Offshore Oil & Ocean Engineering
April 2008 IssuePetro-Canada Unveils Two Big Offshore Discoveries
Petro-Canada (Calgary, Canada) announced successful results from two international exploration wells—one in the U.K. sector of the North Sea and one in deep water off Trinidad and Tobago.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Cassra-1 well in deepwater Block 22 was completed as a significant natural gas discovery. Drilled by the Diamond Offshore (Houston, Texas)-managed Ocean Worker semisubmersible, the well targeted the reservoir objective at the edge of a large seismic anomaly covering 68 square kilometers. Petro-Canada operated the well and holds a 90 percent interest. Based on well results and using local field recovery factors, the discovery could have between 0.6 to 1.3 trillion cubic feet of contingent resources; however, further appraisal activity is required before finalizing the estimates.
"This is an exciting result for us, because it is the first well in a four-well program on Block 22," said Peter Kallos, executive vice president of international and offshore for Petro-Canada. "The discovery validates our exploration model, and further success on the block could lead to a material development."
The second discovery was made in the U.K. sector of the North Sea, with the completion of the 13/21b-7 well. Drilled by Global Santa Fe’s (Houston) Arctic III semisubmersible, the well encountered two oil columns that total nearly 80 meters when combined. Petro-Canada operated the well and holds a 50 percent interest.
Early drill stem test data indicates the reservoir has the capacity to yield commercial flow rates. Preliminary estimates indicate a commercial discovery; however, further appraisal activity is required before potential reserves can be fully assessed.
Petro-Canada and its partners plan to conduct appraisal activity on both the Trinidad and Tobago and U.K. discoveries to fully assess the resource base before considering development options.
In Trinidad, Petro-Canada has a net production of 65 million cubic feet per day through a 17.3 percent interest in the North Coast Marine Area gas project, which supplies gas for the Atlantic LNG (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) project. The new Block 22 discovery has the potential to materially contribute to Petro-Canada’s future production in Trinidad and Tobago.
Petro-Canada is currently carrying out a multi-well exploration program on Blocks 1a and 1b (Petro-Canada interest of 80 percent) and Block 22 (Petro-Canada interest of 90 percent).
In the U.K. sector of the North Sea, Petro-Canada had a net production of approximately 75,000 barrels per day in the third quarter of 2007. Production came from the company’s participation in the Buzzard field, as well as production from the core Triton and Scott/Telford areas. For more information, visit www.petro-canada.ca.
StatoilHydro Seals the Deal: Acquires 100 Percent of Peregrino
StatoilHydro (Stavanger, Norway) and Anadarko (The Woodlands, Texas) have signed an agreement whereby StatoilHydro will take over the remaining 50 percent in the Brazilian Peregrino project.
This will give StatoilHydro a 100 percent working interest and operatorship of the development.
In addition, StatoilHydro is acquiring Anadarko’s 25 percent interest in the Kaskida discovery in deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
For these assets, StatoilHydro will pay Anadarko $1.8 billion, plus a maximum pretax value of $300 million related to the Peregrino field to be earned by 2020, conditional on future oil prices above predefined threshold levels.
"This acquisition strengthens our position in Brazil and adds an important new legacy operatorship to StatoilHydro’s international portfolio," said Peter Mellbye, executive vice president for international exploration and production at StatoilHydro. "We are establishing leading positions in attractive core areas. This is exactly in line with the strategic road map we presented at the Capital Markets Day in January—here focusing on deep water and heavy oil.
"These assets have an excellent strategic fit both in Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico, where we will utilize our increased oil recovery experiences together with our project management skills for large offshore developments. The transaction underpins our medium and long-term production growth by adding significant reserves and resources," he added.
The Peregrino field is located in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil. Expected reserves in this heavy oil field are estimated at approximately 500 million barrels, excluding identified upsides.
The field is expected to come on stream in 2010, adding new production to StatoilHydro.
The field is being developed with a floating production, storage and offloading vessel and two platforms.
Planned plateau production from the field is to be 100,000 barrels per day, which is expected to be reached within the first year of production. The field development plan was submitted and approved last year. For more information, visit www.statoil.com.
Infield Systems Ltd. Publishes Fixed Platforms Market Update
Infield Systems Ltd. (London, England) recently published its second fixed platform market update.
It forecasts that capital expenditures over the next five years for the fixed platform market are expected to be $60 billion.
This is an increase of more than 30 percent compared to the previous five years.
While global numbers of platform units will only increase eight percent, there will be a dramatic increase in activity in Africa and Asia, they said.
In these two regions alone, the increase is expected to be a staggering 245 units, or a 60 percent increase from the previous five years.
Australasia is forecast to see a spending increase for fixed platforms from $800 million to $2 billion.
In Europe, with the United Kingdom needing to shore up its gas supplies, fixed platform expenditure is expected to account for 36 percent of the European forecast, with the Netherlands following with 23 percent, the company’s report continued.
If current trends continue, North America will see a dramatic fall in the number of new platform installations in the Gulf of Mexico, Infield said.
Yet despite this, in terms of the regional dispersion of forecast fixed platform installations, it will still hold the largest share, at 30 percent of the total number of fixed platforms installed between 2008 and 2012.
The global forecast is expected to peak in 2008, with the expected spending of $13.8 billion falling to $9.2 billion in 2012.
The majority of this decline is due to Asia, where in 2009, Infield said they expect an increase in annual spending of 90 percent compared to 2006. However, by 2012, this annual spend will fall back to the 2006 level, they said. Beyond 2009, Infield said it also expects to see declines in spending in Europe, Latin America and North America.
The decline in fixed platforms is partly offset by the growth of the floating production market, they said.
This growth has been driven by a decline in the number and size of new discoveries and access problems to reserves in certain shallow-water regions, they said. For more information, visit www.infield.com.
Petróleo Brasileiro to ‘Clone’ P-54 FPSO for the Roncador Field
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) approved the early stage of contracting for platform P-62 this month, slated to be installed in Module 4 at the Roncador Field, in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil.
After carrying out several internal technical and economic studies, the company decided the best option was to reuse the P-54 project to build the P-62. In effect, Petróleo Brasileiro intends to ‘clone’ platform P-54.
The P-62 will be a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO)-type unit capable of producing 180,000 barrels of oil per day.
It is also capable of storing 1.8 million barrels of oil and compressing six million cubic meters of natural gas. The unit will be anchored at a water depth of 1,545 meters.
As was the case with the P-54, platform P-62 will also have national content requirements and is expected to generate 2,600 direct, and upwards of 10,000 indirect, jobs, the company said. For more information, visit www.petrobras.com.
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