TOPICS OF INTEREST
OFFSHORE
ONGC Makes Discoveries in Colombia, Brazil
India’s ONGC reported an oil find in Colombia’s Llanos Basin as well as a gas and oil discovery in Brazil’s deepwater Sergipe Alagoas Basin.
Premier Oil Makes Gas Strike in UK North Sea
Development of the Tolmount East discovery will be fast-tracked, the operator said.
EIA: US Gulf Oil Output To Continue Record Pace
New projects coming on stream will boost US gulf oil output to 1.9 million B/D in 2019 and 2 million B/D in 2020, EIA projects.
Neptune Energy to Buy Edison E&P’s North Sea Assets
The deal is contingent on Energean Oil and Gas completing its acquisition of Edison E&P, announced in July.
Chevron, Repsol Awarded Most Blocks in Brazil’s 16th Round
The round included a near-$1 billion signature bonus on a Campos Basin block awarded to a Total-led consortium.
BP Adds, Shell Subtracts Oil and Gas Resources
Heavy deal-making since 2015 by the two majors has resulted in very different upstream portfolios.
Strong Flow Rates Seen From Dorado Appraisal Well Off Australia
Santos Energy said its second and final flow test from the Dorado field suggests potential flow rates of around 30,000 B/D from each Caley reservoir production well.
Transocean Deploys Hybrid Floating Drilling Rig Off Norway
The hybrid power technology cuts fuel consumption and boosts the dynamically positioned rig’s station-keeping reliability, the drilling contractor says.
For Subsea Technology, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”
Subsea advancements in the works include longer tiebacks, an underwater drone that lives on the seafloor, and a robotic manifold capable of actuating dozens of valves. Do these new capabilities, born of necessity, signal a sea change in industrywide technology development?
BP Appraisal Well Proves “World-scale Gas Resource" Offshore Senegal
The Yakaar-2 appraisal well encountered 30 m of net gas pay in a similar high-quality Cenomanian reservoir as the Yakaar-1 discovery well drilled in 2017.
ExxonMobil, Tullow Lift Guyana Offshore Discovery Count to 16
ExxonMobil has now made 14 discoveries offshore Guyana, while Tullow's announcement of its second find in the basin comes just a month after reporting its first.
North Sea Still a Big Part of Total’s Future
Recent exploration success in the North Sea has motivated Total to invest some $10 billion in the basin over the next 5 years.
Colombia’s New Ambitions Include Caribbean and Shale Development, But Are They Achievable?
Colombia is walking a thin line between becoming another fading petroleum province and Latin America’s next big success story. Its aces in the hole: unleashing its nascent offshore and unconventional sectors.
Integrating Fractional Flow Into Reservoir Surveillance Improves GOM Production
A case study in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in which pressure transient analysis, fractional flow, and production logging tools were integrated to identify correctly the cause of, and execute an effective remedy for, a well’s productivity deterioration.
Extra-Long Subsea Tiebacks Reduce Deepwater Development Costs
The complete paper presents and discusses the authors’ technology-development program regarding very-long oil-tieback architectures (50–100 km) and enabling technologies.
Innovative Design and Execution Lead to Successful Grand Banks Platform Operations
The Hebron platform was successfully installed on the Grand Banks offshore Newfoundland and Labrador in June 2017. It consists of a single-shaft concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) supporting an integrated drilling and production topsides.
Evaluation of a Riser After 10 Years of GOM Service Life
As part of an effort to evaluate existing riser systems, an operator launched an inspection and testing program to investigate risers retrieved following well abandonment after a service life of nearly 10 years in the Gulf of Mexico.
Equinor, YPF To Explore Block Offshore Argentina
The firms are now partners on multiple blocks in the North Argentina Basin.
BHP, Anadarko Among Leaders in Latest US Gulf Lease Sale
Australia’s BHP Billiton and the recently acquired Anadarko Petroleum submitted the largest dollar totals of high bids in US Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 253.
Third Oil Spill Reported Off Newfoundland and Labrador
Production from the Hibernia platform was shut down again on 17 August after its second oil spill in a month, while Husky Energy began to ramp up output from the White Rose field following the largest-ever spill off Canada’s easternmost province.
Tullow Joins Guyana Success Story With Jethro Discovery
The discovery marks London-based Tullow’s first operated contribution to a long list of discoveries since 2015 in the emerging petroleum province.
