E&P Highlights: Nov. 13, 2023

From collaborations and contracts to the new bid round offshore Suriname, below is a compilation of the latest headlines in the E&P space. 

Activity headlines

Find Near Gina Krog Could Go Online This Year

Equinor reported a small but commercially viable gas discovery on Nov. 6 by the Gina Krog Field in the North Sea with the possibility of gas production starting this year.

This is the first commercial discovery in the Gina Krog license since 2011, capable of utilizing existing infrastructure by the Gina Krog platform. The well was drilled by the Noble Lloyd Noble rig as a development well with an exploration target. The plan is to put the well into production during the fourth quarter of 2023, Equinor said. Preparations have been carried out on Gina Krog so that the well can quickly start production.

The recoverable volumes are estimated between 5 MMboe and 16 MMboe.

Equinor operates the license with 58.7% interest on behalf of partners KUFPEC Norway AS with 30% and PGNiG Upstream Norway AS with 11.3%.

Contracts and company news

Weatherford, Honeywell Sign Emissions MOU

Weatherford International Plc said Nov. 7 it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Honeywell to deliver a combined CygNet SCADA and Honeywell Emissions Management suite for emissions management and decarbonization.

The MOU leverages Weatherford’s CygNet SCADA platform, which allows operators to process data and information in real-time to support daily operations and strategic decision making, and Honeywell's Emission Management suite, an outcome-based offering that helps customers measure, monitor, report and reduce emissions. The integrated system will facilitate immediate access to essential data, empower decision-makers to act swiftly to mitigate risks and enhance operational efficiency to achieve decarbonization targets.

Halliburton, Sekal Automating Well Construction

Halliburton Co. and Sekal AS announced on Nov. 7 a joint venture to provide leading well construction automation solutions as part of a longer-term strategy to deliver fully automated drilling operations. Under the agreement, Halliburton and Sekal are collaborating on technologies and services that incorporate Halliburton’s digitally integrated well construction solutions and the Sekal DrillTronics automation platform. 

Deployed across multiple projects, the technologies provide end-to-end solutions that automate well construction services from planning to execution. Halliburton and Sekal will expand these projects for other customers.  

ONGC Taps McDermott for KG-DWN-98/2 Project

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) awarded McDermott a transportation and installation contract for the KG-DWN-98/2 development project offshore east India, McDermott announced Nov. 7.

The contract is valued at between $50 million and $250 million. Under the scope of the contract, McDermott will transport and install a central processing platform (CPP) and living quarters. Once installed, the CPP will be used to process wet gas which will then be transferred from the platform to an onshore terminal.

The CPP award expands McDermott's current scope of work under the KG-DWN-98/2 project. Originally awarded in 2018, and nearing completion, the integrated subsea package includes the supply of all subsea production systems, including 26 deepwater trees and the installation of subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines at a water depth between zero to 4,265 ft.

Expro Wraps Up Cement Project

Expro said Nov. 7 it completed a well cement placement project for a large international operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

For the project, Expro delivered an inner-string cementing on a subsea well's 22-in. surface casing in a water depth of approximately 2,000 m of water in the Mississippi Canyon area. Expro's Cure technologies allowed the operator to overcome ongoing offset well challenges, including prolonged wait on cement (WOC) periods when transitioning directly from the jet string to the 22-in. surface casing, and tasks associated with drilling out a 22-in. shoe track.

The solution saved approximately 18 hours of cement related drill-out, clean-out and WOC time when compared to offset wells, Jeremy Angelle, Expro’s vice president of well construction, said in a press release. 

ABS Launches Structural Health Monitoring Notation

ABS and Seatrium Ltd. are working to advance the use of smart functions in structural health monitoring for a self-elevating drilling unit (SEDU), ABS said Nov. 6.

ADMARINE 686 is the world’s first SEDU to receive the ABS SMART notation, recognizing its ability to monitor and analyze the conditions of key structural elements, supporting physics-based analysis and simulation for a holistic structural health assessment and prediction of drilling and maritime assets.

Seatrium Offshore Technology is collaborating with the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine in Singapore to build a structural digital twin using data from sensors on the SEDU. The twin is capable of detecting structural degradation based on global strength response. The structural health monitoring smart function is being delivered on an industrial Internet of Things (IoT) digital platform with connectivity from the rig to a shoreside station in Singapore.

CGG Launches OaaS for HPC, AI Solutions

CGG on Nov. 13 launched a new Outcome-as-a-Service (OaaS) offering, designed to deliver customized, capability-focused high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for scientific and engineering domains, including generative AI and life sciences. The company said the OaaS offers a guaranteed cost-effective approach for users wanting to transition their HPC and AI workloads to a production-based model aligned with business objectives. 

Kenera Wins Contract from Arabian Drilling

Kenera said Nov. 7 it won a contract to deliver five top drives and five iron roughnecks to Arabian Drilling for newbuild rigs for a major project in Saudi Arabia.

This order follows a previous contract for five top drives awarded in September. Delivery of the contract includes the design and manufacture of top drives from Kenera’s rig equipment business, Bentec. 

EOR Technology Earns Certification

Locus Bio-Energy announced Nov. 8 its AssurEOR STIM biosurfactant technology has been certified to reduce carbon intensity and boost production. 

SGS issued the ISO-14064 certification for AssurEOR STIM. The AssurEOR STIM EOR technology has been deployed on hundreds of wells to address declining oil and gas extraction. 

PGS Picked for 4D Work offshore West Africa

PGS announced Nov. 9 it’s 4D acquisition contract offshore West Africa. Mobilization is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023 and expected to last approximately 60 days.

Ocean BlackRhino Snags Guinea-Bissau Job

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. announced Nov. 13 it is entering a contract with an independent operator to use the Ocean BlackRhino for work offshore Guinea-Bissau. 

The drillship won a one-well contract with a minimum duration of 30 days representing $15.4 million of additional backlog, excluding mobilization. Work under the new contract is expected to begin in July 2024, directly continuing the rig’s current contract. 

IMRANDD Scoops Up Contracts

IMRANDD announced Nov. 8 it gained a quartet of new contracts for offshore work. One contract will see IMRANDD extract data from six of Ithaca Energy’s offshore installations.

The company also won a 12-month pipework, vessel risk-based assessment and a technical integrity scope for Harbour Energy.

The company will assess the integrity of the Excalibur FPSO for Ping UK, and Dana Petroleum extended an integrity management contract by a year.

Regulatory updates

Suriname Launches Shallow Water Bid Round

Suriname launched a new shallow-water bid round with 11 blocks available, Envoi announced on Nov. 7. Envoi is handling marketing for the bid round on behalf of Staatsolie, the national oil company of Suriname.

The 11 blocks on offer cover a combined area of 34,520 sq km of acreage, which includes much of Suriname’s shallow offshore area. The majority of the acreage is in water depths less than 150 m and some areas have never been licensed. Newly acquired multi-client 3D seismic data is now locally available, Envoi said.

All blocks are offered on competitive minimum work program terms with additional biddable components and combined with new fiscal terms. Virtual data rooms open Dec. 18, and bids are due by May 31, 2024.