Gasco to Start Drilling Uinta Wells in October

- Gasco to Start Drilling Uinta Wells in October

Thursday, September 01, 2011
Gasco Energy Inc.

Gasco provided an interim operations update on its Riverbend Project in Utah's Uinta Basin.

Green River Oil Well Permits Received

Gasco recently received the necessary federal drilling permits for two oil wells that will be drilled to test the productive potential of the Green River Formation at approximately 5,500 feet proposed total vertical depth. The Company plans to commence building the locations next week and anticipates spudding the wells within the first two weeks of October 2011.

Gasco is operator of both wells with a 100% working interest. The wells, the Federal 23-30-G-9-19 (76.8% NRI) and the Federal 34-19G-9-19 (80% NRI), will be drilled in succession with a recently contracted 1,000 horse-power drilling rig which the Company has secured under a two-well contract. Gasco anticipates that completions for both wells will follow shortly after both wells have been drilled with first production to occur in November 2011.

Current commodity prices feature strong potential per-well economics for the Green River play. Gasco estimates that the cost to drill and complete a Green River well is approximately $800,000, with per-well estimated ultimate recoveries of 50,000 barrels of oil. The current differentials to West Texas Intermediate for Uinta Basin Black Wax, adjusted for transportation and quality, are approximately $16 per barrel.

"Despite the permitting delays, we are pleased to commence operations on the two-well Green River program," said King Grant, Gasco's President and CEO. "We have selected high-graded locations which benefit from existing well logs from gas wells that were previously drilled by Gasco. By proving the productive potential of the Green River Formation, we believe we can begin to de-risk approximately 11,000 net acres which we believe are prospective for crude oil in this part of the Uinta Basin."

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Noble Energy, Delek, Ratio Start Drilling Dolphin 1

- Noble Energy, Delek, Ratio Start Drilling Dolphin 1

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Yael Gruntman, Globes, Tel Aviv, Israel

The Sedco Express rig on Monday began initial exploratory drilling of Dolphin 1 Exploratory Prospect, located in the Hanna license, near Leviathan. Dolphin 1 drilling will take place 100 km west of Haifa, and the purpose of the drilling is to discern if there is natural gas in Dolphin 1. Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI) best estimate of the gross natural gas reserves at Dolphin 1 is 550.5 billion cubic feet (BCF), with a geologic probability of success of 73 percent.

The drilling is based on the report by NSAI. Well operator, Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), owns 39.66 percent of the license, Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L), each own 22.67 percent, and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) owns 15 percent.

The decision to drill is partly based on NSAI's prospective resources report. The resources report also says that if there is a gas discovery, based on previous experience in developing similar fields, best estimate has a reasonable chance of being commercially viable.

The drilling will be implemented in two phases. The first phase, is based on Noble Energy's recommendation to take advantage of the time needed for periodic treatment of the rig's blowout preventer (BOP) system. The rig is currently drilling the initial well at Tamar. The first phase will only drill to a depth of 2,560 meters, and will not reach the target strata. Casing pipes will be installed during the first phase, which will strengthen the borehole with cement.

The well's second phase will be drilled later, apparently using the same rig. The two phases are expected to last two months, with the first phase lasting only two weeks. The total budget of both phases, not including production test costs, is $51 million, $8 of which is for the first phase. The final drilling depth is expected to reach 6,000 meters, including 1,560 meters of water, to the target strata 1,440 meters.

Dolphin 1 is one of the 3 dolphin prospects in the Hanna license. According to the NSAI prospective resources report, Dolphin 1 has the largest potential for gas, and for now is the only prospect that has been chosen for exploratory drilling.

(c)2011 the Globes (Tel Aviv, Israel). Distributed by MCT Information Services.

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Chesapeake to Start Deducting Some Costs from Royalty Checks

- Chesapeake to Start Deducting Some Costs from Royalty Checks

Thursday, August 11, 2011
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
by Jack Z. Smith

About 20,000 royalty owners who have Barnett Shale natural gas leases with Chesapeake Energy will likely see their royalty checks slashed by roughly 25 percent after the company deducts expenses associated with post-production, such as gas gathering, compression and transportation.

The actual percentage and dollar amount decreases in royalty checks will vary monthly based on natural gas prices, post-production costs and output from wells.

Affected royalty owners were notified of the new company policy in recent letters. The changes took effect with July royalty checks that were based on May production, according to Julie Wilson, Chesapeake vice president for urban development and the top executive in its Fort Worth regional office.

