Cobalt Kicks Off Drilling Ops Offshore Angola

- Cobalt Kicks Off Drilling Ops Offshore Angola

Monday, August 29, 2011
Cobalt International Energy Inc.
by SubseaIQ

Cobalt provided the following update on its West Africa drilling program.

Cobalt has initiated drilling operations on its Cameia No. 1 well in Block 21, Offshore Angola. Well operations are being conducted with the Diamond Ocean Confidence drilling rig. After drilling and evaluating the Cameia-1 prospect, Cobalt will drill the Bicuar-1A well to test the Bicuar prospect, also in Block 21. Both wells are targeting pre-salt objectives.

As previously announced, Cobalt expects each well to take 80 to 100 days to drill and an additional 10 to 20 days to evaluate, if successful. Cobalt is the operator of Cameia and Bicuar and has a 40% working interest in each prospect.

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Cobalt to Abandon Angola Well, Updates GOM Ops

- Cobalt to Abandon Angola Well, Updates GOM Ops

Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Cobalt International Energy Inc.

Cobalt announced a net loss of $19.5 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share for the second quarter of 2011, compared to a net loss of $41.8 million, or $0.12 per basic and diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010.

Cash expenditures (excluding changes in working capital) for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 were approximately $22 million and about $33 million year-to-date. For the full year 2011, Cobalt expects to spend $325 to 400 million which includes the cash expenditures associated with Block 20 offshore Angola. The timing of expenditures in the second half depends primarily on when the Block 20 Production Sharing Agreement is signed and when Cobalt recommences Gulf of Mexico drilling activities.

Cash, cash equivalents and investments at the end of the second quarter were approximately $1.64 billion. This includes about $339 million designated for future operations held in escrow and collateralizing letters of credit, but excludes approximately $196 million in the TOTAL drilling fund for the Gulf of Mexico. Cobalt expects it is well-funded to execute on its planned exploration and appraisal program, including expenditures relating to Block 20 offshore Angola, through the end of 2013.

Operational Update

On April 15, 2011, Cobalt completed a registered underwritten offering of 35,650,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share, resulting in proceeds of approximately $499 million before expenses.

On May 3, 2011, Cobalt announced that the national oil company of Angola, Sociedade Nacional de Combust•veis de Angola-Empresa Publica (Sonangol), had approved Cobalt's drilling plans for its two initial pre-salt exploratory wells, Bicuar #1 and Cameia #1, on Block 21 offshore Angola. Subsequent to the end of the second quarter, on July 19, 2011, Cobalt commenced its initial two well pre-salt exploratory drilling program on Block 21 offshore Angola by spudding the surface hole of the Bicuar #1 exploratory well. On July 20, 2011, after setting the 36" conductor casing and drilling approximately 210 meters of surface hole, Cobalt encountered an over pressured water sand resulting in a water flow with limited quantities of natural gas. No safety or environmental issues resulted from the incident. Cobalt is focused now on its abandonment procedures for the Bicuar #1 exploratory well surface location. Given the unique nature of encountering pressured water sands in Angolan waters, Cobalt has agreed with Sonangol that Cobalt will take its learnings from this incident and reexamine its shallow hazard analysis of proposed Cameia and Bicuar drilling locations before moving the drilling rig to Cameia or a different surface location on Bicuar.

With respect to Cobalt's U.S. Gulf of Mexico drilling program, Cobalt believes it has satisfied all of the remaining requirements of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) related to its North Platte #1 and Ligurian #2 applications for permit to drill (APD's), except for the submission of the U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance for the Ensco 8503 drilling rig, which cannot be obtained until the rig returns to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Cobalt does not anticipate any issues related to obtaining this routine U.S. Coast Guard certification and it expects that after its submission the BOEMRE will promptly issue the APD's for both the North Platte #1 and Ligurian #2 exploratory wells. Cobalt expects that the Ensco 8503 drilling rig will be returned to Cobalt in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico late in the third quarter of 2011. Upon its return, the submission of the U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance, and the issuance of the APD's for the North Platte #1 and Ligurian #2 exploratory wells, Cobalt plans to drill the Ligurian #2 exploratory well. After drilling the Ligurian #2 exploratory well, Cobalt plans to move the rig to the North Platte #1 well location to drill that prospect. Cobalt anticipates that each of the Ligurian #2 and North Platte #1 exploratory wells will take approximately six months to drill.

