AFRICA

Etom-2 well hits oil in Kenya
The Etom-2 well in Block 13T in northern Kenya has encountered 102 m (335 ft) of net oil pay in two columns, Tullow Oil said in a December 2015 news release. The objective of the well was to explore the Etom structure in an untested fault block identified by recent 3-D seismic. Oil samples, sidewall cores and wireline logging all indicate the presence of high API-degree oil in the best-quality reservoir encountered in the South Lokichar Basin to date. Additional prospectivity identified on the 3-D seismic in the north of the basin, including the Erut and Elim prospects, will now be considered as part of the future exploration drilling program.

The PR Marriott Rig-46 drilled the Etom-2 well to a final depth of 1,655 m (5,430 ft) and will now move to Block 12A, where it was scheduled to spud the Cheptuket-1 well around year-end 2015. It is the first well to be drilled in the Kerio Valley Basin. (Source: Tullow Oil)

Israel approves natural gas exports to Egypt
Israel’s government has given the go-ahead to begin exporting natural gas to Egypt, signaling a potential improvement in relations between two countries that have been at loggerheads over energy supplies, Reuters reported in December 2015. Israel will be able to sell 5 Bcm (176 Bcf) of gas to Egypt in the coming seven years from the Tamar Field off its Mediterranean coast, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a statement Dec. 24. “After years of delay and debate, we are starting to move forward and to position Israel as a regional natural gas power,” he said.

ASIA

Woodside discovers gas offshore Myanmar
The Shwe Yee Htun-1 exploration well in Block A-6 in the Rakhine Basin offshore area of Myanmar has hit a gross gas column of about 129 m (423 ft), Woodside said in a news release. About 15 m (49 ft) of net gas pay was interpreted within the primary target interval. The well reached the planned original total depth (TD) of 4,810 m (15,781 ft). Following drilling, wireline logging was conducted and confirmed the presence of a gas column through pressure measurements and gas sampling. The well was subsequently deepened to a final TD of 5,306 m (17,408 ft). Spudded Nov. 27, 2015, the well reached its original target Dec. 23, and wireline logging concluded Dec. 29. Woodside said Shwe Yee Htun-1 targeted one of many identified channel complexes that run over a large anticlinal feature, the Saung Anticline. “Further analysis will be undertaken to understand the full potential of the play, but this de-risks a number of leads, which will now be matured,” Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said.

Sinopec strikes oil at Beibu Bay test well
Sinopec Corp. said it struck high-yielding oil and gas in a test well offshore Beibu Bay near China’s southwestern coast, marking a rare offshore oil and gas fi nd by the state fi rm that is largely focused onshore, Reuters reported. The Wei-4 well, some 110 km (68 miles) southwest of the coastal city of Beihai, tested a daily output of 1,264 tonnes of crude oil and 71,800 cu. m (2.5 MMcf) of natural gas at a fi rst layer after identifying oil-bearing layers nearly 100 m (328 ft) thick. On the second layer, Sinopec struck 1,184 tonnes of daily oil fl ow and 76,000 cu. m (2.6 MMcf) of natural gas, the company said in a statement Jan. 6. The well, drilled in the shallow part of the sea, is 3,783 m (12,411 ft) deep. It took 29 days to drill. “It’s a high-flowing offshore test well rarely seen over the last decade,” Sinopec stated.

EUROPE

Oil price may prompt exploration in Norway’s Lofoten area
The low price of crude could make it more likely that oil fi rms will be allowed to explore in Norway’s Lofoten region after 2017, which is currently off-limits due to environmental concerns, the country’s energy minister said Jan. 7, according to a Reuters report. “The resources offshore Lofoten and Vesteraalen must at some point come into play, and it is clear that this will be more relevant because of the low oil prices and the situation we now see in the industry,” Petroleum and Energy Minister Tord Lien told Reuters. The shallow waters off Lofoten are expected to hold large reserves that can be produced at a lower cost than the more expensive areas currently being explored farther north on Norway’s continental shelf. When the right-wing minority government of the Conservatives and the populist Progress Party came into power in 2013, however, it agreed with two smaller support parties not to open several sensitive areas to oil and gas exploration, including Lofoten. The next general
election is due in September 2017.

NORTH AMERICA

Talisman Energy changes name to Repsol Oil & Gas Canada
Talisman Energy Inc.’s legal name is now Repsol Oil & Gas Canada Inc., effective Jan. 1, according to a news release. Repsol Oil & Gas Canada Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spain’s Repsol SA. The legal name change will not create new entities or affect the rights or obligations under current agreements, licenses or permits. Addresses did not change, and until further notice, the names of all other Talisman subsidiaries will remain unchanged.

RUSSIA CIS

Russian’s 2015 oil production hit post-Soviet record high
Oil output in Russia, one of the world’s largest producers, hit a post-Soviet high in December and in 2015 as small- and medium-sized energy companies cranked up the pumps despite falling crude prices, Energy Ministry data showed on Jan. 2, according to a Reuters report. The rise shows producers are taking advantage of lower costs due to rouble devaluation and signals Moscow’s resolve not to give in to producer group OPEC’s request to curb oil output to support prices. But the rise will contribute to a global oil supply glut and exert continued downward pressure on oil prices, which hit an 11-year low below $34 per barrel in January 2016, having fallen almost 70% in the past 18 months.

SOUTH AMERICA

Rio de Janeiro state implements new oil, gas production tax
Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, facing a budget shortfall caused in part by plunging oil prices, imposed new taxes on petroleum and natural gas Dec. 31, 2015, a move critics said will slash investment in an already battered industry, Reuters reported. Brazil’s economy is suffering its worst recession in decades, while a corruption scandal at Petrobras has choked off investment and delayed new output. Rio de Janeiro state’s fi nancial crisis has reached a point where universities and health services have suffered cuts, many public servants have not been paid in more than a month and the sick have been turned away from
hospitals. Rio de Janeiro, responsible for 67% of Brazil’s crude output and 40% of its natural gas, will charge a fl at tax of 2.71 reais ($0.69) on every barrel of oil equivalent produced in the state. The government hopes the tax will raise about 1.84 billion reais ($476 million). The state also imposed an 18% goods-and-services tax on each barrel of oil or barrel of oil equivalent produced. The tax will be applied on the reference price for each well’s oil set by Brazil’s oil regulator, ANP. According to the text of a law published Dec. 30, the fl at tax was imposed to better regulate and supervise petroleum operations. Among the state’s main producers are Petroleo Brasileiro SA, BG Group Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Galp Energia SGPS SA. IBP said the taxes are illegal and that it will challenge them in court.

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