AFRICA

Eni makes gas, condensate discovery offshore Congo
Eni discovered gas and condensate offshore Congo in the exploration prospect of Nkala Marine, the company said in a news release. The prospect is located in the presalt Marine XII Block, about 20 km (12 miles) from the coast and 3 km (1.9 miles) from the Nene Marine Field, already in production. The find is expected to have a potential of 250 MMboe to 350 MMboe in place. During the production test, the well provided more than 300,000 scu. m/d (10.5 MMscf/d) of gas and associated condensate. The well, drilled in a water depth of 38 m (125 ft), encountered a major gas and condensate buildup in the presalt clastic geological sequence of lower Cretaceous age, crossing a hydrocarbon column of 240 m (787 ft). Eni estimates the resources in place of oil and gas discoveries made in the Eni-operated Marine XII Block to be about 5.8 Bboe. The production of the block, started last December, stands at about 15,000 boe/d. Additionally, the company reported it will restart an aggressive exploration campaign once crude prices rise to $70 dollars a barrel, a Reuters report stated. The company, which recently discovered the super-giant Zohr Field offshore Egypt, had an estimated 6 Bboe of resources in about 600 undrilled prospects in its key African region.

Egypt’s president approves $2.2 billion in exploration contracts
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approved six new oil and gas exploration contracts for investments worth at least $2.2 billion, the Oil Ministry said, according to a Reuters report. The agreements include the search for oil and gas in the Mediterranean, Nile Delta, Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez. The deals were initially mooted at an investment conference in Sharm El Sheikh earlier this year.

ASIA

Searcher gears up for seismic survey over Gulf of Papua
Searcher Seismic is working to acquire about 17,000 km (10,563 miles) of 2-D long-offset high-resolution broadband seismic data over the Gulf of Papua, the company said in a news release. BGP is a partner in the project, which is being conducted in cooperation with the Department of Petroleum and Energy. The BGP Explorer has now mobilized for the project. The Haere survey is a grid of modern high-quality data that will be fundamental in assisting the reinterpretation of the geology in the Gulf of Papua and the identification of prospective structural and stratigraphic trends that can be used for regional evaluations and future detailed seismic survey designs, said Rachel Masters, Searcher’s global sales manager. The new survey brings Searcher’s total data library in the Gulf of Papua to 58,000 km (36,039 miles). Fast-track data deliveries will commence in first-quarter 2016.

Lundin makes small gas find offshore Malaysia
Lundin Malaysia BV has made a small gas discovery with the Mengkuang-1 exploration well in license PM307 offshore Malaysia, a news release stated. The well targeted hydrocarbons in Miocene-aged sands located 75 km (47 miles) northwest of the Bertam Field operated by Lundin Malaysia. Mengkuang-1 was drilled with the West Prospero jackup rig to a total depth of 1,259 m (4,131 ft) below mean sea level. The well encountered 9 m (30 ft) of gas pay in the I-35 group Miocene channel sands. The well was plugged and abandoned. Lundin Malaysia holds 75% working interest in PM307, and partner Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd holds 25%.

AUSTRALIA

SBM Offshore wins contract for Browse FLNG turret FEED
Technip SA awarded SBM Offshore a FEED contract for three large-scale turret mooring systems associated with the proposed Browse Floating LNG (FLNG) development in Australia, SBM Offshore said in a news release. The three turrets are expected to be designs similar to and slightly larger in size than the Shell Prelude FLNG turret that SBM Offshore was awarded in 2011. Integration with the Prelude facility in Korea is currently ongoing. The proposed Browse project, operated by Woodside Energy Ltd., is located 425 km (264 miles) north of Broome in Western Australia. The project’s reference case is based on three FLNG facilities to develop the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields in the Browse Basin and is subject to a final investment decision targeted for the end of the FEED in second-half 2016.