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Cobalt Anticipates Rig Arrival Offshore Angola

- Cobalt Anticipates Rig Arrival Offshore Angola

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Cobalt International Energy Inc.

Cobalt has received notification that the Ocean Confidence drilling rig, which is currently under assignment to an Angolan affiliate of Total S.A., will be returned to Cobalt on Block 21 on or about July 12. Upon its return, Cobalt will immediately commence its initial two well pre-salt deepwater exploration drilling program on Block 21 offshore Angola. Given the proximity of the two exploratory well locations, Cobalt plans to drill the surface hole of the Bicuar #1 exploratory well, move the drilling rig to the Cameia #1 exploratory well to drill and evaluate that prospect, then return to the Bicuar #1 exploratory well to drill and evaluate it. Cobalt expects each well to take 80 to 100 days to drill and an additional 10 to 20 days to evaluate if successful. Cobalt is the operator of Cameia and Bicuar and
has a 40% working interest in each prospect.

In addition, Cobalt anticipates the execution of the production sharing agreement for its 40% working interest and operatorship of Block 20 offshore Angola will occur early in the third quarter of 2011.

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Hallin Marine Lands Repair Gig Offshore Angola

- Hallin Marine Lands Repair Gig Offshore Angola

Friday, June 24, 2011
Superior Energy Services

Hallin Marine announced the award of its latest subsea pipeline repair project off the African west coast. Working on behalf of a major oil company, Hallin is providing overall project management and engineering, the subsea operations vessel (SOV) Ullswater, repair equipment plus a saturation diving team, to support the urgent repair of a 20 inch water injection pipeline offshore Malongo, Angola. The contract was awarded following successful projects previously completed by Hallin in offshore Angola.

Mike Arnold, Managing Director of Hallin West commented, "This is a typical project for our West Africa project team and shows the effectiveness of our specialist-designed SOV Ullswater for this type of project. The vessel is strategically placed for work in West Africa as part of our ongoing commitment to the region."

A recent addition to the Hallin fleet, Ullswater is an ultra-modern SOV incorporating an integral 15-man saturation diving system. With a length of 78 meters and a 20.4 meter beam, the vessel incorporates DP2 dynamic positioning and can accommodate up to 120 personnel.

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Total Announces Offshore Angola Discovery

Total Announces Offshore Angola Discovery

Friday, May 06, 2011
Total S.A.

Total announced Friday that its subsidiary, TEPA (Block 17/06) Limited, and Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sonangol E.P.), have discovered hydrocarbons in the north-eastern area of the deep offshore block 17/06.

Drilled in a water depth of 445 meters, the Canna-1 well discovered hydrocarbons in reservoir of Miocene age and produced more than 5,000 barrels per day of high quality oil (33 API) during a production test.

Sociedade Nacional de Combustveis de Angola (Sonangol) is the concessionaire of the Block 17/06. TEPA (Block 17/06) Limited is the operator of the Block 17/06 with a 30% stake. Total's partners in the block are Sonangol Pesquisa e Producao S.A. (30%), Sonangol Sinopec International (SSI) Seventeen Limited (27.5%), ACREP Bloco 17 S.A. (5%), Falcon Oil Holding Angola S.A. (5%) and PARTEX Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation (2.5%).

Total has been present in Angola since 1953. In Angola, Total operated 460,000 barrels oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2010, and its SEC equity production amounted approximately 163,000 boe/d. This production comes essentially from Blocks 17,0 and 14.

Deep offshore Block 17, operated by Total with a 40% interest, is Total's principal asset in Angola. It is composed of four major zones: Girassol-Rosa and Dalia, which are currently producing; Pazflor, a project under development for a production start in the second half of 2011; and CLOV (based on the Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea and Violeta discoveries), for which the development was recently launched.

