Companies in the news
Atwood Oceanics’ jackup rig, the Atwood Mako, has entered into a minimum, 70-day agreement to provide drilling services in Southeast Asia at an operating day rate of $155,000. The contract includes a priced option for an additional term. The rig is offshore Malaysia, and will mobilize to its new location in late March, in direct continuation of its current program.
Singapore-based independent KrisEnergy Ltd. said that it and partner Eni (operator) have received amended certificates for Blocks 105 and 120, offshore Vietnam, from the Vietnamese government. Reflecting the fact that Neon Energy has pulled out of interests in both blocks, the amended certificates now show Eni holding 66.67% of Block 105, with KrisEnergy in possession of the remaining 33.33%. In Block 120, Eni and KrisEnergy now hold the same percentage interests as in Block 105.
Bahamas Petroleum Co. Chief Executive Simon Potter voiced some encouraging news about the eventual spudding of his firm’s first wildcat, offshore The Bahamas. Potter said a new bill, the “New Bahamian Petroleum Act,” has been introduced to the country’s parliament, and it was anticipated at press time that it would become law. He believes the new bill will provide the industry with much greater regulatory certainty for E&P projects. Potter also said that his firm significantly reduced the expected cost of its first exploration well, through re-engineering and reduced rig rates, to a target of $50 million to $60 million.
UK independent Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc has signed a farm-out agreement for its 100%-owned Tarbes Val d’Adour permit, onshore France, with Vermilion REP SAS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vermilion Energy Inc., a Calgary, Alberta-based producer. Tarbes is in the Aquitaine basin and previously produced oil from two fields. Meanwhile, the farm-out process for Europa’s other French permit, Bearn des Gaves, also in the Aquitaine basin, is on-going, in parallel with planning and permitting for a shallow well to evaluate 107 Bcf of contingent resources.
Kea Petroleum, a junior British independent with a focus on New Zealand, said it has launched a review into the “strategic options” for the company, including a potential merger, acquisition or asset disposal. In a statement released on Feb. 16, Kea said it is conducting a “careful evaluation” of its business plan, operational assets and development strategy, and is looking at the market valuation of its assets and capital structure. In January, Kea said it had shut-in production at the Puka site in the Taranaki producing region of New Zealand, after it was unable to resolve mechanical issues that it has sustained with the Puka-1 well. Given falling oil prices, the company decided to shut in production until project economics improve.
Eni Norge has signed a contract with TOOLS for the provision of services and supplies to the Goliat FPSO. The three-year contract, with options to extend, includes the provision of tools and other consumables for the Goliat field project. The platform should arrive in Hammerfest by early April, before being towed out to the field. Production start-up at Goliat, the first oil field to come into production in the Barents Sea, should take place by mid-2015.
Subsea 7 has been awarded a contract by Woodside Energy for the Persephone Work Pack 2 fabrication, subsea installation and diving services project, offshore Australia. The Persephone project consists of two wells, tied into a subsea production manifold, with production fluids transported to the existing North Rankin Complex. The contract includes additional deconstruction and pipeline suspension work in Echo-Yodel field at the Goodwyn Alpha platform. Operations should begin in fourth-quarter 2015.
Survey and mapping provider C & C Technologies has agreed to be acquired by Oceaneering International. C & C Technologies will retain its name, and will continue to be headquartered in Lafayette, La. The transaction should be completed in early April 2015.
Spun off from the subsea integrity segment of 2H Offshore, Clarus Subsea Integrity started up business as a new Acteon operating company during January. Clarus is based in Houston, with operations led by John MacDonald (V.P.) and Dharmik Vadel (V.P.), who had both previously managed subsea integrity activities within 2H Offshore.
Freudenberg Oil & Gas Technologies’ petroleum elastomers manufacturing plant in Houston has received an API 16A license to build annular packing units. This license gives the company rights to use the official API monogram on its WellProtek product line.
Superior Drilling Products (SDPI) has purchased the exclusive manufacturing, marketing and sales rights, and current inventory, of the OrBIT completion drill bit product line from Tenax Energy Solutions. The purchase price was approximately $300,000, plus term payments of up to $2 million, subject to future OrBIT sales revenue over a two-year period. The deal also provides SDPI the right of first refusal on any new, or additional, intellectual property of Tenax Energy Solutions.
The extension to the Discovery natural gas gathering pipeline system is now flowing gas, according to JV partners Williams and DCP. The 20-in., 209-mi Keathley Canyon Connector (capable of gathering 400 MMcfgd) and the South Timbalier Block 283 junction platform are serving deepwater producers in the central Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline terminates into Discovery’s 30-in. diameter mainline at its new junction platform, approximately 300 mi south-southwest of New Orleans. The pipeline is in water depths of up to 7,200 ft.
Fossil Bay Energy has entered into a license agreement with Weatherford Technology for the exclusive right in the U.S. to make, use and sell exhaust gas-handling equipment, using three Weatherford patents for reservoir injection and pressurization applications. Fossil Bay’s portable CO2 EOR process eliminates the need for pipeline-supplied CO2, because its mobile CO2/N2 gas-injection units produce exhaust gas directly at the wellhead.
Otto Marine has secured two long-term charter contracts for two platform supply vessels (PSVs) to an oil major in Australia. Under the contracts, totaling $64 million, two 4,000-dwt capacity PSVs will be mobilized to Australia in March-April 2015. Each of the two contracts carries a firm charter period and option.
The North Caspian Operating Company has awarded a $1.8-billion, E&C contract to Saipem for two, 95-km pipelines in Kashagan field, connecting D island in the Caspian Sea to the Karabatan onshore plant in Kazakhstan. The 28-in. pipelines are made of carbon steel. Construction will be completed by the end of 2016.
Precision Polymer Engineering has opened its 30,000-ft2 seals manufacturing facility in Brenham, Texas. The plant will manufacture high-pressure and high-temperature seals for drilling, semiconductor and heavy equipment applications.
Drillinginfo has launched the Drillinginfo Index, an indicator of new onshore U.S. oil and gas production trends. The index uses drilling locations, along with permit and production data, to track well activity, identify newly drilled wells, and estimate peak output, to predict changes in new production capacity at the national, county and operator level. 
