ASIA

Lundin sells Indonesian assets in $22 million deal
Lundin Petroleum AB has agreed to sell its oil and gas assets in Indonesia to PT Medco Energi Internasional TBK for $22 million, Lundin said in a news release. The assets include the nonoperated interest in the producing Singa gas field and the operated interests in the South Sokang and Cendrawasih VII blocks as well as the joint study agreement concerning the Cendrawasih VIII Block. Lundin also might become entitled to certain contingent payments and has an option to receive a future interest in the Cendrawasih blocks. Completion of the transaction is subject to various conditions, including approval of the government of Indonesia.

OMV discovers gas in Pakistan’s Latif Block
OMV found gas at the Latif exploration block in Pakistan’s southern Sindh Province, the company said in a news release. During testing, the well flowed 2,500 boe/d of gas from Lower Goru Intra C Sands. This discovery has opened up new exploration opportunities in the area. Further appraisal work is needed to confirm the size of the discovery.

Shell Malaysia plans to cut 1,300 upstream jobs
Shell Malaysia is reorganizing its upstream division by shedding 1,300 positions over the next two years, the company said. The Royal Dutch Shell unit has a total workforce of about 6,500 staff.

CGG completes depth imaging of survey offshore Indonesia
All four phases of CGG’s BandaSeis 2-D BroadSeis multiclient program targeting the Banda Arc around East Indonesia and Timor Leste have been fully processed and are ready for delivery, the company said. Totaling more than 14,000 km (8,699 miles) of broadband seismic data, the program was acquired in cooperation with the Indonesian Directorate General of Oil and Gas and the Timor Leste National Petroleum Authority. The data were processed to prestack depth migration in four stages in CGG’s Singapore imaging center, with the final phase being delivered at the end of second-quarter 2015. CGG said the final seismic images will help explorationists understand the geological development and prospectivity of the Banda Arc.

AUSTRALIA

Santos will cut 200 jobs to ride out weak oil prices
Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd. said it would cut about 200 jobs, or 6% of its staff, as it looks for $73 million in additional savings to ride out weak oil prices, Reuters reported. Santos is in the process of a strategic review in which it is considering selling a range of assets to cut its $8.5 billion in net debt in a bid to avoid selling new shares at a time when investors already have seen their stock battered. The latest job cuts, mostly at its Adelaide headquarters, come on top of 565 jobs already shed, with the company trying to simplify its eastern Australia business, including the Cooper Basin operations that used to be its core.

Transerv Energy hits gas in Perth Basin’s Warro Field
Transerv Energy Ltd. reported encouraging results from the latest well at its Warro onshore gas field drilling campaign in the Perth Basin in Western Australia, sending its shares soaring. The Warro-5ST well encountered strong gas shows over a gross interval of 175 m (574 ft) and about 130 m (427 ft) of net gas pay in massive stacked sands. Importantly, the well remains in gas at its total depth of 4,422 m (14,508 ft), which Transerv said reinforced the field’s substantial potential of 226 Bcm (8 Tcf) to 283 Bcm (10 Tcf) in place while suggesting further deeper resources could be present.

GULF OF MEXICO

Technip lands subsea contract for Shell’s Stones project
Shell Offshore Inc. has awarded Technip a contract for the development of subsea infrastructure for the Stones project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), according to a Business Wire release. Included in the service are two subsea production tiebacks to the FPSO vessel. The Stones Field is located in the Walker Ridge area in the GoM at a water depth of 2,930 m (9,613 ft) along the pipelay route. The contract covers engineering of the required second pipeline end terminations (PLETs), fabrication of the PLETs and piles and installation of the subsea production system, inclusive of associated project management, engineering and stalk fabrication. The offshore installation is scheduled to be performed by the Deep Blue, the group’s fl agship vessel for deepwater pipelay.

Freeport-McMoRan finds more oil in Gulf of Mexico
Positive drilling results came from the Freeport-Mc-MoRan Oil & Gas 100%-owned Horn Mountain Deep well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, a company press release stated. IP from this well, which will be tied back to existing facilities, is expected in fi rst-half 2017. This well, combined with two follow-on development wells at Horn Mountain Deep, might be capable of producing an aggregate of 30,000 boe/d.

EUROPE

Oil spill at Statfjord Field under investigation
Oil has been observed in the sea close to the OLS B loading buoy at the Statfjord Field, Statoil reported on Oct. 8. The oil spill was discovered during the loading of oil from the Statfjord A platform to the tanker Hilda Knutsen via the OLS B loading buoy, which is located between Statfjord A and Statfjord B. The leak is located in a fl ange in the loading hose. It is too early to say how much oil has leaked. Preliminary assessments indicated that the spill is within the range of 40 cu. m (1,412 cf) of oil. Further assessment and investigations will uncover the scope and causes in more detail.

Multiple projects completed for North Sea operator
Asset Guardian Solutions Ltd. (AGSL) has successfully completed a series of three projects for a major North Sea oil and gas operator that manages and operates numerous developments in the North Sea, Norway, Algeria and Russia, a press release stated. During the past two years, AGSL has completed three linked contracts, two of which required that the Asset Guardian toolset be customized to meet specifi c requirements. The initial contract awarded to AGSL provided the operator with a secure electronic centralized repository to store all process control systems software backup fi les. As a result, the company’s ability to recover quickly in the event of an unplanned production shutdown due to process control software failure has been significantly improved.

Repsol will cut global workforce in next three years
Spanish oil company Repsol plans to cut its global workforce by 6% over the next three years, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. The cuts form part of its 2016 to 2020 strategic plan.

MIDDLE EAST

Shaikan oil field’s reserves more than double
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. said an independent report found that reserves at a key oil fi eld in Iraqi Kurdistan were more than double the previous estimate, potentially helping the oil producer develop the field at lower costs, Reuters reported. Gulf Keystone said an updated report found that proved and probable reserves at its Shaikan oil fi eld had increased to 639 MMbbl gross from 299 MMbbl gross.

SOUTH AMERICA

Range hits oil in Trinidad
Range Resources has hit oil at a development well in Trinidad. The MD 42N development well is located at the company’s Morne Diablo Field and was fi rst spudded on Sept. 4. Since the company encountered wellbore instability during early drilling, Range decided to drill the well to a revised depth of 795 m (2,610 ft) instead of 978 m (3,210 ft) to avoid the risk of losing the well. Hydrocarbon sands and oil shows were encountered at the Upper Cruse channel sand complex during drilling of the well, with electric log interpretation confi rming the presence of recoverable hydrocarbons with an estimated net pay of 14 m (48 ft), 11 m (38 ft) of which is planned for production perforations. The well has been cased, and approvals are being sought for production testing, which was scheduled to take place in October.

Petrobras: Carcara oil well extends subsalt discovery
Petrobras said a third exploratory well found light oil in the Carcara fi nd in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil, confi rming the fi nd extends well beyond the initial discovery, Reuters reported. The well, known as Carcara NW, lies 5.5 km (3.4 miles) northwest of the original discovery well and runs to a depth of 2 km (1.2 miles). Petrobras is the operator of the area with a
66% stake.

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