Murphy Oil Greenlights US Gulf Floating Production Facility
Anchored by the Khaleesi-Mormont and Samurai fields, the King’s Quay FPS will receive and process up to 80,000 B/D of crude oil.
New OGA Wells Strategy Focuses on Improving Economics of UKCS Oil and Gas
The strategy supports the Maximise Economic Recovery from UK Oil & Gas Strategy and Vision 2035, whose goal is to achieve £140 billion additional gross revenue from UKCS production by that time.
Boosting Uncovers True Value of Subsea Assets
The first subsea multiphase boosting system was installed in 1994. Since then, it has grown into a technology with a global track record.
JIP Prepares for Final Shallow-Water Test of Subsea Power System
The complete paper highlights elements of the technical development and an overview of the primary building blocks of the system, and presents in detail some of the challenges in developing, designing, and testing the control system.
Eni Appraises Angola Discovery, Makes Another Off Vietnam
The Italian operator reported positive appraisal and exploration results from wells drilled some 10,000 km apart.
Petrobras to Sell Shallow-Water Campos, Santos Basin Fields
UK operator Trident Energy is entering Brazil while Australian firm Karoon Energy is expanding its position in the country. Both will try to boost output from already-producing assets.
Dominican Republic’s Offshore Future Begins With First Bid Round
The Caribbean nation hopes the auction will lead to at least two exploration projects in a region that has become increasingly attractive thanks to new discoveries and investments made in neighboring countries.
US Crude Production Tops 12 Million B/D in April
The new milestone was reached less than a year after the country surpassed 11 million B/D last summer, and is driven by activity in the Permian Basin and new fields in the Gulf of Mexico.
Aramco Advances 550,000-B/D Expansion of Marjan, Berri Fields
The world’s largest oil producer has awarded $18 billion in engineering, procurement, and construction contracts as part of its Marjan and Berri expansion projects.
Equinor To Cut Lundin Stake, Add Johan Sverdrup Interest
The Norwegian operator will increase its ownership of the giant Johan Sverdrup field before the field commences oil production this November.
Oil Begins Flowing from Eni’s Area 1 Offshore Mexico
Early production from Area 1 is the first output from an international operator in Mexico since energy reforms were implemented earlier this decade.
LNG at a Crossroads
In its first 50 years, LNG has become the world’s fastest-growing gas supply source and is now part of an upheaval in the global energy market. Today, the sector stands at a crossroads, and the industry must adopt new thinking to address current and future needs of buyers, sellers, and consumers.
2019 SPE Offshore Europe Explores the Industry’s License To Operate
The biennial SPE Offshore Europe conference will explore a diverse set of topics, including the application of digital technologies and preparing for a low-carbon energy future and ongoing work around standardization and decommissioning.
PTTEP Discovers Giant Gas Deposit Offshore Malaysia
Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates the find holds some 2 Tcf of gas, making it this year’s seventh-largest discovery worldwide.
Zama Appraisal Program Offshore Mexico Ends With Positive Results
Operator Talos Energy now believes Zama’s gross recoverable resource lies in the upper half of its pre-appraisal estimate of 400–800 million BOE. The consortium is working toward a 2020 final investment decision on the project.
W&T Offshore To Acquire ExxonMobil’s Assets Off Alabama
The deal consists of stakes in nine shallow-water producing fields covering 108,000 gross acres in 10–50 m of water.
Hurricane Hits First Oil From Basement Reservoir in North Sea
This new development is the first to recover commercial quantities of oil in the UK from reservoirs that are generally considered non-productive.
More Tweaks Than Transformation in Rewrite of Well Control Rule
The new well control rule is evidence that memories of the Macondo blowout remain a powerful force for caution. Despite the rhetoric on both sides of this hot-button issue suggesting big changes, the final changes were incremental.
Dorado Discovery Off Australia Is Bigger Than Expected
After drilling the Dorado-2 appraisal well, operator Santos Energy now expects a big increase in gas resources from predrill estimates, adding to one of the largest oil resources ever found on Australia’s North West Shelf.
Thirty Firms Awarded Blocks in UK’s 31st Offshore Licensing Round
The round marked a continuation of a recent trend on the UKCS in which lesser-known firms and newcomers have gained stature, replacing more-familiar, bigger operators that have pared down their North Sea positions.
