Tethys Pumps Oil at Tajik Well

- Tethys Pumps Oil at Tajik Well

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tethys Petroleum Ltd.

Tethys gave an update on its operations in the Republic of Tajikistan.

Testing operations are underway on the East Olimtoi EOL09 exploration well located south of the town of Kulob some 10 km north of the Afghan border. This well reached a total depth of 3,765 meters in the Akdzhar formation and testing operations are being undertaken on the overlying Bukhara and Alai formations.

Currently the well is flowing a mixture of completion brine and oil from the upper Alai sandstone interval, this oil being of good quality with an API gravity of approximately 36 degrees. The current section open to testing includes this upper Alai sandstone unit as well as the lower Alai limestone interval and the upper part of the Bukhara formation. The well was drilled with heavy drilling fluid (weighted with barite), which was required to control the well when it intersected the upper Alai reservoir. Barite is currently being observed in the flow lines which the company believes is also inhibiting flow at present. It is anticipated that the well will clean up in due course, however the cleanup period may take some time. The Company is currently evaluating methods of speeding up the clean up of this well including acidization or nitrogen-lifting using coiled tubing, subject to availability of equipment.

There are two further sandstone zones in the Alai formation which appear oil bearing based on wireline logs and which will be tested after a stable and representative flow rate has been achieved from the upper Alai sandstone unit. The lower part of the Bukhara interval was also tested but was found to have low permeability at this location although with the potential for production in future wells using production enhancement techniques such as hydraulic fracture stimulation. Mobilization of such equipment to Tajikistan would take a
significant amount of time, as such the company has chosen to focus on the upper zones of this particular well at this time.

The Persea 1 exploration well, located near the town of Kurgon-Teppa is progressing within the 12 1/4" hole section. This well is primarily targeting the Bukhara limestone formation in a four-way dip closed structure with the overlying Alai formation forming a potential secondary target. The planned total depth of this well is 2,700 meters and it is expected that this will be reached in October 2011.

Data collection for the gravity, gradiometry and magnetic aerial survey carried out over the 35,000 km2 Bokhtar Production Sharing Contract Area has now just been completed. This will provide additional and more aerially extensive data to complement the existing seismic acquisition with the final processed data and results expected in 4Q 2011.

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ROC Pumps Oil at Zhanghai Block Offshore China

- ROC Pumps Oil at Zhanghai Block Offshore China

Thursday, August 25, 2011
Roc Oil Co. Ltd.
by SubseaIQ

Roc Oil (Bohai) Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, advised that production has commenced from the first appraisal well drilled in the new Zhanghai block – one of two adjoining blocks added to ROC's existing Zhao Dong Block Contract in March 2011 with the aim of commercializing previous near field discoveries in the area and encouraging further appraisal activity.

The appraisal well (ZD CP2N-H-1) commenced drilling from the Zhao Dong C4 platform on July 15 and intersected 310 meters of horizontal reservoir section. The well was completed and production through existing C4 facilities has commenced at an initial rate of 3,546 BOPD. PetroChina exercised its rights under the PSC to participate with a 51% interest in the new Zhao Dong blocks on the commencement of completion activities and commercial development of the well, effective August 12. The interests in the two new additional blocks are now PetroChina 51%, ROC 39.2% and Sinochem 9.8%.

ROC is now planning to drill a second appraisal well (ROC 80% cost obligation on dry hole basis) during 2012.

Commenting on the success of the well, ROC's Chief Executive Officer, Alan Linn, stated, "One element of ROC's strategy is to generate future growth by commercializing near field opportunities through existing infrastructure. Extension of the Zhao Dong block provides an opportunity to incrementally develop a number of existing discoveries through existing Zhao Dong facilities in parallel with ongoing development drilling activities. Exploration opportunities within this acreage could also impact the future profitability and recovery life of the existing assets.

"Production from the first appraisal well in the additional Zhao Dong blocks is a positive outcome for all joint venture partners and represents the achievement of another of ROC's key strategic objectives for 2011: to deliver a new production or pre-development opportunity in China."

