E&P Highlights: May 22, 2023

From hydrocarbons in the Campos Basin to contracts for a Black Sea project, below is a compilation of the latest headlines in the E&P space.

Activity headlines

Petrobras Hits Hydrocarbons in Aram Block

Petrobras announced May 17 it found hydrocarbons in a pre-salt appraisal well in the Aram Block of the Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

Well 3-BRSA-1387D-SPS, in 1,979 m water depth, was still in progress at the time of the announcement. Petrobras said the oil-bearing interval was verified through wireline logging and fluid samples, which will be further characterized through laboratory analyses. According to the operator, the data will enable evaluation of the area’s potential and help direct exploratory activities in the area.

The discovery augments the possibilities of expanding the accumulation discovered by the wildcat well 1-BRSA-1381-SPS in the block, according to Petrobras.

Petrobras operates the block with 80% interest on behalf of partner CNPC with 20%.

FSO Pargo Moored in Campos Basin

Perenco Brazil announced May 16 that hook-up of the floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel for the Pargo project in the Campos Basin is complete.

The hook-up included the connection of nine mooring lines and the new production line from the Pargo platform. The lines will connect to the new turret, which was integrated in Dubai as a key part of the FSO conversion. The FSO PARGO, which has 750,000 bbl of storage capacity, will serve the Pargo Cluster offshore Brazil. 

Perenco said it will next submit its documents to Brazilian regulatory authorities for the FSO’s operations license.

Contracts and company news

Uaru Umbilical Goes to Aker Solutions

Exxon Mobil awarded Aker Solutions the contract for the dynamic and static subsea umbilical for the Uaru project offshore Guyana, Aker Solutions said on May 19.

Under the contract, Aker Solutions will deliver three dynamic and seven static umbilicals totaling more than 52 km in length. Project execution, engineering and manufacturing will take place at the Aker Solutions facility in Mobile, Alabama. The work begins immediately with delivery planned for first-quarter 2026.

Previously, Aker Solutions received the umbilical awards for the Payara and Yellowtail projects.

Sakarya Contracts Revealed

Subsea 7 confirmed May 22 that an award it had announced earlier in May from an unnamed operator was from Turkish Petroleum. The work is for the two-phase Sakarya Field development offshore Türkiye in the Black Sea. Phase two remains subject to sanction.

The contract was awarded to a consortium of Subsea7 and its partner Subsea Integration Alliance, OneSubsea2, as well as SLB and Saipem. The integrated project scope of the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract will cover the subsurface solutions, including subsea production systems (SPS), subsea umbilicals and flowlines (SURF).  

The scope of work to be executed by Subsea7 comprises the EPCI of approximately 37 km of infield flowlines, 47 km of control umbilicals and associated subsea equipment in water depths of 2,000 m. The contract also includes additional FEED studies and options to further extend the scope of work.

Sapiem said May 18 it will carry out EPCI of a 175-km-long, 16-inch pipeline to be installed in 2,200 m water depth deep in the Turkish waters of the Black Sea for the project. Saipem’s Castarone will being offshore operations in the summer of 2024. Saipem recently completed the first phase of the Sakarya gas field development project.

Saipem Wins Decommissioning Work

Saipem said May 18 that in addition to the Sakarya project, it had won a decommissioning contract from EnQues Heaher in the North Sea.

For EnQuest Heather, Sapiem will dismantle the Thistle A platform, located in the British sector of the North Sea in a water depth of 162 m. Saipem's activities include the engineering, preparation, removal and disposal of the jacket and topsides, with possible extension to further subsea structures. The Saipem 7000 semi-sub will carry out the activities.

The contracts are valued at a total of $850 million.

Equinor Taps Technip for RLWI

TechnipFMC announced May 18 it had won a contract from Equinor for riserless light well intervention (RLWI) services on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The two-year contract runs from 2024 to 2025, with three one-year options to extend. TechnipFMC will provide production enhancement, production data and pre-plug and abandonment services to Equinor.

Expro Wins Harbour Energy Work

Expro announced May 22 it had won a contract from Harbour Energy for a well abandonment campaign as part of the decommissioning project for the Balmoral area of the U.K. Continental Shelf.

The contract, valued at more than $20 million, will use Expro’s Subsea Well Access technology with a combination of open-water and in-riser applications deployed from a semi-submersible rig.

Tenaris Scoops Neptune Equipment Contract

Neptune Energy on May 16 announced awarding Tenaris a $100-million contract to provide equipment and services to support drilling activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The contract covers the manufacture, transport, handling and repair of a broad range of casing materials used in offshore drilling activities. Initially this will include support for one exploration well and one appraisal well in the Neptune-operated Gjøa area in the Norwegian Sea in 2023.

The five-year contract has two two-year extension options.

QatarEnergy Awards LNG Trains Contract

Technip Energies announced May 16 that a joint venture (JV), T.ENCCC JV, led by Technip Energies in partnership with Consolidated Contractors Co., has won an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract from QatarEnergy for the onshore facilities of the North Field South Project onshore Qatar.

This award includes delivery of two mega trains, each with a capacity of 8 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG. It will include a large CO₂ carbon capture and sequestration facility of 1.5 mtpa.