Chesapeake's Buffalo Creek Well Hits Production Milestone

- Chesapeake's Buffalo Creek Well Hits Production Milestone

Monday, July 18, 2011
Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy Corporation today announced its Buffalo Creek 1-17 well located in Beckham County, Oklahoma, recently surpassed cumulative gross production of more than 60 billion cubic feet of natural gas (bcf). Chesapeake operates the well with an 82.6% working interest and a 65.8% net revenue interest.

Chesapeake originally spud the well in May 2002 and reached a total depth of approximately 21,000 feet in the Cunningham Sand of the Deep Springer formation with first sales commencing in December 2002. The well averaged approximately 41 million cubic feet of natural gas (mmcf) per day for the first two years of production and is still producing approximately 8 mmcf per day.

Total gross capital expenditures to drill and complete the well were $8.5 million and subsequent operating expenses have been $1.4 million, or $0.024 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (mcfe). Total gross revenue has been approximately $320 million, which includes approximately $65 million paid to royalty owners and approximately $15 million paid in severance tax to the state of Oklahoma. Total net cash flow from the well to the working interest owners has been approximately $230 million, or a multiple of 27 times the original cost of drilling and completing the well, and the realized price per mcfe has averaged $5.35.

Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The Buffalo Creek 1-17 has certainly been a special well in the history of Chesapeake. As early pioneers drilling deep conventional wells using 3-D seismic in the Anadarko Basin, the success of the Buffalo Creek 1-17 well initiated a process almost 10 years ago that has now led to Chesapeake owning the largest leasehold position in the Anadarko Basin. This industry-leading leasehold position has proved to be exceedingly valuable as unconventional plays such as the Granite Wash, Cleveland and Tonkawa plays have emerged in areas in and around our traditional strongholds of conventional Anadarko Basin production. We believe that this is only the sixth well in Oklahoma history to reach this remarkable milestone of 60 bcf of cumulative production and Chesapeake now operates four of the six most prolific natural gas wells ever drilled in Oklahoma. I offer my congratulations to the entire Chesapeake Anadarko Basin team for being part of this historic well.”

McClendon added, “As a result of this well’s success and the many other successful Deep Springer wells we have drilled in the Anadarko Basin over the years that followed the drilling of the Buffalo Creek 1-17, we continue to pursue ultra-deep 3-D based Deep Springer drilling in the Anadarko Basin and we are currently operating three rigs in the play, where we believe at least another 185 wells can be drilled in the years ahead on our approximate 75,000 net acres of Deep Springer leasehold.”

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Statoil Reaches Production Milestone at Leismer Proj.

- Statoil Reaches Production Milestone at Leismer Proj.

Thursday, June 16, 2011
Statoil

Statoil announced that its Leismer Demonstration Project (LDP) in northern Alberta, Canada, has achieved a production milestone of one million accumulated barrels of oil.

"We have achieved many milestones at Leismer in the past year, including regulatory approvals, a safe startup of operations and now this significant production milestone," said Lars Christian Bacher, President of Canadian Operations.

"We will continue to drive shareholder value through operational efficiency as we move into future phases of our oil sands business in Canada."

First oil at LDP was achieved in January 2011 and is expected to ramp up to its rated capacity of 18,800 barrels per day within 24 months.

Statoil's Kai Kos Deh Seh project includes four oil sands leases in the Athabasca region of Northeast Alberta: Leismer, Corner, Hangingstone and Thornberry.

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RBG Scores Safety Milestone at Trinidad and Tobago

- RBG Scores Safety Milestone at Trinidad and Tobago

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
RBG

RBG has recorded a significant safety achievement by completing more than 2,000,000 man-hours without a lost time incident across the company's Trinidad and Tobago operations.

The achievement marks another major milestone in the company's REACH safety program which, since its launch in December 2009, has played a major role in reducing Lost Time Incident Frequency (LTIF) by 38.5% globally. REACH aims to create a stronger, safer culture throughout RBG and in 2011 the initiative will expand to improve the company's full HSEQ remit.

In 2010, RBG's Trinidad and Tobago team was recognised for its contribution to Neal & Massy Wood Group's (NMWG's) achievement of 5,000,000 man-hours LTI free.

RBG's facilities in Point Lisas and Galeota employ approximately 430 personnel and offer the company's full range of innovative products and services including fabric maintenance, bolt torquing, fabrication and welding, scaffolding and habitat supply to the regional oil, gas and petrochemical industry.

