NORTH AMERICA

Buccaneer’s Cosmo #1 well tests for gas

Buccaneer Energy Ltd. announced in a press release that a 20-m (66-ft) section of sand at approximately 1,311 m (4,300 ft) measured depth was perforated and flow-tested in the Cosmo #1 well, located in the Cook Inlet offshore Alaska. The well has successfully tested gas at a maximum rate of 207 Mcm/d (7.3 MMcf/d) on a 30/ 64 -in. choke with a flowing tubing pressure of 1,350 psi and no water. Gas was flared at the location. A four-point test was carried out to estimate the absolute open flow potential of the reservoir. Once the pressure data are recovered from downhole testing equipment and the absolute open flow potential is finalized, a further release will be made, Buccaneer said.

Nordic farms in to heavy oil play in Alberta

Nordic Oil and Gas Ltd. announced in a press release that it has entered into a farm-in agreement for eight sections of land in the Boyne Lake area of northern Alberta, Canada, as part of a heavy oil cold production play. The subject lands are located in the Western Canadian Sedimentary basin about 137 km (85 miles) northeast of Edmonton. The lands are owned through oil sands leases, but the primary recovery is expected to be heavy oil under cold production. Nordic anticipates production from the recompletion of an existing well in the Grand Rapids oil sands formation. The agreement calls for Nordic to test and complete the well prior to Dec. 31, 2013. Nordic will become the operator of the well and elected lands upon completing the farm-in obligation, and the ownership of the well and four of the eight sections (to be elected on or before Dec. 31, 2013) shall be shared 50% by Nordic and 50% by the vendor.

GULF OF MEXICO

Shell will connect Cardamom wells to Auger platform

Shell’s Auger tension-leg platform will serve as the host platform for the Cardamom subsea development, located in Garden Banks Block 427 in a water depth of more than 800 m (2,720 ft) in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), the company said in a press release. Shell is connecting Cardamom wells back to Auger – work that will involve retrofitting the platform and a production shut-in at Auger, which should restart in 4Q 2013. Once online in 2014 Cardamom is expected to produce at a peak rate of 50,000 boe/d. The completed subsea system will include five-well expandable manifolds, a dual 8-in. flow-line, and eight well umbilicals. Modifications to the Auger platform will include additional subsea receiving equipment, the upgrade of an existing process train, and weight mitigation.

Rowan wins $660 million drillship contract

Rowan Companies Plc announced in a press release that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a three-year contract with Cobalt International Energy LP for the Rowan Reliance, one of Rowan’s new ultra-deepwater drillships currently under construction at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. The drillship is expected to operate in the US GoM and is scheduled to be delivered at the end of October 2014. The contract is expected to commence in late January 2015 following mobilization. The effective day rate for the work will be US $602,000, including mobilization revenues, and adds $660 million in revenue backlog, the company said.

EUROPE

Spectrum acquires seismic offshore Croatia

Spectrum signed a contract with the Ministry of the Economy in Croatia in July 2013 for the rights to acquire multi-client 2-D seismic data offshore Croatia, the company said in a press release. Spectrum will acquire the seismic data using Seabird and is mobilizing to acquire approximately 12,000 km (7,456 miles) of long-offset seismic data. The survey covers both the northern and southern parts of the Croatian Adriatic Sea, and the survey grid will connect with Spectrum’s reprocessed seismic data covering the Italian Adriatic. The results of the survey also will be used for scientific research purposes in collaboration with local scientific institutions. Acquisition is expected to finish in 4Q 2013 with processed products available by the end of 1Q 2014, according to the press release. The government of Croatia plans to hold a licensing round over the country’s offshore continental shelf in 2014.

Conoco, Premier, BG hit gas at Lacewing

The 23/22b-6Z exploration well, which was targeting the Lacewing prospect on the eastern margins of the UK central North Sea, has reached a total depth of 4,380 m (14,370 ft) measured depth, Premier Oil said in a press release. The partners in Block 23/22b on which the Lacewing prospect was drilled are Premier (20.2% interest), operator ConocoPhillips (47.3%), and BG (32.5%). A gas column of more than 30 m (100 ft) was encountered, and the well achieved its predrill objectives by evaluating the Triassic interval, which contained reservoir-quality sands. The well is being plugged and abandoned as a hydrocarbon discovery. Post-well evaluation work is progressing to ascertain whether commerciality can be established.