Chesapeake is the No. 2 producer in the natural gas-rich Barnett Shale, which underlies more than 20 North Texas counties.

Henry Hood, senior vice president and general counsel for Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, said post-production costs run from 70 cents to $1 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas produced. Natural gas prices have recently been around $4 per 1,000 cubic feet.

At that price, royalty checks will be "about 25 percent lower," Hood said.

Wilson said about 75 percent of Barnett Shale royalty owners with Chesapeake leases received letters advising them of the change.

The royalty owners whose monthly checks won't be affected are those who have lease provisions precluding assessments for post-production costs, Hood said.

As a general rule, large property owners who hired attorneys to help them negotiate leases and residents who are members of neighborhood associations that negotiated carefully crafted leases appear much more likely to have provisions precluding those charges.

Roger Venables, assistant director of community development and planning for the city of Arlington, said it has lease provisions barring Chesapeake from assessing post-production costs.

Representatives for the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport were not immediately able to confirm late Wednesday whether they have such provisions.

Hood said Chesapeake did an exhaustive internal audit of all its Barnett Shale leases to determine which could be assessed the post-production costs.

The audit took about six months, he said.

The post-production costs are routinely assessed against royalty owners in Texas unless lease provisions prohibit it, he said.

Chesapeake said in its letter to royalty owners that they will not be retroactively assessed any charges for post-production costs that the company incurred before its policy change.

"Please be assured that we do not intend to recoup these charges on past production," the letter said. "However, effective with the July 2011 check, your payments will reflect those charges going forward."

Both in its letters to royalty owners and in an explanation of the new policy on its website, Chesapeake did not provide specific information about how much royalty owners' checks might be reduced as a result of the new policy.

Hood said the company's decision to begin assessing royalty owners for post-production costs was triggered by its agreement with Total, the French oil giant, which paid $2.25 billion for a 25 percent interest in Chesapeake's Barnett Shale operations.

Total was about to begin deducting post-production costs from royalty owners' checks based on its share of the Chesapeake wells' production, so Chesapeake also decided to begin assessing for the costs, Hood said.

Otherwise, payment to royalty owners would have required two separate checks, and "it didn't make any sense to have two different checks from two different companies," Hood said.

Copyright (c) 2011, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

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Polarcus to Start Multi-Client Survey in Barents Sea

- Polarcus to Start Multi-Client Survey in Barents Sea

Monday, August 01, 2011
Polarcus Ltd.

Polarcus will commence acquisition imminently of a 3D multi-client project over the Bjarmeland Platform in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway. The project, with the potential to cover an area of up to 1,100 square kilometers, is supported through strong industry pre-funding. The survey will be acquired by the vessel POLARCUS SAMUR and is expected to take up to 60 days depending on final program size. Data processing will be undertaken by GX Technology, the imaging solutions group of ION Geophysical. A preliminary dataset will be available within one month after completion of acquisition, with delivery of the final migrated data volume expected to take place within February 2012.

The Bjarmeland Platform 3D multi-client survey, designed in conjunction with GeoPartners and MoVa, targets an area of the Barents Sea currently witnessing a resurgence of exploration interest. The survey is located in the south eastern part of the platform where two small oil and gas discoveries located in blocks 7124 and 7125 on the Nyslepp Fault Complex were drilled in the late eighties by Saga Petroleum. These wells proved the presence of hydrocarbon bearing sandstones with good reservoir properties in the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic formation of the Kapp Toscana Group.

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Niobrara's Slow Start Not Cause for Worry

- Niobrara's Slow Start Not Cause for Worry

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Trevor Brown, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne

The Niobrara oil play is off to a slow start, but state and industry officials say that is not unexpected or a reason for concern.

No oil rigs were operating in southeast Wyoming as of last Wednesday. This is down from about six in the area two months ago.

Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Supervisor Tom Doll said many oil companies are waiting for updated seismic maps that show the underground Niobrara formation before they commit to expensive drilling operations.

"You want to get as much data as possible so you don't drill a $3 million to $4 million dry hole," he said. "My expectation is (the companies) want to have another tool of using that additional science to have a better opportunity to drill a productive well."

Texas-based Global Geophysical Services spent much of the spring using trucks and other seismic equipment to map areas beneath the surface of 831 square miles of land in Laramie County.

John Robitaille, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said it can take some time before the 3-D seismic maps are analyzed and sold to the oil companies.

