Eni Signs Libya Agreement, Paving Way to Restart Of Operations

- Eni Signs Libya Agreement, Paving Way to Restart Of Operations

Monday, August 29, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
ROME
by Giada Zampano

Italy's energy giant Eni said Monday it signed a memorandum with the Libyan National Transitional Council, or NTC, that strengthens co-operation in the country and paves the way to the restart of Eni's oil and gas operations there.

Under the terms of the agreement Eni and NTC committed "to creating the conditions for a rapid and complete recovery of Eni's activities in Libya and to doing all that is necessary to restart operations on the Greenstream pipeline" that brings gas from Libya to Italy.

Following previous pledges by the Italian government, Eni will provide a first supply of refined petroleum products to the transitional government, to contribute to the basic and most urgent needs of the Libyan population.

Eni will also provide technical assistance to assess the state of facilities and energy infrastructure in Libya and to define the type and extent of operations required to safely restart the activities.

Eni, which is the largest foreign player in Libya, has been active in the country since 1959.

Monday, the Italian company said it is evaluating with NTC "various possible forms of co-operation in order to ensure the timely resumption of operations in the oil and gas sector and to enhance the country's natural resources to benefit the Libyan people and in respect of the existing contract."

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BP: Valhall Oil Platform Restart Unlikely Before End-Aug

- BP: Valhall Oil Platform Restart Unlikely Before End-Aug

Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Konstantin Rozhnov

BP said Tuesday production at the Valhall oil platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, damaged in a July 13 fire, is unlikely to resume before the end of August, about two weeks later than originally planned.

The fire at the platform shut down around 60,000 barrels a day of Ekofisk crude output that feeds into global benchmark Brent. Oil production at the Valhall facility itself before the shutdown stood at 42,000 barrels a day.

"Production will be restarted when the necessary BP reviews and any required modifications have been completed," said BP spokesman Matt Taylor.

He said July 28 that damage to the Valhall platform, was modest and caused mostly by water used to extinguish the fire.

The Valhall platform shutdown comes on top of continuing unscheduled maintenance at the Nexen-operated Buzzard oil field, the largest of the 50 fields that contribute to Forties crude oil, the main component of Brent.

Also, the BP-operated Forties Pipeline System was closed last week for five-day planned maintenance, but it over-ran due to dense fog through much of the week, BP said.

"Forties Pipeline re-started on Friday evening in line with the plan and throughput volumes are increasing as more fields come back on line after their own maintenance programs," Taylor said Tuesday.

The Buzzard and Forties pipeline problems have led to nine cargoes of Forties crude being delayed in August, providing support for oil prices.

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BP: N Sea Valhall Oil Platform Restart Not Seen Before Mid-Aug

- BP: N Sea Valhall Oil Platform Restart Not Seen Before Mid-Aug

Thursday, July 28, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Konstantin Rozhnov

Production at the BP-operated Valhall oil platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea is unlikely to resume before mid-August as the company needs to complete a review into a fire at the facility, a BP spokesman said Thursday.

Damage to the platform was modest and caused mostly by water used to spray on the fire, BP spokesman Matt Taylor said.

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Cook Inlet Energy to Restart Production at Osprey Platform

Cook Inlet Energy to Restart Production at Osprey Platform

Monday, April 04, 2011
Alaska Journal of Commerce

by  Tim Bradner

 

In some much-needed good news for the state's oil and gas industry, Cook Inlet Energy has received approvals on its plan to redevelop the small Redoubt Shoal oil field in Cook Inlet and restart production at the shut-in Opsprey platform at the field, company officials said March 28.

Cook Inlet Energy is a subsidiary of Tennessee-based Miller Energy Resources.

Final state approvals came with an agreement by the state Department of Natural Resources to the company's development plan on March 14 and approval of terms for an additional $12 million to be paid into a performance bond on March 16.

Cook Inlet Energy has begun hiring staff and has workers now on the platform to restart its systems. Company CEO David Hall said the company has hired seven new employees. Contractors being retained will employ more people, he said.

Cook Inlet expects to begin workover operations on three shut-in wells on the platform in April and to begin production soon after.

"We are initially targeting three wells, two that entail replacement of downhole electrical submersible pumps, and should quickly add 400 barrels per day to our production. The third workover well requires reactivation of a previously producing gas well," Scott Boruff, president Miller Energy, said in a statement.

When that work is done the company will turn its attention to additional previously producing wells on the platform, Boruff said. There are eight producing and injector wells on the platform.

Hall said a snubbing unit, a type of small drill rig, will be used in the near-term work, and the unit is now being shipped to Cook Inlet. However, a conventional drill rig will be needed to work over and reactivate the remaining wells.

The company is now looking for a suitable rig. Hall said he hopes one can be found that can also be used in drilling onshore prospects on the west side of the Inlet after the platform work is done.

At its peak the platform produced about 4,500 barrels per day from the Redoubt Shoal field.

Cook Inlet Energy now produces approximately 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent, including crude oil and natural gas, from nearby onshore wells in the West MacArthur River field, which Cook Inlet also owns. The oil is transported by the Cook Inlet Pipe Line to a tanker loading facility at Drift River, on the west side of Cook Inlet.

The Osprey platform and the West MacArthur field were shut down in 2009 when the previous owners, Pacific Energy Resources, declared bankruptcy. Miller Energy acquired the properties in a bankruptcy auction and began plans for redevelopment of both properties.