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Petrobras Pumps First Oil at Marlim Sul Field

- Petrobras Pumps First Oil at Marlim Sul Field

Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Petrobras

Petrobras announced that semisubmersible platform P-56 began production on August 15, at Marlim Sul field, in Campos Basin (RJ). The unit began production through well 7-MLS-163HPRJS, which has a potential of approximately 16,000 barrels per day.

Installed at a water depth of 1,670 meters, the platform is designed to process up to 100 thousand barrels of oil per day when it reaches maximum capacity, expected to take place in the first quarter of 2012. Besides heavy oil of 18º API, P-56 will have the capacity to process and treat up to 6 million m³ per day of natural gas.

P-56 will be interconnected to 21 wells, of which 10 will be producers and 11 water injectors. The produced oil will be sent through oil pipeline to platform P-38, which is a FSO (floating storage and offloading vessel) type, located 20 km from the Platform. Then, the oil will be transferred to shuttle tankers and the natural gas will be delivered through gas pipeline to the Cabiúnas terminal.

P-56 is 125m long, 110m wide, 137m tall and has a total weight of more than 54 thousand tons. Construction of the integrated modules (topside) of P-56 reached a high rate of local content. The hull was built entirely in Brazil, which demonstrates the capacity of the local manufacturing sector to meet the orders of Petrobras.

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Platts: OPEC Pumps 29.57 MMbpd in June

- Platts: OPEC Pumps 29.57 MMbpd in June

Friday, July 08, 2011
Platts

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) pumped an average 29.57 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in June, an increase of 530,000 barrels per day as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) boosted production, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts showed July 8. In May, OPEC production was 29.04 million bpd.

Despite the sizable month-on-month increase, however, the June volume was lower than the 29.8 million bpd estimated for February, when the escalating unrest sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East was beginning to affect Libyan production. Increases totaling 760,000 bpd were partly offset by combined reductions of 230,000 bpd.

"These numbers show that OPEC still has a lot of work to do, because the world's economy is going into a period where demand rises, and the loss of Libyan output makes meeting that demand problematic," said John Kingston, director of news for Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider and publisher of this monthly survey report.

"What isn't certain is just how much of that hole will be filled by the release of oil from strategic stocks ordered by the International Energy Agency, and how much of the burden of supplying the market will be lifted from OPEC because of that action," Kingston said.

Saudi Arabia boosted output by 450,000 bpd to 9.5 million bpd in June, accounting for the biggest single volume increase. But participants in the survey said that not all of the increment would be exported because of higher demand from the domestic power generation sector.

Saudi production has been climbing in recent months in an attempt to compensate for lost volumes from Libya. The Saudis even created two "special" crude blends aimed at replicating the higher quality Libyan grades, although these failed to attract refiners.

At OPEC's June 8 meeting, Saudi Arabia pushed for a 1.5 million bpd output increase on top of estimated actual production of 28.8 million bpd. But Iran, which currently holds the OPEC presidency, Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Libya and Venezuela opposed an increase and the talks broke up in disarray, leaving OPEC to issue a statement saying that "no formal decision was reached on a production agreement" and that the group would next meet on December 14 in Vienna.

The failure to reach a deal on production levels effectively renders the previous agreement, in place since January 2009 and which set a target of 24.845 million bpd for the 11 members bound by quotas, redundant.

Leaving the meeting, Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi said the kingdom and its Gulf neighbors would unilaterally boost production to ensure that markets were not left short of oil.

OPEC's own economists had forecast a big jump in demand for OPEC crude in the second half of the year, the Vienna secretariat's monthly oil market report for May projecting that the call on OPEC would rise by as much as two million bpd between the second and third quarters.

Two days after OPEC's acrimonious June 8 meeting, the secretariat published a new market report forecasting the call on OPEC crude at 30.9 million bpd in the third quarter--2.1 million bpd more than the second quarter call--and 30.5 million bpd in the fourth. This would leave a "sizable gap" between estimated production from OPEC and projected demand for its crude, the report said.