RBG's Trinidad and Tobago country manager, Ricardo Mahadeo said, "I am very proud of our employees and we are delighted to have reached such a significant milestone. Reaching more than 2,000,000 hours without an LTI is testament to the commitment of our team to highlight and eliminate risk from our operation. It is a remarkable accomplishment and we will continue to work hard to maintain the high safety standards we have set.

"REACH has helped us achieve these excellent levels of safety by engraining good safety practice as a normal part of our daily working lives."

RBG's Group HSEQ director, Mike Mann, said, "The commitment demonstrated by our Trinidad and Tobago employees to achieve this goal is a tremendous example of the RBG safety culture we are striving for. This represents the best of our company in terms of leadership, engagement, communications, and commitment to achieving safety excellence."

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N.D. Hits Oil Tax Revenue Milestone

N.D. Hits Oil Tax Revenue Milestone

Friday, May 06, 2011
The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota
by Rebecca Beitsch, The Bismarck Tribune, N.D.

Instability in the Middle East is one of the contributing factors for a record-breaking month for oil tax revenue in North Dakota.

This is the first time the state has surpassed a $100 million benchmark for tax revenue, thanks to production in March, the most recent data available.

From November 2010 to February of this year, oil has brought in tax revenues hovering around $80 million, but in March that number rose to more than $100 million for the first time.

That brought in $20 million more than in February despite a drop in production of about 2,000 barrels.

The lower production levels didn't affect tax revenue because the taxation formula also relies on the price of crude. That rose about $14 between February and March to rest at $92 a barrel.

Rioting in Egypt in late January followed by a civil war in Libya starting in February and protests in Bahrain in March have all combined to take a toll on the price of oil, which is traded in a global market.

"The market is very sensitive to any kind of unrest like that. It's true that Libya has significant production, but it isn't to the extent that it couldn't be made up somewhere else," said Deputy Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger, adding that the price swings could be more of an emotional reaction as most Libyan oil isn't imported to America.

"It's more about the unrest than exactly where those barrels were going, and can Saudi Arabia pick up the slack? I think it has more to do with just the fact that it's in a region that supplies such a great deal of the world's oil," Rauschenberger said.

Patrick DeHaan, a petroleum analyst for the website GasBuddy.com, agreed with that interpretation, saying price increases are "very much an emotional reaction."

"The U.S. got 2 million barrels of oil from Libya in December 2010, compared with 34 million from Saudi Arabia," DeHaan said.

He said an increased risk of seeing a change in production is the underlying factor, but there are hundreds of aspects that impact the price of crude oil.

DeHann pointed to a weak U.S. dollar along with a slowly improving economy that has people driving more and creating a greater demand for oil.

Other factors in North Dakota's crude oil price are its quality, but also it's difficulty in accessing refining markets.

"This is top shelf crude oil," said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. He said it's valuable because it can be used for a variety of products, is easy to blend with other types of oil and is just more easily processed than some other types of crude.

What keeps the price lower than it should be is that it is hard to get to market, something Ness said requires knocking 10 percent off the price.

As for the production, Kathy Strombeck, an analyst with the tax department, said levels have been steadily increasing over the past several months because of technology, and more recently, warmer weather.

"Are we producing more oil in North Dakota because of the Middle East unrest? Probably not. We're producing it because of the technology, the leasing, because of the good environment with the business climate here, all those things are why we're producing more oil," Strombeck said. "So there are two reasons North Dakota's oil revenues are doing well. One is certainly the higher price and the other is production."

Strombeck said in the short term she expects several more $100 million-plus months.

Copyright (c) 2011, The Bismarck Tribune, N.D. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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Lauritzen Marks Brazil Offshore Services Milestone

Lauritzen Marks Brazil Offshore Services Milestone

Friday, May 06, 2011

Lauritzen Offshore has fulfilled the first part of its strategy to become an important partner in the offshore services market with special focus on deep water employment offshore Brazil.

Recently Lauritzen Offshores unique Accommodation and Support Vessel, Dan Swift, was contracted by Petrobras. Prior to its employment for Petrobras, Dan Swift was employed offshore Brazil by Statoil and most recently by a Shell project offshore Nigeria.

