ASIA-PACIFIC

CGG completes airborne survey in Australia

CGG has completed a large Falcon airborne gravity gradiometer survey for Buru Energy Ltd. in the Canning basin in Western Australia, according to a news release. Acquisition of the 43,951-line-km (27,310-line-mile) survey at 1,000-m (3,281-ft) line spacing began at the end of September and was completed at the end of November. CGG won this survey as a follow-up to the Yakka Munga survey it conducted for Buru Energy in 2013 over its Ungani discovery well in an adjacent block within the Canning basin, the release said.

Liuhua 19-5 gas field starts production

CNOOC Ltd. announced that the Liuhua 19-5 gas field has commenced production. Liuhua 19-5 is located in the Pearl River Mouth basin of the South China Sea with an average water depth of about 185 m (607 ft). This project was designed to share the existing producing facility of Panyu 30-1 gas field, and two new producing wells were drilled. Liuhua 19-5 is expected to hit its peak production of 821 Mcm/d (29 MMcf/d) in 2014, according to a press release. Liuhua 19-5 is an independent oil field in which CNOOC holds 100% interest and acts as the operator.

AFRICA

Tullow finds oil onshore Kenya

Tullow Oil Plc announced oil discoveries at the Amosing-1 and Ewoi-1 exploration wells in Block 10BB onshore northern Kenya. As a result of these latest successes and recently reported discoveries at Ekales-1 and Agete-1, Tullow has updated its estimate of discovered resources in this basin to more than 600 MMbbl of oil. Tullow said it believes the overall potential for the basin, which will be fully assessed over the next two years through a program of exploration and appraisal wells, is in excess of 1 Bbbl of oil.

PA Resources hits oil during Diega drillstem test

PA Resources has completed a long-term drillstem test on the Diega accumulation in Block I in Equatorial Guinea, and the Atwood Hunter rig has been released, the company said in a press release. An initial pilot well, I-8, encountered 12 m (39 ft) vertical thickness of good-quality oil pay with no water and established the deepest known oil on the Diega accumulation. Subsequently the planned horizontal sidetrack I-8ST drilled some 400 m (1,312 ft) of oil pay of similarly good quality and was tested for one month at constrained rates up to approximately 7,300 b/d of oil, according to the release.

NORTH AMERICA

Statoil, PTTEP divide Canadian oil sands assets

Statoil and PTTEP have signed an agreement to divide their respective interests in the Kai Kos Dehseh oil sands project in Alberta, Canada. Following the transaction, Statoil will continue as operator and 100% owner for the Leismer and Corner development projects. PTTEP will own 100% of the Thornbury, Hangingstone, and South Leismer areas. As part of the transaction, Statoil will make a balancing payment of US $200 million to PTTEP in addition to a working capital adjustment from the effective date of Jan. 1, 2013. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals in Canada and is expected to close by 3Q 2014.

GULF OF MEXICO

Proserv bags GoM deals with Noble, Talos

Proserv has secured two contracts in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) worth a combined US $17 million. Deals with Noble Energy and Talos Energy will see Proserv carry out work at the operators’ respective Gunflint and Phoenix field expansion developments, Proserv said in a press release. Two deepwater wells will be controlled at Noble Energy’s Gunflint field in the Mississippi Canyon area – around 113 km (70 miles) from the Louisiana coast – by Proserv fiber-optic communication systems. Control systems for three wells will be provided to Talos Energy at the Green Canyon block and also will include a subsea distribution system.

MIDDLE EAST

Masirah discovers oil in Oman

Masirah Oil Ltd. announced the successful reach of the well target depth in the second exploration well in Block 50 in Oman to its final depth of more than 3,000 m (9,842 ft) into the Cambrian formation. Hydrocarbons were discovered in several formations with good oil samples extracted. The well will undergo data acquisition before setting the completion for testing, according to a Masirah press release.

Maersk moves into Kurdistan

Maersk Oil has agreed to terms to farm in to two onshore license blocks in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Maersk has been granted approval from the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) to acquire 40% in two production-sharing contracts covering the Piramagrun and Qala Dze license blocks from Repsol. Repsol will retain 40% equity, and the KRG retains 20%.

RUSSIA CIS

Shell, Gazprom Neft start Bazhenov drilling program

Shell and OAO Gazprom Neft began a drilling campaign to assess the potential of Siberia’s Bazhenov formation, believed to be one of the world’s largest deposits of shale oil. Salym Petroleum Development, the venture between Shell and Gazprom Neft, has started drilling the first of five horizontal wells to be drilled over the next two years that will employ multifracturing technology, according to a statement. The first horizontal well follows three years of study on the prospect, which included three vertical wells, 3-D seismic, coring, and well logging in the Upper Salym area.

EUROPE

Statoil, partners hit gas in North Sea’s Askja

Operator Statoil, with its PL272 partners, has made a gas discovery in the Askja West prospect and an oil discovery in the Askja East prospect in the North Sea, Statoil said in a press release. The exploration wells 30/11-9 S and 30/11-9 A, drilled by the rig Ocean Vanguard, are located between the Oseberg and Frigg fields. Main wellbore 30/11-9 S tested the Askja West prospect and proved a net gas column of 90 m (295 ft) in Late and Middle Jurassic rocks, according to the release. Sidetrack 30/11-9 A tested the Askja East prospect and proved a net oil column of 40 m (131 ft) in the same geological formations. Statoil is the operator with an interest of 50%. The partners are Svenska Petroleum Exploration AS (25%) and Det norske Oljeselskap ASA (25%).

Spectrum finishes survey offshore Croatia

Spectrum has completed its multiclient 2-D seismic acquisition survey offshore Croatia. This new seismic survey provides, for the first time, approximately 15,000 km (9,321 miles) of modern long-offset 2-D data, Spectrum said in a news release. The seismic survey covers the majority of offshore Croatia. The survey connects to Spectrum’s reprocessed Italian Adriatic seismic data. The seismic acquisition is a precursor to the offshore licensing round that Croatia plans to hold in 2014.

SOUTH AMERICA

Pacific Rubiales discovers oil in Peru

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. in joint operations with the operator CEPSA Peru S.A. has carried out the third phase of exploration in Block 131 in Peru. The Los Angeles-1X well in Block 131 reached a total depth of 3,782 m (12,409 ft). Petrophysical evaluation indicated the presence of 19 m (62 ft) of net pay in the Cretaceous-aged Cushabatay formation.

Shell sells interest in Brazilian deepwater block

Shell is selling 23% of its equity in Brazilian deepwater Block BC-10, which includes the Parque das Conchas project, to Qatar Petroleum International in a US $1 billion deal. Shell announced that it will go through with the sale subject to agreement from Brazil's National Petroleum Agency and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, Brazil’s antitrust authority. Shell will retain 50% equity in the license area, which is currently producing 50,000 boe/d and came onstream in 2009.

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