AFRICA

RWE Dea wins two Egypt concessions

In the International Bid Round 2013, RWE Dea has been awarded two new offshore concessions with operatorship by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. The concessions are located in the Gulf of Suez. Dea will hold a share of 100% of the East Ras Fanar Offshore and 50% of the Northwest El Amal concession, with Edison International SPA holding the remaining 50%. The upcoming work program for the concessions will include seismic reprocessing, two exploration wells at East Ras Fanar Offshore and one well at Northwest El Amal.

BG, Ophir discover gas in Kamba prospect

The Kamba-1 well in Tanzania’s offshore Block 4 has resulted in gas discoveries of 29.2 Bcm (1.03 Tcf) in the Kamba and Fulusi prospects, according to an Ophir Energy press release. BG Group operates the Block 4 license, and Ophir holds a 20% interest. The Kamba-1 well encountered an 18-m (59-ft) gross gas column in the Fulusi prospect, and the Kamba-1ST well established another gas column of 140 m (459 ft) with high net-to-gross good quality reservoir sands. The Kamba-1 result provides critical mass for an LNG train to be supplied from the fields in Block 4 and also takes the overall resource volume to the threshold for a future potential third LNG train to be from Blocks 1 and 4.

ASIA-PACIFIC

Shell starts production from Malaysia platform

Shell has started oil production from the Gumusut-Kakap floating platform off the coast of Malaysia, the latest in a series of Shell deepwater projects, a company press release said. The Gumusut-Kakap Field is located in waters up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) deep. The platform is expected to reach an annual peak oil production of about 135 Mbbl/d once fully ramped up. With oil production now underway, work on the gas injection facilities is continuing with an expected startup during 2015. Oil is transported to the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal onshore at Kimanis, Malaysia, via a 200-km (124-mile) pipeline.

CNOOC confirms South China Sea find

A deepwater gas discovery has been confirmed by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) in the northern part of the South China Sea. The operator said it found a high volume of gas flows in the Lingshui 17-2 well. It is likely to be several years before the find is developed, however, due to a lack of infrastructure in the area. CNOOC also is planning further exploration and appraisal wells in the area to continue building enough recoverable reserves in the area for a potential hub development. The well was drilled 150 km (94 miles) south of China’s southern Hainan Island in an approximate water depth of 1,500 m (4,921 ft).

AUSTRALIA

Senex finds oil at Martlet-1 in Australia

The Martlet-1 exploration well on the western flank of the South Australian Cooper-Eromanga Basin has encountered a Namur oil accumulation, Senex Energy Ltd. said in a press release. The Martlet-1 exploration well is located in PEL 104, in which Senex has a 60% interest and Beach Energy Ltd. has a 40% interest. Martlet-1 encountered good oil shows in the target reservoir, and subsequent evaluation of logs indicated net pay of up to 6 m (20 ft).

SOUTH AMERICA

Petrobras confirms Sergipe-Alagoas potential

While drilling extension well 3-BRSA-1022-SES (3-SES-181), Petrobras found gas, according to a company news release. The well is located in the Poço Verde Discovery Evaluation Plan area (concession BM-SEAL-4) in the ultradeep waters of Sergipe-Alagoas Basin. The well is called Poço Verde 1 and lies 58 km (36 miles) off the coast of Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil, at a depth of 2,196 m (7,205 ft). The reservoirs found have good porosity characteristics, confirming project expectations. The Poço Verde accumulation is being explored as part of the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin deepwater development program.

Petrobras makes gas find at Espírito Santo

Petrobras discovered a new gas accumulation at Espírito Santo Basin post-salt. The discovery took place during drilling of well 3-BRSA-1259-ESS/3-ESS-222, informally known as Tanganika, at a water depth of 1,043 m (3,422 ft) located in the Malombe discovery evaluation plan 72 km (45 miles) off the coast of the Espírito Santo state in Brazil. The discovery was confirmed through logging carried out in reservoirs located at a depth of about 2,880 m (9,449 ft). The well has reached a total depth of 2,996 m (9,829 ft).

NORTH AMERICA

Chevron sells Duvernay interest

Chevron Corp.’s wholly owned subsidiary Chevron Canada Ltd. has reached agreement to sell a 30% interest in its Duvernay shale play to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co.’s wholly owned subsidiary, KUFPEC Canada Inc., for $1.5 billion, according to a press release. The Duvernay is located in west-central Alberta. The agreement creates a partnership for appraisal and development of liquids-rich shale resources in about 330,000 net acres in the Kaybob area of the Duvernay. Following the closing of the transaction, Chevron Canada will hold a 70% interest in the joint venture Duvernay acreage and will remain the operator.

GULF OF MEXICO

Shell starts up Cardamom in deepwater GoM

Production is now underway from the Cardamom development, the second major deepwater facility Shell has brought online in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) this year, following the startup of Mars B in February, Shell said in a news release. Oil from the Cardamom subsea development (100% Shell) is piped through Shell's Auger platform. When at full production of 50,000 boe/d, Auger's total production capacity will increase to 130,000 boe/d. Cardamom is Auger's seventh subsea development, Shell said. The field is 362 km (225 miles) southwest of New Orleans in water more than 820 m (2,700 ft) deep.

EUROPE

Statoil finds gas in Pingvin prospect

Statoil, together with the PL713 partners, has made a gas discovery in the Pingvin prospect in the Barents Sea, the company said. The discovery is a play opener in a frontier area of the Barents Sea northwest of Johan Castberg. The discovery well 7319/12-1 proved a 15-m (49-ft) gas column in the well path. Statoil estimates the recoverable volumes in Pingvin to be in the range of 30 MMboe to 120 MMboe. Statoil is operator with an interest of 40%. The partners are RN Nordic Oil AS (20%), North Energy ASA (20%) and Edison International Norway Branch (20%).

RUSSIA CIS

SeverEnergia launches third stage of Russian field

SeverEnergia, a joint venture between OAO Novatek and OAO GazpromNeft, has launched the third stage of the Samburgskoya gas condensate field. The launch of the third stage, which exceeds 2 Bcm/year (71 Bcf/year) of natural gas, will enable the field to achieve peak production capacity of about 7 Bcm/year (247 Bcf/year) of natural gas and more than 900,000 tons of gas condensate per year. The Samburgskoya Field is located in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region within the Samburgskiy license area in Russia.

MIDDLE EAST

Edgo secures awards for Tajikistan blocks

Edgo Energy has secured licenses for the Qarordon and Surkhsimo blocks (formerly called Karadum and Kyziltumshug, respectively) in Tajikistan and also has signed a service agreement with Klarenco, a subsurface interpretation company, the company said in a news release. Klarenco has completed an integrated data review of all historical geological, seismic, E&P well logs in the areas, which included the interpretation of the data collected during a 2-D seismic survey on the Surkhsimo license in 2011.

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