E&P Highlights: July 29, 2024

From Venezuela granting an offshore license to BP and NGC to Atlas Energy Solutions using autonomous trucks, below is a compilation of the latest headlines in the E&P space.

Activity headlines

Energean Takes FID on Katlan Development Project

Energean has made a $1.2 billion final investment decision (FID) for the Katlan development project in Israel, the company said July 23.

The development plan, approved by the Israeli Government in December 2023, estimates the initial phase to contain 229 MMboe. The project is set to commence gas production in the first half of 2027. 

Discovered in 2022, the Katlan area will be developed through a subsea tieback to the existing Energean Power FPSO. Capex for the project encompasses subsea infrastructure, FPSO topside upgrades and the drilling of the first two production wells, Athena and Zeus.

The wider Katlan area holds an additional 223 MMboe of prospective volumes across other accumulations that will be targeted in subsequent development phases.

In addition to the FID, Energean secured a 30-year lease for the Katlan area from the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, with an option to extend for an additional 20 years. The Ministry also ratified the Hermes discovery in the newly named Drakon area (Block 31) made as part of the drilling campaign in 2022.

Energean is the sole owner and operator of the project.

BP, NGC Sign E&P Deal for Offshore Venezuela’s Cocuina Field

BP and The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. signed a 20-year natural gas E&P agreement related to the offshore Venezuelan Cocuina gas field.

Development of the Cocuina Field, located in Venezuela’s Plataforma Deltana, will allow Venezuela to develop its non-associated gas reserves and provide Trinidad with gas to supply its ammonia, methanol and LNG sectors.

Cocuina, part of Manakin-Cocuina cross border gas field, will produce an estimated 400 MMcf/d, the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago said in a July 25 press release. BP already holds the license for the Manakin Field located on the Trinidad side of the maritime border.

Production from the field is anticipated to supply 25% of Trinidad’s petrochemical sector while 75% will be destined to supply Atlantic LNG with much needed feed gas.

“This achievement is unprecedented and has never been done before in Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela for a cross-border hydrocarbon field,” Stuart Young, the head of Trinidad’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) said July 25 in a social media post.

Contracts and company news

BP Awards Subsea Integration Alliance EPCI Contract Offshore UK

BP awarded Subsea Integration Alliance a sizeable contract for the Murlach development, 240 km east of Aberdeen in the U.K. North Sea, Subsea 7 said on July 29. The contract is valued at between $50 million and $150 million.

The project’s work scope covers the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the subsea pipelines and production systems. OneSubsea will deliver two vertical monobore trees, a two-slot manifold and associated topside controls.

Subsea7 will install 8 km of rigid flowline and two flexible jumpers, along with associated subsea infrastructure. The flowline will be tied-back to the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) facility. Offshore operations are expected to be executed in 2025.

SLB Collaborates with Aker BP on AI-driven Digital Platform

SLB has agreed a to long-term partnership with Aker BP to co-develop a digital platform driven by AI to deliver improvements in efficiency across the company’s E&P operations.

SLB and Aker BP plan on creating a unified data environment in the cloud on an integrated platform for subsurface workflows. The platform will use AI and domain expertise from SLB and Aker BP to glean insights on previously inaccessible data. 

“By co-developing AI-powered digital technologies, we will transform Aker BP’s subsurface workflows, accelerate planning cycles, increase production and reduce costs across their entire E&P life cycle,” said Rakesh Jaggi, president of digital and integration at SLB.

“The platform we develop with SLB is a key step in realizing our strategy to build the E&P company of the future and cement our position as a digital leader,” said Per Øyvind Seljebotn, senior vice president of exploration and reservoir development at Aker BP.  

In a similar partnership, SLB collaborated with Rockwell Automation, Sensia and Cognite in May 2023 to fundamentally transform FPSO asset design, construction and operation using digital technologies.

That coalition aims to enhance operational visibility while reducing failures and downtime. The initiative highlights the industry's transition towards openness and collaboration to deliver operator value.

Strohm Wins TCP Flowline Contract with TotalEnergies EP Brasil

TotalEnergies EP Brasil awarded Strohm a contract to supply thermoplastic composite pipeline (TCP) flowlines for an offshore field located in Brazil’s Santos Basin.

With an inner diameter of 6 inches and a 600-bar design pressure, the TCP flowline will be used for gas injection in water depths of 2,200 m. It will be installed using a standard pipelay support vessel like those currently operating in Brazil.

Strohm’s TCP flowlines are expected to be installed in 2026. Strohm said the award is a first for its TCP solution in ultradeep water.

Atlas Energy Solutions to Outfit Autonomous Driving Tech for Kodiak  Trucks

Atlas Energy Solutions entered into an agreement to outfit new Atlas high-capacity trucks with Kodiak Robotic’s autonomous driving technology, the companies said on July 23.

Under the agreement, Kodiak will provide its Kodiak Driver technology to Atlas via a driver-as-a-service licensing agreement.

Atlas will own the trucks, and Kodiak will provide Kodiak Driver’s hardware and software stack, which is designed for scalable driverless deployment. Kodiak will also provide operational support services, including remote monitoring from its operations center.

The two companies have already completed their first driverless delivery of frac sand in the Permian Basin. The 21-mile delivery used an unmanned vehicle to transport Atlas’ frac sand from an Atlas depot to a wellsite.

The companies also announced that Atlas has placed an order for Kodiak-equipped driverless trucks that will deliver frac sand across the Permian Basin’s existing infrastructure of private lease roads.

Early next year, Atlas plans to launch commercial operations using its first two trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver.

GA Drilling and Petrobras to Develop Downhole Drilling System

GA Drilling has partnered with Petrobras to develop a next-generation efficient downhole drilling system, the company said on July 25.

The collaboration aims to enable deep and complex offshore wells to be drilled from a light well intervention vessel rather than a more costly semi-sub or drillship, saving 30% of well construction cost.

The partnership pairs Petrobras with GA Drilling’s technology, a downhole anchoring and drive system that will form the cornerstone of an advanced, autonomous reeled drilling system. GA Drilling’s system enables the replacement of conventional drill pipe with reeled continuous tubing, the company said. The system minimizes pipe handling hazards, tripping times and well control risk.

The technology also includes sophisticated drilling automation and control systems and real-time wireline communications to the surface.

STRYDE Awarded 11 Seismic Survey Contracts

Since July 2023, onshore seismic data company STRYDE has secured 11 new contracts, delivering subsurface insights to companies across the globe, the company announced July 23.

STRYDE provides its conventional and in-field processing services for 2D and 3D seismic surveys in various countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Ukraine, the U.S., Colombia and Brazil. STRYDE Lens, the company’s in-field processing solution, has been selected for four of the 11 processing projects.

Earlier this year, DTEK Oil and Gas, Ukraine’s largest private energy operator, purchased STRYDE’s nodal acquisition system and processed the acquired data using the STRYDE Lens solution. The use of STRYDE Lens reduced the time between acquisition and delivery of the seismic image by 88%.

“The quality of the Lens image rivaled that of the conventional processed image that was concurrently being progressed and took four months to deliver,” Yevgeniy Solodkyi, DTEK’s head of exploration, said in a press release. “During a critical phase of our drilling program, this rapid delivery was instrumental. The detailed structural insights provided by the STRYDE Lens image enabled us to swiftly pinpoint optimal drilling locations and move the drilling equipment to the relevant location much earlier than expected.”

Companies in the mining, water exploration and oil and gas sectors have also chosen STRYDE for conventional production processing of 2D lines and 3D seismic surveys.