E&P Highlights: June 17, 2024

From Subsea 7 securing a contract in the North Sea to Vista Energy boosting their frac operations in the Vaca Muerta formation, below is a compilation of the latest headlines in the E&P space.

Activity headlines

Woodside’s Sangomar project offshore Senegal achieves first oil

Australia’s Woodside Energy achieved first oil from its deepwater Sangomar development offshore Senegal. It’s the African country’s first offshore oil project.

The Sangomar field development’s phase 1 includes the Léopold Sédar Senghor FPSO with a nameplate capacity of 100,000 bbl/d. The project has subsea infrastructure designed for subsequent development phases.

The FPSO is moored 100 km offshore Senegal and has a storage capacity of 1.3 MMbbl.

Phase 1 development includes 23 wells (11 production wells, 10 water injection wells and two gas injection wells). Twenty-one of the wells have been drilled and completed, including nine production wells. A 24th production well has been approved and will be completed in the current campaign, Woodside said in the release.

The Sangomar project is being progressed by the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture. Partners include Woodside, operator, with an 82% interest and Societé des Petroles du Sénégal (Petrosen) with an 18% interest.

Phase 1 will cost an estimated $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion. Sangomar’s drilling campaign is ongoing and Woodside expects to continue commissioning activities and ramp up production through 2024.

CPX Energy grows in the Delaware with farm-in, development agreements

CPX Energy announced June 12 the closing of three growth initiatives in the Delaware Basin.

In early June, CPX closed a farm-in with an unnamed public company, allowing CPX to drill 2-mile laterals in the Delaware.

CPX also closed a $150 million strategic development agreement with Warwick Investment Group to accelerate production and cash flow growth across its asset base.

Lastly, CPX began drilling operations to spud a three-well pad in Loving County, Texas. The project, coordinated alongside an unnamed public company, aims to fully develop the Wolfcamp Shale formation and maximize economic recovery.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP acted as legal advisers to CPX.

Contracts and company news

Baker Hughes secures offshore services contract from Brazil’s Petrobras

Baker Hughes secured a contract from Petrobras to provide integrated solutions for workover and plugging and abandonment services offshore Brazil.

The contract’s scope includes cementing, coiled tubing, fishing, geosciences, tubular running, wellbore intervention and wireline in all of Petrobras’ oil and gas fields. Additionally, the agreement includes the provision of remedial tools, completion fluids and production chemicals.

The multi-year project, set to begin in the first half of 2025, will be managed with Baker Hughes’ integrated solutions portfolio to optimize Petrobras’ performance.

To facilitate this project and contribute to the development of Latin America’s energy sector, Baker Hughes is set to expand its facilities in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro.

Subsea 7 awarded a contract for the Bittern field in the UK North Sea.

Subsea 7 was awarded a contract from Dana Petroleum for the development of the Bittern Field in the U.K. Central North Sea, the company announced in a June 14 press release.

The contract’s scope includes project management, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of a 22-km, 12-inch water injection pipeline. Subsea 7’s scope also includes associated subsea structures and tie-ins at the Triton FPSO vessel and the Bittern field.

Project management and engineering work will begin immediately in Aberdeen and offshore activities are scheduled for the third quarter of 2025.

TotalEnergies to sell its subsidiary in Brunei

TotalEnergies will sell its wholly-owned subsidiary TotalEnergies EP (Brunei) B.V. to Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad, a Malaysian independent E&P, for $259 million, the company announced June 14.

TotalEnergies EP (Brunei) B.V. owns and operates a 37.5% interest in Block B, with Shell Deepwater Borneo holding a 35% stake and Brunei Energy Exploration holding the remaining 27.5%.

Block B, located 85 km off the coast of Brunei, contains the Maharaja Lela/Jamalulam (MLJ) field, which began producing in 1999 and as of 2023 produced approximately 9,000 boe for TotalEnergies.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2024.

Vista to import new fracking set to boost production at Argentina's Vaca Muerta

Vista Energy, Argentina's second-largest shale oil producer, will import a new fracking set to accelerate its activity in the Vaca Muerta Shale formation, which houses the world's second-largest shale gas reserve and fourth largest for shale oil, the company announced June 11.

Vista sealed an agreement with SLB for the new equipment expected for the second half of the year.

Vista Energy expects to reach an output of 85,000 boe/d by the end of this year, with plans to reach 100,000 boe/d by 2026 and 150,000 boe/d by 2030.

Havila Shipping ASA enters three PSV contracts with Equinor

Havila Shipping entered into three separate contracts with Equinor Energy AS for platform supply vessels Havila Clipper, Havila Fanø and Havila Herøy.

Each contract is for a firm period of twelve months, with six optional periods for one month each.

Commencement will be by the end of July 2024.

Viridien wins $20 million contract to supply ocean bottom nodes

Viridien, formerly CGG, sold and delivered a GPR300 ocean bottom nodal solution for $20 million, the company announced June 11.

Sercel GPR nodes feature Viridien’s QuietSeis MEMS technology, providing broadband signal sensing capability, fidelity and “ultra-quiet” performance to deliver data for subsurface imaging.

The solution will be deployed by an unnamed major customer on an upcoming seismic survey project in the North Sea.