Total is also the operator with a 30% stake in the ultra deep offshore Block 32, on which 12 discoveries were made, confirming the oil potential of the block. Pre-development studies for a first production zone in the central south eastern portion of the block are underway.

In addition, the Angola LNG project for the construction of a liquefaction plant near Soyo is designed to bring the country's natural gas reserves to market. This project, on which Total holds a 13.6% stake, will be supplied by the associated gas from the fields on Blocks 0, 14, 15, 17 and 18. The project is underway with production expected to begin in 2012.

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Sonangol Okays Cobalt's Offshore Angola Plans

Sonangol Okays Cobalt's Offshore Angola Plans

Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Cobalt International Energy, Inc.

Cobalt International Energy, Inc. on Tuesday announced that Sonangol has approved the drilling plans for the Cobalt-operated Cameia-1 and Bicuar-1 pre-salt exploratory wells on Block 21 offshore Angola.

Given the proximity of the well locations, Cobalt plans to drill the surface hole of Bicuar-1, move the rig to Cameia-1 to drill and evaluate the prospect, then return to Bicuar-1 to drill the well to total depth. Cobalt anticipates drilling operations offshore Angola to commence in the second quarter, in-line with previously disclosed guidance.

Also during the second quarter, Cobalt anticipates the signing and formal award of its 40% working interest and operatorship in Block 20 offshore Angola.

Cobalt is an independent oil exploration and production company focusing on the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico and offshore Angola and Gabon. Cobalt was formed in 2005 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

FPSO PSVM Set to Sail for BP Block Offshore Angola

FPSO PSVM Set to Sail for BP Block Offshore Angola

Monday, April 25, 2011
Sembcorp Marine

FPSO PSVM, one of the world's largest Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels successfully converted by Sembcorp Marine's subsidiary Jurong Shipyard for contractor MODEC, is well-poised for its maiden assignment offshore Angola for owners BP Exploration (Angola) Limited and Block 31 partners.

Equipped with one of the biggest external turrets ever constructed in the oil industry and topside modules of over 20,000 tonnes, the FPSO PSVM is destined for the Plutão, Saturno, Vênus and Marte (PSVM) Development in Block 31 offshore Angola, the first ultra-deepwater development in West Africa. Designed for up to 20 years of deployment without drydocking, FPSO PSVM will be installed in water depth of 2,000m and is capable of processing 157,000 barrels of oil per day and 245 million cubic feet per day of production gas with a storage capacity of 1.8 million barrels of oil.

To commemorate the conversion success, FPSO PSVM was named by Lady Sponsor Mrs Ana Maria Martins, the wife of Eng. Gaspar Martins, Executive Director of Sonangol E.P, in a ceremony at Jurong Shipyard on Saturday, April 16, 2010 witnessed by key representatives and stakeholders.

Converted from a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tanker Ex-Bourgogne, FPSO PSVM is the 19th conversion and upgrading by Jurong Shipyard for MODEC since the FPSO Nan Hai Sheng Li in 1995, and is a testament to the yard's offshore conversion expertise.

The conversion of FPSO PSVM involved installation of an external turret mooring system and process facilities, which include gas turbine generators, oil separation, gas injection/gas lift and water injection system.

High standards of quality, technical excellence as well as Health, Safety, Security and Environment were achieved by Jurong Shipyard, MODEC and BP for the project, which attained a commendable safety performance of 8.1 million manhours without lost-time incidents.

ConocoPhillips up 2% on Plans to Explore Angola, Poland for Oil, Gas

ConocoPhillips up 2% on Plans to Explore Angola, Poland for Oil, Gas



ConocoPhillips is up 1.56% to $80.04, helped by the general bullish sentiment on energy shares Wednesday, as well plans to expand its operations in Angola, the Gulf of Mexico and Poland.

The company is negotiating leases on two deepwater blocks in Angola, exploring for oil and gas in the deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico, and is active in exploring for resources in Poland. It has rights to one million acres in several different parts of the country, according to Investopedia.