World of Oil and Gas

Vol. 234 No. 9

Shell’s Olympus TLP secured at Mars B field in deepwater GOM

The Olympus tension leg platform (TLP) reached the Mars B field on July 20, and has now been secured in place safely. Olympus should start production in 2014, producing 100,000 boed. The site is about 130 mi south of New Orleans in the Mississippi Canyon, and lies in approximately 3,000 ft of water. Mars field is owned by Shell (71.5%) and BP (28.5%). Discovered in 1989 and brought into production in 1996, Mars field is considered one of the largest resource basins in the Gulf of Mexico. Olympus will also provide process infrastructure for two of Shell’s deepwater discoveries, West Boreas and South Deimos.

Apache well pushes North Sea field production higher

Apache Corporation said that its third well in Bacchus field, in the UK North Sea, has pushed field production past 17,600 bopd. Apache has a 50% interest in the field. The Bacchus B-1 development well, which went onstream in July, is producing 9,400 bopd. Apache logged 2,057 ft of net oil pay along a horizontal completion segment in the field’s western fault block. Oil from Bacchus is produced through a subsea tie-back to Apache’s Forties Alpha platform. Following the recent success at Bacchus, Apache has extended its current Forties 3D seismic survey area to cover other Jurassic development and exploration targets in licences in the Bacchus area. Apache has brought three new fields—Bacchus, Maule and Tonto—on production in the Forties area since 2009. All three developments qualified under the UK government’s small field allowance system, which provides economic incentives for operators to bring these discoveries into production. A little more than a year after first production, Bacchus has produced 3 MMbbl of oil, the company said. Photo courtesy of Apache Corporation.

Investigation finds that 2012 explosion, fire on GOM platform occurred during welding

An explosion and fire during a construction project last November on a Gulf of Mexico oil production platform operated by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations occurred after contractors failed to follow standard safety practices, a third-party investigator has concluded. The platform is in GOM Block West Delta 32, 17 mi southeast of Grand Isle, La. After an eight-month investigation, ABSG Consulting found that, while production was shut in, workers welded on piping that was connected to a tank containing crude oil and flammable oil vapors without following Black Elk’s safety practices. ABSG was retained by Black Elk to investigate the Nov. 16, 2012, incident that resulted in the deaths of three workers and injuries to others. ABSG coordinated its investigation with the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Osage has good, initial production from horizontal Mississippian well

Osage Exploration and Development has announced preliminary production results on the Mallard 1-16H horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Okla. The well, in Section 16-17N-3W, achieved a 24-hr peak initial production rate of 705 bbl, plus associated natural gas on an ESP and a 48/64-in. choke.

Rosneft, Exxon Mobil proceed with planned LNG project 

Rosneft and Exxon Mobil continue to move the Russian Far East LNG project forward. The contractor selection process for design and engineering work has officially begun. In 2013-2014, Rosneft and Exxon Mobil plan to complete design work, including selection of a liquefaction technology and identification of major equipment requirements; perform engineering surveys; develop FEED and Russian Proyekt documentation for the LNG plant; build hydro-technical marine facilities and a source gas pipeline; and perform EIA. Given the fact that offshore fields are difficult to reach, and are not connected to the national gas supply system, the most efficient way to monetize these resources is to liquefy the natural gas and sell the LNG
in export markets. Photo courtesy of Rosneft.

Reliance Industries is considering expanding its presence in Venezuela, with potential participation in more projects in the South American country, officials from both parties said. Venezuela is looking for Reliance’s collaboration on the construction of the $10-billion Cabruta refinery, and development of the Junin 1 Block in the Orinoco heavy oil belt, as well as an expansion of the Petroanzoategui upgrader facility, said Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads PdVSA. Neither side gave specific details on the potential joint ventures and said they expected to define terms of the deals in the upcoming months. Through an oil supply deal, Venezuela ships around 320,000 bpd of heavy crude to India’s Jamnagar refinery. It accounts for about 70% of Reliance’s heavy oil supply, and about 12% of India’s overall consumption.

Chevron will make a final investment decision on the Kitimat LNG project in 2014, said George Kirkland, head of Chevron’s upstream business. Chevron bought a 50% stake in the project in a deal completed in February, becoming an equal partner with Apache. Apache originally planned to make a decision in late 2011 or early 2012 on whether to proceed with the project, but later suspended that deadline because of the slow pace of finding customers. Chevron is still trying to line up buyers for the natural gas it plans to export. The company won’t approve the project until it has lined up customers for at least 60% of Kitimat’s total 5 MMmt/year of export capacity, something it expects to happen in 2014, said Kirkland.

Petrobras has announced the results of the first extension well, 3-SES-176D (3-BRSA-1178D-SES), informally known as Farfan 1, in Block SEAL-M-426 of the BM-SEAL-11 concession area, in the ultra-deep waters of the Sergipe basin. The results obtained confirm the extent of the previous light oil discovery in the Farfan area, in line with an October 2012 statement. The well is 104 km from the city of Aracaju, some 5 km from the discovery well, and at a water depth of 2,476 m. The well confirmed a 51-m-thick reservoir with good permoporosity characteristics, and was still in the drilling phase as this issue went to press. A formation test will be conducted to assess reservoir productivity.

Marathon Oil announces first deepwater Gabon
pre-salt find

Marathon Oil’s Diaman-1B pre-salt, deepwater exploration well, offshore Gabon, has encountered 160 to 180 net ft of pay. Preliminary analysis suggests that the hydrocarbons are natural gas with condensate content, pending results of ongoing analyses of well data. The Diaman-1B well was drilled to a TD of 18,323 ft, in about 5,673 ft of water in the Diaba G4-223 license. Diaman-1B successfully confirms the existence of a working petroleum system, and is the first discovery drilled in the deepwater portion of the pre-salt play. Diaman-1B is more than 60 mi away from the nearest, additional pre-salt commercial discovery. The operator and partners are evaluating the well results, and incorporating them into an overall evaluation of the Diaman-1B discovery.

Statoil hits new oil discovery in Flemish Pass basin

Statoil has discovered oil on the Bay du Nord prospect (EL1112), about 500 km northeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador, Canada. This is Statoil’s second discovery offshore Newfoundland this year. In June, a discovery was made at the Harpoon prospect, which is about 10 km from Bay du Nord. Statoil Exploration Executive V.P. Tim Dodson said that, as the volumes of both the Bay du Nord and Harpoon wells continue to be evaluated, the company is developing a greater understanding of the basin’s geology and potential. The Bay du Nord and Harpoon wells were drilled by the semisubmersible rig, West Aquarius, both in approximately 1,100 m of water. Bay du Nord is about 20 km south of Statoil’s Mizzen discovery. Photo courtesy of Seadrill.

Comments? Write: editorial@worldoil.com