Nexen previously estimated that the Dilly Creek lands contain 3- 6 tcf of recoverable contingent resource. Further appraisal activity is required before it can finalize diese estimates, establish commerciality and book reserves.
Equatorial Guinea's Douala gets another find
Noble Energy Inc., Houston, said its Carmen exploration well near the soudieast corner of Block O in the Douala basin off Equatorial Guinea is an oil and gas discovery
The well, drilled to 11,550 ft in 150 ft of water, cut 26 ft of net oil pay and 13 ft of net gas pay It was drilled to test a Lower Miocene reservoir and won't be flow- tested for now Noble Energy said.
The 10th successful well on the acreage, Carmen is the first oil discovery on Block O, which also contains the Belinda and Felicita g as-condensate discoveries. Carmen confirmed that the oil sourcing extends from Block I, where the company has the Diega and Benita oil discoveries.
Noble Energy plans to recalibrate seismic to identify other similar opportunities while it plans for first production in 2012.
Drilling & Production-Quick Takes
TNK-BP starts production from Siberian fields
Anglo-Russian oil joint venture TNK-BP Holding reported it has started commercial production at Urna and Ust-Tegus fields in the Uvat area of the Tyumen region in Siberia, feeding crude into the 264-km pipeline that connects the fields with the OAO Transneft pipeline system.
Urna and Ust-Tegus, which lie in the eastern part of Uvat, hold an estimated 300 million tonnes of oil in place, including 100 million tonnes of reserves. Plans call for the production of some 1.5 million tonnes of crude from the fields in 2009.
At the same time, TNK-BP expects to spend some $500 million on the Uvat project, including the drilling of development wells and construction of other necessary field facilities.
TNK-BP said it has invested $925 million in field development and construction at the fields.
In 2008, TNK-BP increased its oil production over 2007's by 2.6% to 601 million boe, the company said.
Nexus enters into negotiations for FPSO Nexus Energy Ltd., Melbourne, has entered negotiations with Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) for the supply of a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel for its Crux liquids project in the Browse basin off Western Australia.
The negotiations center on the integrated construction, supply, and operation of an FPSO.
SBM has already been involved in the engineering and design of the gas processing, liquids extraction, and compressions facilities for the project.
Nexus says it also has finalized a settlement with FPSO supplier Viking Oil & Gas International and Viking Shipping following the termination of a memorandum of understanding signed in 2007 for the project. Nexus will pay Viking $12 million by the end of May. A further contingent payment of $5 million is to be made later in 2009 if certain unstated major divestment and liquidity events occur.
Petrobras, Mitsubishi plan $830 million drillship
Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) and Mitsubishi Corp. have agreed to form a 50-50 joint venture to construct and operate a drillship having the capacity to drill in water 10,000 ft deep.
The firms said the ship, which is to be completed and delivered in June 2010, will cost $830 million. The two firms said they will cover 10-15% of the cost of the vessel, with the new joint venture to procure the rest of the funds itself.
On delivery, the joint venture will charter out the vessel to an affiliate of Schahin Engenharia SA, a leading drillship operator in Brazil. The Brazilian firm will provide drilling services for the exploration and development of Petrobras's deepwater oil and gas fields in Brazil and overseas.
The announcement follows reports last December that Petrobras obtained $750 million in financing from a group of Japanese banks, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Mizuho Corporate Bank, and Banco de Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.
Petrobras said the money would be used to finance its investment program, including expansion of a refinery based in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo.
The Brazilian firm, which said the loans will have a maturity of 10 years, did not immediately reveal the financing cost or other details as the contract has a confidentiality clause. However, Petrobras's Chief Financial Officer Almir Barbassa said the conditions of the loan were "pretty reasonable" and "attractive," although "not as good as a year ago."
PDVSA pays due bills for Mariscal Sucre drillship
Neptune Marine & Drilling Ltd., a subsidiary of Singaporebased Jasper Holdings, said Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has paid $25.95 million to settle overdue bills in connection with its Mariscal Sucre natural gas project.
The payments cover, among others, all day rate invoices for drilling services provided to PDVSA from Oct. 1 to Dec 18, 2008, Neptune said, adding that it "continues to operate under the drilling contract with PDVSA."
With the payments from PDVSA, Neptune said, "certain breaches in the loan agreement entered into between another subsidiary, Neptune Marine Invests AS and certain banks have also been cured."
Last June, PDVSA took delivery of the drillship Neptune Discoverer under a $785 million contract with Neptune for the drilling of 21 wells at the offshore Mariscal Sucre natural gas project.
Since then, the Mariscal Sucre project has seen several key developments, including a 2,500-sq-km, 3D seismic survey conducted over the block in September by Norway's SCAN Geophysical.
"The first processing steps are very promising and show very good data quality, which will allow PDVSA further to refine its development in this area," PDVSA said of the survey.
Then, in November, Atlantida Socotherm, a subsidiary of Socotherm, was awarded a contract for the concrete weight coating of the 115-km Dragon-Cigma pipeline that will be installed as part of the Mariscal Sucre LNG project.
The project is one of three major developments being developed by PDVSA, each of which will consist of a separate liquefaction train at the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (Cigma) natural gas complex in Guiria.
The first train will source gas from the Plataforma Del tana project, with exports estimated at 4.7 million tonnes/year. PDVSA's foreign partners include Galp, Chevron, Qatar Petroleum, Mitsubishi, and Mitsui.
The second train will source gas from the Mariscal Sucre project, also exporting an estimated 4.7 million tonnes/year. PDVSA 's foreign partners for this project include Galp, Enarsa, Itochu, Mitsubishi, and Mitsui.
The third train will source an as-yet undetermined amount of gas from Blanquilla-Tortuga fields. PDVSA's foreign partners include Gazprom, Petronas, Eni, and Energias de Portugal.
According to PDVSA, the total investment in the three LNG projects could reach $20 billion, with first exports expected by 2013.
Processing -Quick Takes
Eni lets refinery contract to GE Oil & Gas
Eni SPA has let a contract to GE Oil & Gas for the largest refinery reactors of dieir type ever to be manufactured. The reactors will be a critical part of Eni refining and marketing division's project to boost production at its refinery in Sannazzaro, Italy.
The reactors, which will weigh 2,000 tons each, will be the centerpiece of a new process technology designed to enable Eni to produce more middle distillates from each barrel of feedstock.
The refinery will highlight a proprietary Eni process called Eni slurry technology that enables increased efficiency in unconventional oils, heavy oils, and residues distillation. Unlike other heavy oil cracking processes, the process produces no residues.