In Brazil, Dan Swift will be part of Petrobras new fleet of service units for maintenance and safety (Unidade de Manutencao e Seguranca). Dan Swift will be deployed to accommodate close to 300 people for Petrobras in Campos Basin offshore Brazil.

Dan Swift is the first monohull accommodation and support vessel to service the high end of the offshore market. In addition to its modern accommodation facilities, the dynamically positioned DP-2 vessel is equipped with two independent offshore telescopic gangways, which have proved very efficient for safe personnel transfer while Dan Swift remains constantly connected to fixed and floating offshore installation in DP mode.

In addition to Dan Swift, Lauritzen Offshore has three dynamically positioned shuttle tankers on long-term contracts with the Brazilian company.

The long-term contract for Dan Swift is due to commence in July 2011 and the combined contract value of Lauritzen Offshores engagement with the Petrobras group exceeds USD 550 million.

"We are extremely pleased with our cooperation with Petrobras, which is one of the biggest and most demanding energy corporations in the world. We have in our strategy been focused to serve Petrobras in Brazil," says Torben Janholt, President and CEO of J. Lauritzen A/S.

"With the recent employment for Dan Swift, Lauritzen Offshore has not only fulfilled the initial part of its strategy, but also confirmed our ability to establish long-term business relations with some of the most demanding customers in the offshore services market. Top performance, quality and safety play an important part in this industry," says Jesper Kragh Andresen, President of Lauritzen Offshore Pte. Ltd.

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FAIR Reaches Milestone for FORTE Semisub

FAIR Reaches Milestone for FORTE Semisub

Friday, April 22, 2011
Fairstar Heavy Transport N.V.

Fairstar Heavy Transport N.V. (FAIR) attended the keel laying ceremony of the 50,000DWT semi-submersible vessel FORTE at the GSI facility in Qidong, China. Senior executives from Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI), Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Fairstar witnessed the first block being lowered into the dry dock.

"We are thrilled to see the keel block now in place. In the coming months hundreds of additional blocks will be assembled into the FORTE and we expect to float the hull out of the dry dock on September 15, 2011. We are deeply impressed with the commitment of GSI and their Team on site. Our own site team of inspectors have been more than satisfied with the levels of quality and craftsmanship we see day after
day from GSI and all of their sub-contractors. We are confident the FORTE will be completed on schedule to meet its May 1, 2012 delivery date, well in time to begin service under its long-term, multi voyage Gorgon contract." reported Willem Out, Fairstar's Chief Operating Officer.

Production Exceeds Milestone at ExxonMobil's West Qurna I Field

Production Exceeds Milestone at ExxonMobil's West Qurna I Field

Monday, March 28, 2011

Exxon Mobil Corp.

 

ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, together with the South Oil Company of Iraq and co-venturers Shell West Qurna B.V. and Oil Exploration Company of Iraq, announced a major production milestone in the redevelopment of the West Qurna I oil field in Southern Iraq.

Initial field production of 244,000 barrels per day has now increased to 285,000 barrels per day, which exceeds the 10 percent improved production target established under the technical services contract.

Dheyaa Jaafar, director-general of the South Oil Company, said, "This is a major milestone in West Qurna I achievements and is a result of the teamwork and efforts of the West Qurna I co-venturers. The continued redevelopment of the West Qurna I field will make a significant contribution to Iraq's energy resources and prosperity for the benefit of the Iraqi people."
"This important development has been made possible by a strong partnership with the South Oil Company based on common values and goals," said James Adams, vice president of ExxonMobil Iraq Limited. "ExxonMobil is an industry leader in the timely and cost effective execution of complex long-term projects and we are committed to working with the South Oil Company to help fulfill Iraq’s strategic energy development plans."

Under the terms of the contract, day-to-day production operations have transferred to the West Qurna I field operating division, which is staffed by personnel from the South Oil Company and ExxonMobil. The day-to-day operations include drilling new wells, working over existing wells, and debottlenecking and optimizing facilities. More than 1,600 Iraqis are engaged in West Qurna I field operations.

ExxonMobil subsidiary Exxon Mobil Iraq Limited (60% interest) is the lead contractor working with the South Oil Company of Iraq to redevelop and expand the West Qurna I field along with the Oil Exploration Company of Iraq (25% interest) and Shell West Qurna B.V., a Royal Dutch Shell affiliate (15% interest)