Eni Tallies Fifth Oil Discovery in Angola Deepwater Exploration Campaign
The Agidigbo find follows the Kalimba, Afoxé, Agogo, and Ndungu discoveries. The five discoveries combined hold an estimated 1.8 billion bbl of light oil in place.
Malaysia’s Petronas is Looking Near and Far for Gas and Oil
The state-owned firm is looking within its home country, around Southeast Asia, and to the Americas—including shale—in an effort to maintain its forecast average yearly production of 1.7 million BOE/D over the next 5 years.
Interwell EOR Pilot Proves Advantages of Polymer Flooding
This paper discusses an enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) polymer-flood pilot at the Captain field in the UK North Sea during 2011–2013.
Murphy Oil to Buy Deepwater US Gulf Assets for up to $1.625 Billion
The El Dorado, Arkansas-based Murphy has quickly found a home for some of the cash it will receive from the sale of its Malaysia business. The company has been rapidly expanding its US gulf footprint while simplifying its portfolio and targeting more oil.
Chevron Sells UK North Sea Assets
There is a new, big independent in the UK North Sea, Delek Group. Its UK North Sea arm, Ithaca, bought most of Chevron’s holdings in the sector in a $2 billion deal.
Service Companies Remain Optimistic Despite Tough Start in 2019
The three largest service companies are optimistic about the rest of 2019.
Shell Begins Production from Massive Gulf of Mexico Platform
Appomattox begins production below cost and ahead of schedule in another optimistic sign of the offshore sector’s rebound.
Shell Partners with Startup to Get a Better Taste of the Reservoir
Wireline formation tests are a critical piece of the exploration and appraisal process, yet they come with a degree of uncertainty. The supermajor has tapped a new software developer to see if it can clear things up.
Digital Transformation at BP is Starting to Add Up to Billions
Analytics, sensors, and robots are changing the way one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies does business. Underpinning all the new technology though is a shift in how BP thinks, and what it means to be a supermajor in the 21st century.
Idle Drilling Rigs Actually Require a Lot of Work
When a rig is stacked, its owner has two choices: spend millions to keep it in good shape, or let it rust out. These two companies describe what it is like to maintain their assets for the day that a contract comes.
UK Continental Shelf: Two Big Discoveries and More to Come
Leaders from UK’s Oil and Gas Authority, Total, CNOOC, and Equinor discuss exploration successes, misses, and expectations for the offshore UK.
Digitalization is Changing Offshore Operations
Adoption of digital technologies will continue to improve the offshore sector, including improved well efficiency, real-time directional drilling, lower maintenance costs, and safer operations.
ExxonMobil Moves Forward With Second Guyana Development
Expected to start up in mid-2022, Liza Phase 2 will produce up to 220,000 B/D of oil.
Offshore: Making a Comeback After the Downturn
Could 2019 be a bumper year for offshore energy development?
Real-Time Analytics Improves Process Safety in a Drilling-Contractor Operations Center
This paper explains how an ultradeepwater drilling contractor is applying real-time analytics and machine learning to leverage its real-time operations center to improve process safety and performance.
Isolation Barrier Valves Installed Successfully in Deepwater Gulf of Guinea
A major operator manages multiple deepwater projects in the Gulf of Guinea. This paper describes one of these, a recent 44-well project.
40 Years in the Campos Basin Lead to Wealth of Lessons Learned
This paper presents a retrospective of the most-significant technologies developed and deployed in the Campos Basin for more than 80 production systems in more than 30 oil- and gas-field developments.
Integrated Approach Overcomes Depleted-Reservoir Challenges
This paper describes challenges faced in a company’s first deepwater asset in Malaysia and the methods used to overcome these issues in the planning stage.
Shale EOR Delivers, So Why Won’t the Sector Go Big?
There is every reason to believe that enhanced oil recovery through huff-and-puff injections in US tight-oil plays could be a technical success across large numbers of wells. However, widespread economic success remains uncertain.
U-Shaped Re-Entry Drilling Revitalizes Depleted Reservoirs Offshore Congo
Against the background of a low-oil-price environment, a redevelopment project was launched to give a second life to a shallow, depleted, mature offshore Congo oil field with viscous oil (22 °API) in a cost‑effective manner.
Spain’s Repsol, LLOG to Partner on Deepwater US Gulf Developments
The pact, which builds on the firms’ current partnership on the Buckskin project, covers four Keathley Canyon blocks including the Leon and Moccasin discoveries.
