Strike Mulls Suspending Sadie Well

- Strike Mulls Suspending Sadie Well

Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Strike Energy Ltd.

Strike reported the following progress on the testing of the Sadie 1 well (Homeplace Prospect) in the onshore Gulf Coast, Wilcox formation.

Initial fracking of deepest Wilcox zone in the Sadie 1 well has produced non commercial flow rates. The operator is now proposing to suspend the well pending further evaluation. Several shallower potential pay zones exist in the Wilcox and in the younger Cook Mountain interval. Consideration is being given to the testing of some of these intervals.

The work to connect this well to a nearby sales line has essentially been completed providing flexibility for further testing.

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PetroVietnam Mulls Buying ConocoPhillips Offshore Vietnam Assets

- PetroVietnam Mulls Buying ConocoPhillips Offshore Vietnam Assets

Friday, July 08, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
HANOI
by Vu Trong Khanh

State-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam and its partners are considering buying ConocoPhillips' stakes in three oil and gas projects off the coast of Vietnam, PetroVietnam said.

"The reason why the firm [ConocoPhillips] is selling the stakes might be it is restructuring itself," PetroVietnam Director General Phung Dinh Thuc said in a statement on the website of PV Oil, a PetroVietnam unit. He didn't identify the partners.

ConocoPhillips' assets in Vietnam are valued at up to $1.5 billion, PV Oil said in the statement.

The remarks come at a time when ConocoPhillips is expected to give investors an update on its three-year restructuring plan presented in late 2009 and expanded this year. The plan includes selling up to $17 billion in assets. Conoco Senior Vice President of Planning and Strategy Alan Hirshberg has said in a May the company was looking at leaving countries where it has a small presence.

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company by market value after ExxonMobil and Chevron, has a 23.3% stake in a group of five fields in Block 15-1, where oil production started in 2003, a 36% stake in Rang Dong Field in Block 15-2 in the Cuu Long basin and a 16.3% stake in the Nam Con Son Gas Pipeline project, it said.

ConocoPhillips spokesman John McLemore declined to comment saying the company's policy is not to discuss market speculation.

As host country, Vietnam has priority rights for any such purchase, Thuc said.

These oil fields are located 180 kilometers southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, in undisputed areas close to Vietnam's big Bach Ho field.

Thuc was quoted in the statement as saying oil production at the fields might have entered a "complicated stage," in an apparent reference to technical--rather than political--complexities.

Thuc referred to an increasingly bitter dispute between Vietnam and China over sovereignty of the South China Sea, or East Sea as it is known in Vietnam, but didn't directly link the dispute to the possible acquisition.

"PetroVietnam reiterates that Vietnam's sovereignty has been acknowledged by the international community, and therefore, it will not change its exploration and production plan in the East Sea," Thuc was quoted as saying.

The Vietnam-China sovereignty row heated up sharply recently when Hanoi accused Chinese vessels of harassing fisherman and cutting the cables of a vessel doing seismic oil exploration work in late May.

"The group will continue to use its Binh Minh 02 for seismic surveys in Vietnam's continental shelf, and will coordinate with related ministries and agencies to protect the operations of the ship," according to the statement. Binh Minh 02 is name of the ship which had its seismic cables cut.

"Our current conduct in the East Sea is being calm, to both contribute to the country's economy and to actively protect the nation's sovereignty in the sea," Thuc said.

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

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Husky Mulls Secondary Listing on HSKE

- Husky Mulls Secondary Listing on HSKE

Monday, May 30, 2011
Husky Energy Inc.

Husky is exploring a potential secondary listing of its shares on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("HKSE"). The Company will maintain its primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

"The Potential Secondary Listing of Husky's shares on the HKSE is under consideration as we believe it could potentially enhance investors' awareness of the Company and its growth opportunities in one of the fastest growing financial markets in the world," said Husky CEO Asim Ghosh. "The South East Asia region has been identified as a pillar of growth for the Company and we are advancing several multi-billion dollar projects as part of our strategic plan. A Hong Kong listing could provide investors in this important capital market with easier access to participate in our business strategy."

There is no certainty or assurance that approval from the HKSE and relevant authorities will be granted for the Potential Secondary Listing. No final decision has been made by the Company's board of directors and the Company may or may not proceed with the Potential Secondary Listing. Husky will make further announcements in relation to the Potential Secondary Listing at the appropriate time.