DNV GL wins contract for Ichthys LNG project
DNV GL has secured a contract to provide in-service verification and classification services to a range of facilities at the Ichthys LNG project in Australia, according to a news release. INPEX is preparing to transition from the project execution phase to the operational phase of the megaproject. Operations are scheduled to begin in 2017. The primary scope of work includes in-service verification of the Ichthys facilities, the central processing facility (CPF), FPSO, subsea production system, gas export pipeline, onshore combined cycle power plant and onshore LNG plant. DNV GL also will provide in-service classification of the CPF and the FPSO hulls. DNV GL has provided vendor inspection, verification and offshore classification support to the $34 billion venture since 2012. Located 220 km (137 miles) offshore Western Australia, the Ichthys Field sits on Block WA-285-P in the Browse Basin in the Timor Sea. This gas and condensate field lies at a water depth of 250 m (820 ft) and represents the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia in 40 years, according to the release.

EUROPE

CGG may cut 25% of staff in new restructuring
CGG SA released a new restructuring plan to begin next year that could see the French seismic survey group reduce its workforce by 25%, the CGT union said, according to Reuters. CGG declined to comment. CGG is already cutting 2,000 jobs over two years to reduce the workforce to 7,700 people by year-end 2015 in response to the sharp drop in the price of crude.

Deepwater gas field discovered offshore Romania
Lukoil, PanAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. and Romgaz discovered a large deepwater gas field offshore Romania, a press release stated. The field is in the Trident Block (EX-30). It was discovered after the exploratory Lira 1X well was recently drilled. Lukoil Overseas Atash BV is operator, and there is a concession agreement with the Romanian government that was finalized. Romgaz’s share in the project is 10%, Lukoil’s is 72% and PanAtlantic Petroleum Ltd.’s is 18%. Water depth in the block ranges from 300 m to 1,200 m (984 ft to 3,978 ft). The Lira-1X well is about 170 km (106 miles) from the coast. It was drilled to a 2,700-m (8,860-ft) total depth by the Transocean Development Driller II semisubmersible rig. The well was temporarily abandoned for further evaluation of the Lira gas discovery. Seismic data indicated that the gas field’s area can reach up to 39 sq km (15 sq miles) with estimated natural gas reserves of 30 Bcm (1 Tcf). In 2016, an exploration well will be drilled at Lira and seismic data reprocessed to confirm the size of the discovery and assess potential hydrocarbon reserves.

Market conditions prompt more job cuts for Maersk Oil
Maersk Oil plans to shed between 10% and 12% of its global workforce in an effort to reduce operating costs by 20% by year-end 2016, the company said. The move, which also impacts employees in contractor roles and at the company’s headquarters, follows an extensive internal review of business activities and continued low oil prices. It brings the total number of positions taken out of the organization during 2015 to about 1,250.

RUSSIA

Russian state agency ready to sell off Rosneft stake
Russia’s state property management agency is ready to sell off stakes in several major firms as part of a privatization plan if President Vladimir Putin backs the idea, Agency Head Olga Dergunova said, according to a Reuters report. The agency is ready to sell stakes in oil giant Rosneft, hydropower company Rushydro, diamond producer Alrosa and airline Aeroflot, Dergunova said. The government has recently recommended the agency speed up large asset sales irrespective of market conditions, she added.

SOUTH AMERICA

Colombia will cut oil taxes to boost offshore exploration
Colombia will lower tax rates for oil companies drilling in some offshore Caribbean blocks, the Mines and Energy Minister said, in an effort to encourage exploration amid a global slump in crude prices, Reuters reported. Contracts for various offshore blocks will get a 25% discount on income taxes and will be exempt from value-added tax and customs charges. The move will help keep output near 1 MMbbl/d in the medium term. Colombia’s public finances have been battered by the fall in prices for crude oil, its biggest export and source of foreign exchange. The Andean country produced an average of 1 MMbbl/d of crude in September. State-run Ecopetrol produces more than half of Colombia’s oil, while the Canada-based Pacific Exploration and Production Corp. is the biggest private player. The government hopes to increase investment in the sector to about $15 billion per year from current levels of between $5 billion and $7 billion.

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