"I can tell you it is some pretty technical data that they receive back," he said. "It then needs to be plotted and made into a format that is readable for the various geologists so they can get their plans made and know where they want to drill.

"And, of course, getting everything in place and lining up a rig takes all sorts of time as well."

Robitaille said he expects the activity to pick up in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition, up to three rigs are expected to return to Laramie County later this month.

According to the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 21 wells have been drilled to date in southeast Wyoming for the oil play -- 18 in Laramie County, two in Goshen County and one in Platte County.

Doll said although the companies are currently hesitant to drill, they are moving forward with other preparations, including obtaining drilling permits.

The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued 73 permits for drilling in Laramie County for the first quarter of 2011 and 60 in the second quarter.

In the second, third and fourth quarters of 2010, a combined 64 permits were issued here. Data from the first quarter of 2010 are not available.

Laramie County planner Gary Kranse said he estimates 1,500 drilling permits will be issued during the next five years here.

Both Doll and Robitaille said the relatively low number of wells that have been drilled so far is not a sign the oil play is a bust -- at least not yet.

"I wouldn't be too concerned because this is a slow-moving play," Robitaille said. "It is still very much in the exploratory phase of knowing where to drill."

A representative for Chesapeake Energy, which has announced a large stake in the oil play, would not comment on the specifics of why there has not been more drilling.

But John Dill, director of corporate development and government affairs for the company, agreed this exploratory phase can take some time before increased activity begins.

"It is also a very complex geology, and Chesapeake is only just beginning the process of exploring this vast, complicated play," Dill said in an email. "What may appear to be slow development of this extraordinary resource is primarily due to its size, complexity and the early stages of this effort."

Doll said there is too little information yet to determine how successful the play will be in the end.

This is because of the low number of commercial wells and rules that allow companies to keep their results confidential for up to six months.

"We just haven't seen enough drilling rigs and enough activity to really know if there is a play yet," he said.

Another reason for the oil play's slowdown could be because of increased activity in North Dakota, Doll said.

He said the Bakken oil play is gearing up to have 170 active drilling rigs and up to 290 by the end of the year. That could leave a shortage of equipment and workers for activity here.

"They claim that they are using many new rigs, so that may not be a problem," Doll said. "But my concern is: Where are you going to get the drillers, roughnecks and (fracking) crews who are trained to do the sophisticated work?"

Kranse added that companies could be taking time to develop the right formula for fracking the Niobrara shale.

Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, involves injecting a mixture chemicals and water into the earth to extract oil.

Copyright (c) 2011, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne

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Chevron: Exploratory Oil Drilling in Liberia to Start in 4Q

- Chevron: Exploratory Oil Drilling in Liberia to Start in 4Q

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
HOUSTON
by Isabel Ordonez

Chevron said Tuesday that in the fourth quarter of this year it will start exploratory drilling off the coast of Liberia, a West African nation that doesn't yet produce crude, but holds promising acreage.

"We plan to drill in the fourth quarter of this year," said Mickey Driver, a company's spokesman, in an email.

Last year, Chevron signed a three-year deal with Liberia to explore for oil offshore. Chevron Chief Executive John Watson visited the country for the first time this week and said the company has a rig that will be entering Liberian waters shortly, according to a local news report.

Chevron's foray is the latest in an emerging oil region in West Africa, where giant fields such as Tullow Oil's Jubilee and Anadarko's Venus have been found.

Liberia is still healing from long years of strife. The discovery of oil would greatly boost the recovery of the agrarian nation, one of the world's poorest, and propel it into the ranks of budding African oil powers like Ghana and Uganda.

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

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TGS to Start Seismic Acquisition in Russian Arctic Sea

- TGS to Start Seismic Acquisition in Russian Arctic Sea

Friday, July 08, 2011
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. ASA

TGS will commence acquisition of a new 7,700 km 2D survey in the Russian Arctic Sea. Data acquisition will begin in early August with 4,500 km in the Laptev Sea before the vessel moves to the East Siberian Sea to acquire an additional 3,200 km. The survey is in partnership with Dalmornefte Geophysica Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (DMNG) under the 2D Cooperation Agreement previously announced in a press release on January 4, 2011.

The seismic data will be acquired by M/V Akademik Fersman and will be completed in early 4Q 2011. Data processing from the new acquisition will be performed by DMNG and available to clients from late 1Q 2012. The survey is supported by industry funding.