Blacktip: Shell’s New Discovery in the Gulf of Mexico
The explorer has so far encountered 400 ft of reservoir pay zone in an area where it has three other producing fields.
ConocoPhillips to Exit UK E&P Business in $2.7-Billion Sale
With the purchase, the growing, privately-held Chrysaor Holdings will expand its UK North Sea production to 185,000 BOE/D.
ExxonMobil’s Guyana Offshore Discovery Count Rises to 13
Yellowtail-1 is the fifth discovery in the Turbot area, where ExxonMobil plans another Stabroek Block development hub.
Majors, IOCs Win Blocks in Argentine Offshore Bid Round
Thirteen companies placed bids on 18 blocks in the Austral, North Argentina, and Malvinas West basins as part of Argentina’s first open bid round for offshore acreage in more than 20 years.
Energean Makes Gas Find Off Israel, Estimates More Than 1 Tcf in Place
The discovery will be tied back to the 775-MMcf/D Energean Power FPSO, advancing Israel’s aim of becoming a regional gas supply hub.
Israel’s Delek Group to Buy Stake from Shell in US Gulf Field for Almost $1 Billion
The move is part of Delek’s strategy to expand its operations beyond the Eastern Mediterranean region. Shell, meanwhile, is in the midst of a $10-billion divestment program.
Majors Drive Increase in Global Oil and Gas Discovered Resources
Conventional oil and gas discovered resources in 2019 are on pace to rise 30% from last year and reach their highest level since the beginning of the industry downturn. Here, a recap of the first quarter's 15 biggest oil and gas discoveries, which altogether are propelling the increase.
Repsol, ExxonMobil Latest to Add Colombian E&P Blocks
Colombia now counts Repsol, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Noble Energy as companies committed to exploration in its portion of the Caribbean Sea.
New Gas-Separation Technology Reduces Cost, Weight, and Footprint
Hydrocarbon processing and treating systems often require large and elaborate surface facilities. When operating in challenging locations, such as deep water or the Arctic, these systems can be expensive. This paper discusses a new adsorption-based gas-separation technology platform.
Noble Energy, Shell to Explore Colombian Caribbean Sea
Noble’s farm-in to blocks recently awarded to Shell marks the Houston-based independent’s entry into Colombia, where the government hopes to boost offshore exploration.
UK Releases 130 Terabytes of Oil and Gas Data
Data from the UK Oil and Gas Authority’s new data repository cover 12,500 offshore wellbores, 5,000 seismic surveys, and 3,000 pipelines.
PTTEP to Buy Murphy Oil’s Malaysian Business for $2.1 Billion
Thailand’s PTTEP is doubling down on Malaysian oil and gas in an effort to broaden its reach in its native Southeast Asia.
Shell Dominates US Gulf Lease Sale
The major’s dominant showing in US Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 252 propelled another rise in bids and dollars for the biannual regionwide auction.
Global Oilfield Services Market Won’t Recover Until 2025
The financial effects of the downturn are set to last at least a decade—which puts the industry almost at the halfway point. This is according to a new report that says the FPSO market is the most “unscathed” of all the service segments.
Change in Energy Sector is So Extreme Oil Companies May Need to Share Data
Oil companies generate an enormous amount of data but are reluctant to share it. But more sharing of information may be required in the future to keep up with a rapidly changing energy landscape.
Managed-Pressure Drilling Used Successfully for Offshore HP/HT Exploration Wells
This paper discusses the successful application of managed-pressure drilling (MPD) in the basin with reduction in risks and well costs.
Managed-Pressure Drilling Solves HP/HT Challenges Offshore Vietnam
This paper discusses how managed-pressure-drilling (MPD) technology led to cost savings in two wells drilled in the Hai Thach gas field offshore southern Vietnam.
Continuous-Circulation Technique Drills Narrow-Margin Deepwater Wells
This paper describes the drilling of high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) deepwater wells through an ultranarrow pore-pressure fracture gradient (PPFG) window by means of technology application and strict procedural control.
STAY CONNECTED
Don't miss out on the latest technology delivered to your email weekly. Sign up for the JPT newsletter. If you are not logged in, you will receive a confirmation email that you will need to click on to confirm you want to receive the newsletter.
ADVERTISEMENT
CURRENT ISSUE
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
