E&P Highlights: May 8, 2023

Activity headlines

TPAO strikes major oil with onshore well

Turkish oil company TPAO reported on May 3 its latest onshore exploration well holds an estimated 1 Bbbl of oil in place.

The Şehit Aybüke Yalçın-1 exploration well was drilled to 2,771 m TD and encountered more than 162 m of light oil-bearing reservoir in Cretaceous carbonates. TPAO said the find, which encountered 41 degree API oil, is the largest onshore discovery to date in Turkey.

“TPAO will drill back-to-back appraisal wells and conduct well tests to construct the full-field development plan until the end of 2023,” Melih Han Bilgin, TPAO’s chairman and CEO said in a press release. “Test production from Şehit Aybüke Yalçın is already started as of end of April 2023 and the production target is set to 100,000 bbl/d.”

The company expects to spud additional wells in the Cudi-Gabar area later this year, and the company has agreed on a FEED for the pipeline, the CEO said.

TPAO holds 100 percent interest in the discovery.

Cameia, Golfinho fields inch toward FID

Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG), TotalEnergies EP Angola and Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção announced on May 2 they had signed a heads of agreement related to the future development of the Cameia and Golfinho fields in Blocks 20 and 21 in the Kwanza Basin.

A final investment decision is expected later in 2023, after partners and authorities’ approval.

The project will feature an FPSO connected to a subsea network of wells. It will use electrical generation from a cycle turbine and follow a zero flaring concept.

Paulo Jerónimo, chairman of the board of ANPG, said the agreement should allow the first production in the maritime zone of the Kwanza Basin.

“For some time now, we want Blocks 20 and 21 to start producing, and we target a final investment decision this year, allowing soon that the offshore Kwanza Basin begins production,” Sonagal Chairman Gaspar Martins said.

TotalEnergies EP Angola Blocks 20-21 operates the blocks with an 80% interest in each block, while Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção S.A holds the remaining 20%.

More Bahia Terra Cluster production authorized

Petrobras announced May 2 that the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) had authorized the oil company to resume production from 6 more facilities located in the fields of Taquipe, Buracica, Fazenda Alvorada, Rio Do Bu and Cidade de Entre Rios in the Bahia Terra Cluster.

The restart brings the Bahia Terra Cluster output back up to 43% of the cluster’s total production.

A2D decommissioning continues

Perenco and Petrodec announced May 5 that the A2D platform topside in the Amethyst Field on the U.K. Continental Shelf has been removed for final dismantling.

Petrodec’s patented “skidding” technique was used on the ERDA jackup in the Southern North Sea. With a weight of 1,179 tons, this was the heaviest Amethyst topside to have been removed so far.

Perenco Group affiliate Petrodec was granted operator status by the U.K. NSTA on behalf of Perenco U.K. to handle the A2D decommissioning project.

The final operations to remove the topsides and four steel jackets of platform A1D are scheduled from January 2024.

Perenco acquired the Amethyst Field from BP in 2012 as part a package of Southern North Sea assets.

Contracts and company news

Shell picks Worley for Sparta’s FPU FEED

Worley announced May 8 that Shell had awarded it a contract to provide engineering, design, procurement support, construction and commissioning support for the FEED for the Sparta lightweight floating production unit (FPU).

The contract also includes detailed design and follow-on phases of the FPU project.

FID on the project, which formerly was named North Platte, is expected this year.

Shell operates Sparta, in Garden Banks Blocks 915, 916, 958 and 959, with 51% interest on behalf of Equinor with 49% interest.

Subsea 7 wins a pair of contracts

Subsea 7 won contracts for LLOG Exploration Offshore’s Salamanca project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, as well as a subsea tieback in the West Nile Delta block offshore Egypt for a BP-operated project.

On May 3, Subsea 7 announced the Subsea Integration Alliance to which it belongs had won a contract for the two-well tieback for the Raven Infills Project offshore Egypt. The contract scope includes the engineering, procurement, transport and installation of approximately 6 km of flexible pipes, umbilical and associated subsea structures in water depths of around 800 m.