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Santos Mulls Suspending Finucane South Well

- Santos Mulls Suspending Finucane South Well 

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tap Oil Ltd.

Tap Oil provided the following update on the Finucane South-1A exploration well, offshore Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia.

Location/Proposed Depth

The Finucane South-1A well is located in permit WA-191-P, in the northern end of the Carnarvon Basin. The well location is latitude 19° 18' 17.927" S and longitude 116° 45' 31.697" E. Finucane South-1A is planned to take approximately 20-25 days from spud to reach a final total depth of approximately 3,500m.

Progress

During the period from 0600 hours WST on May 11, 2011 to 0600 hours WST on May 18, 2011, Finucane South-1A drilled from 684m to 2,057m using semisub Stena Clyde. Casing of 133/8" (340mm) has been set at 2,049m. Current operations are preparing to drill ahead in 121/4" (311mm) hole.

Forward Plan

Tap Oil provided the following update on the Finucane South-1A exploration well, offshore Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia.

Location/Proposed Depth

The Finucane South-1A well is located in permit WA-191-P, in the northern end of the Carnarvon Basin. The well location is latitude 19° 18' 17.927" S and longitude 116° 45' 31.697" E. Finucane South-1A is planned to take approximately 20-25 days from spud to reach a final total depth of approximately 3,500m.

Progress

During the period from 0600 hours WST on May 11, 2011 to 0600 hours WST on May 18, 2011, Finucane South-1A drilled from 684m to 2,057m using semisub Stena Clyde. Casing of 133/8" (340mm) has been set at 2,049m. Current operations are preparing to drill ahead in 121/4" (311mm) hole.

Forward Plan

The well will be drilled to total depth and a decision taken to plug and abandon or suspend the well.

Background

The Finucane South prospect is located at the northern end of the Carnarvon Basin, approximately 15km east of the Mutineer facility. Finucane South-1A is being drilled to identify additional resources to supplement the discovered resources contained in the adjacent Fletcher Field. Tap estimates the Finucane South prospect has a potential gross mean recoverable oil volume of 8 million barrels.

Finucane South is a moderate-sized structural closure mapped at the base of the Cretaceous regional seal. The underlying Late Jurassic Angel Formation primary target will be intersected at approximately 2,960m below sea level. Water depth at the well location is approximately 140m. Finucane South-1A is being drilled 2km SSW of the Finucane-1 well (1978) which intersected oil shows at the top of the Angel Formation despite having been drilled off structure.

Based on Finucane South-1A's proximity to other wells in the area (notably Finucane-1 and the Fletcher oil wells) plus its coverage by reprocessed 3D seismic, the risk attached to drilling can be categorized as low-moderate.

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Statoil Mulls Reducing Stake in Gassled Pipeline

Statoil Mulls Reducing Stake in Gassled Pipeline

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Katarina Gustafsson

Norwegian oil and gas major Statoil is evaluating a sale of some of its shares in the Gassled joint venture pipeline, according to a company spokesman.

"We consider reducing our ownership share in Gassled and believe that could potentially make capital available that we could manage elsewhere where we could use our experience and competence to create more value," Bard Glad Pedersen told Dow Jones Newswires. "We aren't considering to sell out, just to reduce our ownership."

The spokesman declined to comment on whether the firm, which owns 28.5% of Gassled, had been approached by potential buyers and said a transaction would require the approval of Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Norwegian daily Aftenposten reported Tuesday that Statoil, Shell and Total want to sell stakes in Gassled to "foreign funds" based outside Norway, citing unnamed sources.

Gassled is used for transporting Norwegian gas to mainland Europe and the U.K. Its largest shareholder is state-run oil company Petero, which has a 45.8% stake.

U.S. oil major ExxonMobil last year sold its 8% stake in Gassled for around 6 billion kroner ($1.12 billion), so the pipeline's market value may be around NOK75 billion. Bard Glad Pedersen declined to comment on the figure.

Norwegian authorities would like the current ownership structure to remain in place but have few means to prevent a sale, Aftenposten cites Oil and Energy Ministry spokesman Erik Johnsen as saying.

Shell and Total decline to comment on the issue, Aftenposten said.