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PetroVietnam to Start Output at 5 New Fields in 2nd Half

- PetroVietnam to Start Output at 5 New Fields in 2nd Half

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
HANOI
by Vu Trong Khanh

State-run Vietnam Oil & Gas Group said that it is starting production at new fields in the second half of the year and beginning construction on a second refinery, as it seeks to increase production to feed its fast-growing economy.

The company, known as PetroVietnam, said it will begin producing at five oil fields, including two that are overseas. The announcement comes amid uncertainty about Vietnam's offshore program due to an increasingly bitter territorial dispute with China, which has involved Chinese harassment of Vietnamese oil prospecting activities.

PetroVietnam said it expects to begin production at Russia's Nenetsky field this month and at Dana field in Malaysia's SK305 Block in August.

Production at Te Giac Trang and the second phase of Dai Hung field will start in August, while output at Chim Sao field will begin in September, it said. The fields are between 100 kilometers and 350 kilometers off Vietnam's southern coast, an area that is far away from the area of dispute with China.

The company reported two new commercial findings in the first half, raising its proven crude oil reserves by 10.2 million metric tons.

Late last month, Vietsovpetro, a joint venture between PetroVietnam and Russia's JSC Zarubezhneft, announced that it had discovered additional oil in the Bach Ho field off Vietnam's southern coast, with tests confirming strong oil flow of 4,560 barrels a day.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd., or Petronas, said last month that it and PetroVietnam have discovered oil offshore Vietnam, with confirmed oil flow of 5,200 barrels a day.

PetroVietnam said Wednesday that it will continue oil exploration Vietnam's continental shelf in the second half of this year, aiming to raise its proven crude oil reserves by 20 million-25 million tons in the period. It didn't say how large its current reserves are.

Meanwhile, the company said it and its partners will start building the Nghi Son oil refinery in northern Vietnam in the third quarter.

PetroVietnam said previously that it would work with Kuwait Petroleum Corp., Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals on the 200,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Thanh Hoa province.

PetroVietnam is targeting output of 7.8 million tons of crude oil in the January-June period, which will take its full-year output to 15 million tons, flat from last year.

It will sell 7.3 million tons of crude oil in the period, including 1.66 million tons to the Dung Quat refinery, which will likely produce 2.48 million tons of oil products in the second half, taking its 2011 output to 5.6 million tons, the company said.

The 130,000-barrel-a-day refinery is scheduled for a maintenance shutdown for two months starting July 15.

PetroVietnam had pretax profit of VND49.9 trillion in the January-June period, up 44% from a year earlier and meeting 68% of its full-year target, the company said.

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

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Brazil OSX Gets Go-Ahead to Start Building Acu Shipyard

- Brazil OSX Gets Go-Ahead to Start Building Acu Shipyard

Monday, June 27, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
RIO DE JANEIRO
by Jeff Fick & Diana Kinch

Brazilian oil-field services company OSX Brasil said Monday that it had received approval to start construction of a shipyard at the Acu Port complex in Rio de Janeiro state.

OSX will start work next month to build "the largest shipyard in the Americas," the company said. OSX, part of billionaire Brazilian businessman Eike Batista's industrial conglomerate, will partner with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. to build the shipyard, the company said.

Brazil's ship-building industry is undergoing a renaissance as the company ramps up production to meet growing demand from the country's oil and natural-gas industry. Several new shipyards are under construction along Brazil's Atlantic Ocean coast, while many yards that were closed during an industry downturn in the early 1980s are being revived.

Brazil was among the world's largest ship producing countries in the 1980s before a global downturn in the industry saw the local docks shuttered.

Last week, OSX said that it had received approval for a credit line worth up to 2.7 billion Brazilian reais ($1.69 billion) from Brazil's Merchant Marine Fund to finance construction of the shipyard.

OSX plans to build vessels for sister company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes, which will produce crude oil from the Campos Basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. The 2,400-meter docks at the shipyard will have the capacity to build up to 11 floating production, storage and offloading vessels, or FPSOs, at the same time. The FPSOs use hulls about the size of an oil supertanker.

Another OSX sister company, LLX Logistica, which is responsible for construction of Acu port, said Monday it gained an environmental permit to construct a navigation channel within the port. The channel, called TX2, will provide 8,000 meters of quayside, substantially boosting the quayside capacity available on the port's coastal stretch.

Part of the additional quayside space will be used by the OSX shipyard, while the rest is planned for use in loading and unloading of products including steel, coal, granite and oil, LLX said.