On May 2, Subsea 7 announced LLOG had awarded the company a contract to install three infield subsea pipeline systems and to design and fabricate subsea structures for the Salamanca project, which includes the Leon field in Block 686 and Castile fields in Block 736 in Keathley Canyon.

Subsea development will consist of two pipeline systems for the Leon field and one pipeline system for the Castile field. The infield pipelines will produce and flow from the wellsites to the Salamanca floating production system in water depths ranging from 1,800 m to 2,000 m.

The scope also includes installing oil and gas export pipelines leaving the Salamanca production facility and tying into existing pipeline transport systems approximately 48 km away.

Offshore activity is expected to begin in 2024.

Aker Solutions for Moho Nord trees

TotalEnergies awarded a contract to Aker Solutions to provide deepwater standard subsea production systems for three additional infill wells tied-back to the Moho Nord field in the Republic of the Congo, Aker Solutions announced May 4.

Aker Solutions will deliver its standard and configurable deepwater subsea production systems, including subsea christmas trees, control systems, wellheads and related tie-ins and distribution systems for the Moho Nord field. Final deliveries scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.

Moho Nord is in water depths of 750 m to 1,200 m. It came onstream in 2017.

TotalEnergies is the operator of the field with 53.5%, with partners Chevron with 31.5% and Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo with 15%.

SBM inks Guyana FPSO operations deal

SBM Offshore announced May 2 it had signed a 10-year operations and maintenance enabling agreement with Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Ltd. for the operations and maintenance of FPSOs Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity and ONE GUYANA.

The lease terms and durations remain the same for all units, with a 10-year lease for FPSO Liza Destiny and an up to 2-year lease for FPSOs Liza Unity, Prosperity and ONE GUYANA, after which the FPSOs’ ownership will transfer to the client.

Trendsetter wins Tamar order

Trendsetter Engineering Inc. announced May 2 that Chevron had ordered TC2 and TC16 Connection Systems, along with multiple subsea manifold structures for the Tamar expansion project in the Mediterranean.

ODL reports rig contracts

Odfjell Drilling Ltd. (ODL) announced May 5 that GalpEnergia would use the Hercules rig to drill a pair of wells offshore Namibia. The contract is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023 and run for 115 days, including mobilization to Namibia.

And on May 4, ODL announced Equinor had signed on for additional work with its Deepsea Aberdeen and Deepsea Stavanger rigs.

The Deepsea Aberdeen will drill new wells on the Svalin Field starting in the fourth quarter of 2023 with an estimated duration of 174 days at an approximate value of $67 million, excluding integrated services, performance and fuel performance incentives.

Equinor exercised options for the Deepsea Stavanger, which will extend that rig’s backlog through the first quarter of 2024.

Valaris updates fleet status

Valaris Ltd. updated its fleet status on May 1.

The company will reactivate its Valaris DS-8 floater for a three-year contract with Petrobras valued at approximately $500 million, including a $30 million mobilization fee.

The Valaris DS-12 won a 100-day contract with a TotalEnergies affiliate for work expected to begin in the second quarter of 2023.

TotalEnergies EP Brasil exercised a price option drillship VALARIS DS-15, which keeps the rig under contract through the second quarter of 2024 at an operating day rate for the 100-day option period is approximately $254,000.

Harbour Energy extended the Valaris 92 jackup for two years of plug and abandonment work in the U.K. North Sea. The extension period is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2024 in direct continuation of the existing contract.

Beach Energy signed the Valaris 107 on for a 70-day contract for operations offshore New Zealand in a deal valued at $26 million and expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023.

NEO Energy signed the Valaris Norway jackup to drill one well in the U.K. North Sea at a day rate of $105,000. The contract is expected to begin in July 2023 and has an estimated duration of 20 days.

Regulatory updates

BOEM launches the Environmental Studies hub

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on May 1 the availability of its Environmental Studies Program (ESP) Hub, a new online platform aimed at improving public access to BOEM’s collection of ocean science research. 

The ESP Hub replaces the previous geoESPIS search tool.

Stakeholders with specific information needs, such as program analysts and government scientists, can continue to search and view BOEM ESP reports through the GovInfo Search Tool, hosted by the Government Publishing Office.