AFRICA

2H wins Moho Nord contract from Total

Total awarded a contract to 2H Offshore, an Acteon company, for the delivery management of tension-leg-platform top-tensioned riser systems for its Moho Nord field development offshore Congo, 2H said in a press release. The Moho Nord project is located approximately 75 km (47 miles) from Pointe-Noire and 25 km (16 miles) west of N’Kossa in water depths ranging from 450 m to 1,200 m (1,476 ft to 3,937 ft). The project will target additional reserves in the southern part of the license and new reserves in the northern part and is in its third and final phase for Total.

Cairn farms into Mauritania block

Cairn is farming into a deepwater exploration block offshore West Africa’s Mauritania after agreeing to a deal with Chariot Oil & Gas. The move will see the UK independent acquire a 35% nonoperated interest in Block C19 from Chariot’s subsidiary Chariot Oil & Gas Investments (Mauritania) Ltd. The block covers 12,175 sq km (4,701 sq miles) in water depths ranging from the shallows out to more than 2,000 m (6,562 ft). The block lies just to the north of existing discoveries in Mauritania and contains the Tertiary and Cretaceous deepwater fan plays proven further south along the West African margin. The most prospective part of C19 is covered by a new 3,500-sq-km (1,351-sq-mile) 3-D seismic survey recently acquired by Chariot and currently being processed. The seismic will be interpreted with the objective of identifying a high-grade drillable prospect by the end of 1Q 2014.

ASIA-PACIFIC

Salamander hits oil in Gulf of Thailand

The G4/50-5 exploration well has discovered oil in the Surin prospect in the central portion of the Western sub-basin in Block G4/50 in the Gulf of Thailand, Salamander Energy said in a press release. Oil was discovered in good-quality Miocene fluvial sandstones in the primary N40 target zone over the interval between 1,525 m and 1,533 m (5,003 ft and 5,030 ft) true vertical depth subsea, the release said. Wireline logs and pressure data confirmed the presence of approximately 8 m (26 ft) of oil pay. Oil samples recovered from the zone indicate 31°API oil, and mapping of the Surin fault block indicates between 15 m and 20 m (49 ft and 67 ft) of column height above the location of the well penetration. Further evaluation is required to determine the potential resource volume encountered in the Surin discovery, Salamander said. The well has been plugged and abandoned as an oil discovery.

CNOOC signs PSC with Shell

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) with Shell China E&P Co. Ltd. (Shell) for Block 35/10 in the South China Sea, according to a press release. The block, located in the Yinggehai basin, covers a total area of 3,427 sq km (1,323 sq miles) with a water depth between 80 m and 110 m (262 ft and 361 ft). According to the terms of the PSC, Shell will conduct a 3-D seismic data survey and may drill exploration wells in the block during the exploration period, in which all expenditures incurred will be born by Shell, the release said. CNOOC has the right to participate in up to 51% working interest in any commercial discoveries in the block.

MIDDLE EAST

Golar LNG secures Kuwait FSRU contract

Golar LNG Ltd. has executed a contract to provide Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) with floating storage and regasification (FSRU) services to support its LNG import operations at Mina Al Ahmadi, according to a press release. The contract will be for an initial period of five years and comprises the provision of port-side FSRU services for an anticipated nine months of the year with a three-month window when the vessel is free to pursue spot carrier and other short-term business opportunities. The newbuild FSRU Golar Igloo will service the contract that is set to commence in March 2014. With a total contract value of approximately US $213 million covering both capital and operating elements over five years, Golar expects to supplement these earnings with additional hire payments during the winter months each year, according to the press release.

SOUTH AMERICA

Carioca area reveals fresh find for Petrobras

A fresh find has been made by Petrobras in the Carioca discovery evaluation area in the ultra-deepwater Santos basin offshore Brazil, according to a press release. The Brazilian major confirmed the presence of oil in Well 3-SPS-202 (3-BRSA-1179-SPS) in the Carioca evaluation plan area, located in presalt Block BM-S-9. The well, informally referred to by the company as Igua?u Mirim, is located 303 km (186 miles) off the coast of the state of S?o Paulo and lies in a water depth of 2,158 m (7,080 ft). The consortium of BM-S-9 is operated by Petrobras (45%) in partnership with BG E&P Brasil (30%) and Repsol Sinopec Brasil (25%).

Technip, DOF JV wins eight contracts from Petrobras

The joint venture (JV) formed by Technip (50%) and DOF (50%) was awarded eight contracts by Petrobras, Technip said in a press release. These contracts cover the construction of four new pipelay support vessels and operation in Brazilian waters to install flexible pipes. The combined value for Technip is approximately US $1.8 billion. Two of the vessels will have a 300-ton laying tension capacity and will be fabricated in Brazil. The other two vessels will be designed to achieve a 650-ton laying tension capacity, enabling the installation of large-diameter flexible pipes in ultra-deepwater environments, such as the Brazilian presalt.