The International Energy Agency's (IEA) June 23 decision to release 60 million barrels of emergency oil stocks, however, has prompted some speculation as to whether Saudi Arabia will increase production to the extent that might have been anticipated immediately after the OPEC meeting.

The IEA said the effect of the disruption of Libyan crude exports had become more pronounced and that the normal seasonal increase in refiner demand over the summer would further exacerbate the shortfall.

The IEA said greater tightness in the oil market could undermine global economic growth, and that it would review the impact of the stock release within 30 days of June 23 to determine if a further release was necessary.

Global crude futures prices initially fell sharply after the IEA announced its stock release, but have since recovered all of that price ground.

Some participants in the survey, meanwhile, have revised their estimates of Venezuelan production following the International Energy Agency's re-evaluation of its Venezuelan supply methodology last month. This has resulted in the Platts survey's Venezuelan estimate rising to 2.35 million bpd in June from 2.23 million bpd in May.

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Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 28.84 Million Barrels of Oil Per Day in April

Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 28.84 Million Barrels of Oil Per Day in April

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Platts

The 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) pumped an average 28.84 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in April, down from 29.17 million b/d in March, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts showed May 9.

Excluding Iraq, which does not participate in OPEC output agreements, the 11 members bound by quotas (OPEC-11) pumped an average 26.18 million b/d during the month. This is down 340,000 b/d from the March estimate of 26.52 million b/d.

Lower volumes from Saudi Arabia, Libya and Angola accounted for almost the entire drop.

"With oil prices taking center stage, many pundits have dismissed fundamental supply and demand as a factor in the recent increases," explains Platts Global Director of News John Kingston. "One need go no further than these latest statistics to see one reason as to why the price of crude has risen so sharply. It's nice to point to an easily-understood concept like excessive speculation, but losing one million barrels per day of supply over the last two months in a market where demand has been climbing is having the result economic supply/demand theory would suggest it should have."

Some participants in the survey revisited their March estimates for Saudi Arabia after oil minister Ali Naimi said last month that the kingdom had slashed production by some 700,000 b/d to 8.29 million b/d in March because the oil market was oversupplied.

But some industry sources wondered whether the minister's figure might not have been intended as an average for the month, noting that the kingdom had submitted a figure of 8.655 million b/d to the International Energy Forum's Joint Oil Data Initiative, or JODI, for March.

In early March, Naimi said Saudi Arabia had increased production to 9 million b/d to make up for the loss of Libyan output and had even created a special blend of crude similar in quality to the lighter, lower-sulfur content Libyan grades. Refiners have shown little appetite for the new Saudi concoction, however.

The survey showed Libyan output dropping further in April, to just 200,000 b/d from 460,000 b/d in March.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the 200,000-barrel-per-day drop in production from the offshore Upper Zakum field does not appear to have had an impact on overall output for the month. Industry sources said Abu Dhabi kept supply steady by amending production levels at other fields and tapping into storage to meet export commitments.

Angolan production fell 100,000 b/d to 1.6 million b/d, as maintenance and repair work continued on Greater Plutonio.

Qatari production also dipped slightly due to the production shut down at a platform of Denmark's Maersk Oil at the offshore Al-Shaheen field following a fire on April 21.

The 470,000-barrel-per-day decreases more than offset the increases of 190,000 b/d. Higher Nigerian output accounted for the bulk of the increases, but volumes also rose in Ecuador, Iraq, and Kuwait.

The latest estimates leave the OPEC-11 overproducing its official target of 24.845 million b/d by 1.385 million b/d.

There had been a suggestion earlier this month that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia might want to see OPEC raise its official output target at the upcoming June 8 meeting to a level closer to actual production. Subsequent soundings would appear to rule out such a move, however.

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Providence Pumps Oil at Singleton Well

Providence Pumps Oil at Singleton Well

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Providence Resources plc

Providence confirmed that its Singleton X11 development well has commenced production. This new well, together the recently completed X8v lateral development well, formed part of the company's 2010 drilling program at the Singleton field, onshore UK. The Singleton field is located in the Weald Basin in the south of England and is operated by Providence (99.125%) with partner Noble Energy (0.8725%).