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

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Woodside Delays Pluto LNG Start

- Woodside Delays Pluto LNG Start

Friday, June 17, 2011
Woodside Petroleum Ltd.

Woodside has revised the expected cost and schedule of the Pluto LNG Project following its regular review of the progress of the project.

The first LNG cargo is now estimated for March 2012. The revised estimate is attributable to slower than expected progress on the commissioning of the onshore gas plant, seven weeks of direct weather delays and an allowance for an increased contingency.

The revised estimate is expected to result in a A$900 million increase in cost to a total of A$14.9 billion (100% project). This estimate includes arrangements with customers affected by the delay.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said that while delays in mega-projects such as Pluto were not uncommon, he was disappointed to have to advise of a change in the schedule.

"While we would like to start up the project as quickly as possible, we will not be doing so until we are satisfied the commissioning work has been completed in a thorough and safe manner," Mr. Coleman said.

"It is important to take a long-term view. Pluto is an attractive project underpinned by 15-year sales contracts which will provide significant value to Woodside shareholders."

Bad weather has also contributed to a delay in the North West Shelf Oil Redevelopment Project, with poor sea states hindering the completion of critical subsea work on the project. A mechanical fault was also experienced with a contractor's installation support vessel.

The redevelopment, which includes the installation of the Okha floating production, storage and offloading facility, is now scheduled for start-up in October 2011. There is not expected to be any material change to the cost of the A$1.8 billion project (100% project).

The schedule changes for the Pluto and NWS Oil Redevelopment projects will affect Woodside's 2011 production target. The company's 2011 production target is now between 62 and 64 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Woodside holds 90% equity in the Pluto LNG Project and 33% equity in the NWS Oil Redevelopment Project.

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BHP Billiton First to Start Up Taps in GOM since Moratorium

- BHP Billiton First to Start Up Taps in GOM since Moratorium

Tuesday, June 07, 2011
BHP Billiton plc

BHP Billiton Petroleum announced that it is the first company in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to bring a newly drilled well into production since the moratorium was enacted in May 2010. The well was brought into production on May 30, 2011 on the BHP Billiton operated Shenzi field.

The SB-201 well was drilled to a total measured depth of 25,126 feet and is currently producing approximately 17,000 barrels of oil per day. This is the eleventh producing well within the Shenzi field and our ongoing development program will ensure that this operated tension-leg platform (TLP) remains a significant contributor to BHP Billiton's high value, Gulf of Mexico production.

BHP Billiton Petroleum Chief Executive, J. Michael Yeager, said, "We are pleased to be able to demonstrate that deepwater drilling and production can resume in a safe and reliable manner. Our organization has worked very hard over the past several months with regulators to have the ability to resume drilling operations and add new production to our deepwater Gulf of Mexico portfolio."

BHP Billiton Petroleum also received approval and began drilling a second deepwater production well (SB-101) on the Shenzi field on June 2, 2011.

The Shenzi facility is located approximately 120 miles (195 kilometers) off the Louisiana coastline and is installed in approximately 4,300 feet (1,300 meters) of water on Green Canyon Block 653, making it the second deepest TLP in the world. The overall field comprises four blocks: Green Canyon 609, 610, 653 and 654.

BHP Billiton Petroleum is the operator with 44 percent equity. Joint interest participants are Hess Corporation and Repsol, each with 28 percent equity.

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Statoil: Production Start Delayed at Njord Platform

Statoil: Production Start Delayed at Njord Platform

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Statoil
by SubseaIQ

Production on the Njord platform was shut down on April 24 as a result of operational problems with gaskets in a gas export compressor. Later the same day, during work to resume production, a gas leak was discovered in one of the risers.

All production on Njord was immediately shut down and will remain shut down until the cause of the leak has been determined.

Production at the Njord field has been shut down since April 1 as a safety measure, while inspection of risers is carried out after earlier discoveries of internal damage to a particular type of flexible pipe.

The first instances of damage were discovered during a planned inspection last autumn, and an inspection program was initiated which is now being carried out. Riser inspection is also being carried out at the Visund field.

Risers are the pipes that convey oil and gas from the seabed to the installation, and consist of several layers of plastic and steel. Production at Njord and Visund is planned to be phased in again in due course as inspection of the risers confirms that they are in order, or after they have been repaired or replaced.

The Njord field resumed partial production on April 16, but was shut down again on April 24 when manual measurements during a work operation revealed a gas leak from one of the risers after an automatic shutdown. The well was contained when the leak occurred.

