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.), chairman of the energy committee.

In May, the EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, Gina McCarthy, said the agency was "very close" to issuing three permits to Shell.

No exploratory drilling is currently being done off the coast of Alaska, although there are existing wells producing oil.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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