The X11 horizontal development well was recently brought on-stream at an initial rate of c. 200 BOEPD (c. 150 BOPD & c. 300 MSCFGD), which is in-line with pre-drill expectations. The X11 well design has been optimized for stimulation and plans are currently being progressed to carry out an acid fracture operation during Q2/3 2011 to increase production rates further. The X8v dual lateral well is currently being prepared for stimulation. The previously producing X8x section of the well has already been stimulated and it is planned to bring the well back into production in early May.

An updated Singleton third party reserve audit has been carried out by Collarini & Associates, incorporating the results of the 2010 multi-well program. The updated audit reports 7.7 MMBO of 2P net oil reserves at Singleton as of 1st March 2011. This is an increase of 44% in 2P oil reserves when compared to the previous report from 1st January 2010. A copy of the letter from Collarini & Associates summarizing the reserve report will be posted on Providence's website.

Providence will continue the re-development of the Singleton oilfield with further drilling planned in 2011. The company is currently in discussion with rig operators in advance of plans to spud a development well on Singleton later this year.

Matra Pumps Production in Russia

Matra Pumps Production in Russia

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Matra Petroleum plc

Matra announced that production has commenced from both existing wells in the Sokolovskoe Field, Russia.

Neither well has yet stabilized and as expected both will require acid stimulation and/or pump installation to maximize production rates. Well -13 is currently producing approximately 65 bopd and well-12 approximately 100-150bopd, although both well rates are fluctuating significantly and have not yet unloaded residual mud and completion fluids from the wellbore. In total over 2,000 bbls of oil have been produced from the wells and oil sales are being made on a regular basis.

Attempts to stabilize flow rates are being made before conducting the pressure surveys which will enable us to estimate the capability of the wells after acidization and/or pump installation. It is notable that neither well has yet produced any formation water.
Pressure surveys and analysis will occur during the next two weeks and a plan to maximize production rates will follow.

The weather in Orenburg has been a little unusual this year with some late heavy snowfalls which have delayed demobilization of the side-track rig. The main thaw has now begun and heavy load transportation will be limited during April whilst the snow melts and clears.
Matra's Managing Director, Peter Hind commented, "Well-12 side-track is producing at broadly similar rates to the original hole prior to acidising and the data from forthcoming pressure surveys should allow us to confirm the potential to improve production substantially. Whilst it is not possible to comment on ultimate production rates at this stage, the original well demonstrated an eight-to-ten fold improvement after acid.

"It is encouraging that the water appears to have been isolated, by remedial cementation, in well-13 and it was anticipated that this procedure would also damage the oil reservoir. Pressure data acquisition will again allow us to estimate likely rate improvements.
"We are currently planning to mobilize a coiled tubing unit to the well sites to ensure the proper clean up and to undertake acidization as appropriate. This work will commence once the road restrictions associated with the annual thaw are removed. Until that time data acquisition and oil production/sales will continue."

Lamprell Bags Weatherford Contract

Lamprell Bags Weatherford Contract

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Lamprell

Lamprell has received a new contract award from Weatherford Drilling International for the engineering, construction and delivery of two 3000HP land drilling rigs, with a total contract value of $41 million.

The rigs have a static hook load capacity of 1,500,000 lbs and 800,000 lbs set back capacity.

The mast will accommodate a 750T top drive supplied by three triplex mud pumps rated at 2200HP with a 7500psi high pressure mud system. The rig will be powered by five 3516B CAT engines. Lamprell will fabricate the rigs at its yard in Jebel Ali. The project is planned to be completed during the first quarter 2012.

Commenting on the contract award Nigel McCue, Chief Executive Officer, Lamprell said, "We are delighted to be announcing this significant new contract award from Weatherford.

We believe that this land rig award, the largest yet for our oilfield engineering business, demonstrates the exciting opportunity to develop Lamprell's offering in this developing regional market. We look forward to working with Weatherford on this important project."