Maurel & Prom discovers oil in Gabon
Maurel & Prom has tested 5,510 b/d of oil from the Omko exploration well that was drilled 6 km east of Onal field in Gabon. M&P expects to appraise the discovery by yearend, depending on rig availability.
Oil was produced from two separate intervals, the Kissenda and the base sandstone. Kissenda, more than 56 m, reached 3,050 b/d through a 40/64-in. choke widi a 595 psi head pressure. Base sandstone, more than 43.5 m, produced 2,460 b/d through a 32/64-in. choke with 660 psi head pressure.
In bodi cases, the oil is 35.7-36.7 [degrees] gravity, M&P said. The Omko-1 well, formerly named Alonha- C, reached 1,800 m.
The company said the discovery validated the sedimentary basin in the northeast area of Onal field. The company will follow diis well widi exploration well Alonha B. Other exploration wells are scheduled in diis area, among them Alonha A, Onal East, and Maroc, M&P said.
The company will drill exploration well N'Zamo to study the soudiwestern area of the field. M&P holds 100% interest in the exploration permit Omoueyi, and Gabon has a 15% right of return.
Drilling & Production - Quick Takes
Chevron starts production from Agbami oil field
Chevron Corp.'s Nigerian affiliate, Star Deep Water Petroleum Ltd., has started oil production from Agbami field off Nigeria.
Chevron, which said first oil flow from Agbami field 'was achieved July 2 9 from a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, expects initial production to reach more than 100,000 b/d of oU.
It expects production at the field-the largest deepwater discovery in Nigeria-to increase to 250,000 b/d of oil and natural gas liquids by yearend 2009.
Star Deep Water Petroleum signed the agreement in 2005 to award the contract for the construction of the FPSO vessel for Agbami to South Korea's Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering Corp.
In January 2000 then- Texaco Inc.-since acquired by Chevron- announced the completion of testing on the Agbami- 2 appraisal well, which confirmed that "the Agbami structure is a giant discovery with potential recoverable reserves in excess of 1 billion boe." It said diat "the well test surpassed expectations and, together widi other technical data, suggests that the Agbami discovery likely ranks among the largest single finds to date in deepwater West Africa."
According to Texaco, the Agbami- 2 well delineated the discovery announced in January 1999. The initial well, Agbami-1, encountered 420 ft of oil pay in multiple zones. Complete appraisal of the field will require further delineation drilling and technical stuthes.
Apache, EGPC JV lets Salam gas plant contracts
Khalda Petroleum Co., a joint venture of Apache Corp. and Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., let a contract to Petrofac Ltd. for engineering and procurement services for an additional gas train at the Salam natural gas plant on Apache's Khalda Concession in Egypt's Western Desert.
The new facility, expected to come online in late 2010, will be Khalda's fifdi gas processing facility at Salam. It will be built next to the diird and fourth Salam gas trains, now under construction.
Apache earlier awarded Petrofac contracts totaling $375 million to construct the diird and fourdi trains, each of which will have the capacity to process 100 MMcfd of gas and 14,000 b/d of condensate.
In November 2006, Apache reported that EGPC and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. had approved construction of the fourth processing train at the Salam plant.
Apache said the fourth train, along with the recently approved third train, would increase the capacity to process gas from Apache's Jurassic formation gas reserves to 710 MMcfd of gas and 66,000 b/d of condensate, including access to processing capacity at Shell's Obaiyed plant.
At the time, Apache said gross production from its Jurassic fields was "512 MMcfd of gas and 18,200 b/d, the limit of existing processing facilities."
Petrofac last month said it had acquired production engineering firm, Eclipse Petroleum Technology Ltd., for an initial Pounds 7 million, with a further payment of as much as Pounds 16 million to be determined by "the level of future profitability." Eclipse will form part of Petrofac's facilities management.
StatoilHydro delivers oil to FPSO from Vilje field
StatoilHydro has delivered first oil from Vilje field in the Norwegian North Sea to the Alvheim floating production, storage, and offloading vessel. The field is estimated to hold 52 million bbl of recoverable oil.
Production from Vilje is expected to reach a plateau of 35,000 b/ d by the end of second quarter.
Marathon Petroleum Norge AS operates the FPSO, which is connected to the field via a 19-km pipeline. The field has two subsea templates and two production wells.
StatoilHydro operates Vilje with a 28.85% interest. This is the first StatoilHydro- operated field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf that is tied in to an installation operated by another operator.
OGX leases Ocean Quest semi for Campos blocks
Brazil's privately held OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes has signed an agreement with Diamond Offshore Netherlands BV, a subsidiary of Diamond Offshore Drilling, for the charter of a third drilling rig.
The Ocean Quest semisubmersible rig, under a 2 -year contract, will be used in the Santos basin from the second half of 2009. OGX said the rig can drill as deep as 7,600 m in water as deep as 1,100 m.
OGX last week announced it had contracted two other offshore drilling rigs from Diamond Offshore for 3 years. It said the two rigs also would be used for drilling in the Campos basin as of the second half of 200 9.
According to reports, OGX broke an earlier contract signed with Queiroz Galvao Oleo e Gas, a unit of the local industrial conglomerate Queiroz Galvao, for the charter of the Alaskan Star semisubmersible drilling rig.
In early July, OGX announced the signing of a 3-year charter of the Alaskan Star, which Queiroz Galvao Purfuracoes SA purchased in 1995 from Western Co., Houston, for $11.7 million.
Shortly after OGX announced the signing of the Alaska Star, Brazilian federal police raided the home and offices of company founder Eike Batista in a probe of alleged fraud and tax evasion. OGX said the investigation has no relation with the company's operations and does not represent any adverse effect on its business plan.
Founded by Batista in September 2007, OGX was listed on Sao Paulo Stock Exchange Bovespa in June. According to reports, its initial public offering, one of the biggest ever on the Sao Paulo market, was oversubscribed five times.
OGX is said to hold concession rights in some 21 blocks in the Campos, Santos, Espirito Santo, and Para-Maranhao basins. Company plans call for some $1.3 billion investment in the blocks.
Processing - Quick Takes
Idemitsu Kosan upgrades Chiba, other refineries
Idemitsu Kosan Co. will spend Yen 16 billion to upgrade the 45,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracking unit at its 220,000 b/d Chiba refinery east of Tokyo.
In the face of declining market rates for its fuel oil, the firm aims to increase production of naphtha and propylene, while decreasing production of heavy fuel oil.
After the upgrade, due for completion in April 201 1, the unit's production of heavy fuel oil will be reduced by 200,000 kl./year, while its production of naphtha and propylene will increase by 260,000 kl./year.
In May, Idemitsu Kosan Co. sold 30,000 tonnes of heavy grade fuel oil for loading in early June, described by company and trading sources as likely to be its first spot sale of the fuel in 3 years.