The riser in which the leak was discovered was quickly depressurised, and production and the other risers were shut down in a controlled manner.

The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has been informed of the incident.

Shutdown delays production from the field. The total field production for Njord is around 70,000 barrels of oil equivalents (oe).

Risers on all installations are subject to constant monitoring and routine inspections in accordance with applicable inspection programs.

SOCAR Awaits Favorable Weather to Start Geophysical Studies in Caspian Sea

SOCAR Awaits Favorable Weather to Start Geophysical Studies in Caspian Sea

Friday, April 22, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by E.Ismayilov, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) waits for the normalization of weather conditions to launch a large-scale project within the two-dimensional geophysical studies for the company Bahar Energy Limited, a source at SOCAR said.

The operations envisage conducting the geophysical research on the area between the Bahar-2 prospective structure and the Gum Deniz field.

The source said that sonar work has already been launched in the contract area. Preparations are underway for direct geophysical studies.

"Preparatory work is underway. Winds on the sea do not allow operation in normal mode, and the study will be initiated as soon as weather becomes normal," the source said.

Previously, SOCAR signed a PSA contract with the company Bahar Energy Limited for the exploration, rehabilitation, development and production on the block, which also includes offshore fields of Bahar and Gum Deniz. The contract was ratified by the Azerbaijani Parliament.

Under the second part of the contract, which involves the exploration of the Bahar-2 structure, there are plans to drill one exploration well in three years. If necessary, another one will be drilled during the fourth year. According to initial estimates, Bahar Energy Limited will invest $1 billion to conduct work under the contract.

SOCAR ,Awaits ,Favorable ,Weather, Start ,Geophysical ,Studies, Caspia

SeaBird to Start Rosebank Survey Earlier

SeaBird to Start Rosebank Survey Earlier

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

SeaBird Exploration plc

SeaBird announced that an agreement has been reached with Chevron North Sea Limited (on behalf of itself and the other Rosebank co-venturers: Statoil, OMV, and DONG related to the earlier announced award of the Rosebank 2 survey. SeaBird has been granted the option to start the 2nd stage of the Ocean Bottom Node survey at the Rosebank field with the Hugin Explorer as Node vessel and Munin Explorer as source vessel earlier than the initial agreed start date. Hugin Explorer has just completed classification work at a yard in Denmark, and is presently mobilizing to the Rosebank Field.

Estimated start-up is 13-15 April, which is about 3 weeks ahead of the earlier agreed start date of around May 5, 2011. This will potentially improve SeaBird's revenue in 2Q 2011.

Shell to Start Drilling at Iraq Majnoon Oil Field in July

Shell to Start Drilling at Iraq Majnoon Oil Field in July

Thursday, March 31, 2011
by  Hassan Hafidh

Shell along with its partners, Malaysia's Petronas and the Iraqi state Missan Oil Co., will start drilling the first new well in the super-giant Majnoon oil field in July, a company executive said Thursday.

"Shell is targeting July 2011 to spud the first well," Ole Myklestad, managing director of Shell in Iraq told reporters in Basra.

Between 15 and 20 wells will be drilled in Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq and some 27 others will be refurbished to bring output to 175,000 barrels a day by the end of next year from the current 60,000 barrels a day, Myklestad said. The new wells and the refurbish work is part of an early production plan.

The well drilling is part of a contract Shell and its partners signed with U.S. service giant Halliburton and the state-run Iraqi Drilling Co. last year.

The executive also said that Shell has opened a new office in Basra to manage its projects in Iraq. The office is to make sure that "we have the human resources and all the supports required by an international company in Basra."

Myklestad said that there are some 300 Iraqis working on the Majnoon project and they are from the state-run South Oil Co. Some 50 Shell expatriate personnel are also working on the project, he said.

Shell and Petronas won the right to develop Majnoon oil field, located in Basra governorate in southern Iraq, at an auction held in Baghdad December 2009. Shells owns 45% of the venture and Petronas 30%, with Iraq's Missan Oil Co. the remaining 25%.

Shell also will start constructing a 75 kilometer pipeline to connect Majnoon with the crude oil depots in Faw, as a stop before shipping the crude into vessels in the Gulf. Myklestad said that Shell and its partner would provide the finance for building the pipeline.

The Anglo-Dutch giant is also planning to commence a seismic survey but after clearing mines left from the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.

"We want to get results of a seismic survey in the next two years," he said.