Niko Looks To Sell D6 Stake

Canada’s Niko Resources is looking to offload its 10% stake in the D6 Block offshore the east coast of India.

In February 2015 Niko first looked to sell its 10% stake in Block KG-DWN- 98/3 (D6) to pay off $340 million in debt. It planned to sell off the interest by April 2015 but later extended it to May and then to September. After this chain of delays, Niko scrapped the sale altogether, as it was unable to find a buyer.

Niko’s CEO Robert Ellsworth said the operator had “relaunched the sales process for our interest in the D6 Block” due to “favorable developments with respect to natural gas pricing applicable to the company’s undeveloped deepwater fields.”

While gas from existing producing fields is priced at a rate equivalent to price prevailing in gas surplus economies like Russia, the U.S. and Canada, the Indian government has given a pricing freedom subject to a cap for undeveloped gas finds in deepwater blocks. D6 Block has several undeveloped gas discoveries.

D6 Block operator Reliance has a 60% stake in the block, with partners BP (30%) and Niko (10%).

Aker BP Awards DNV GL Contract For NCS Inspections

DNV GL received a new five-year frame agreement from Aker BP covering safety, verification, inspection and classification across Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) installations, according to a Nov. 30 press release.

The contract includes options for extension. DNV GL experts will integrate into Aker BP’s organization, providing decision-making support and conducting standalone assessments.

Kjell Eriksson, regional manager for Norway at DNV GL – Oil & Gas, said that DNV GL has a long relationship with BP Norway and Det norske oljeselskap, as they merge to form Aker BP.

Mozambique Approves Investment Plan For Eni’s Coral South

Mozambique’s National Hydrocarbons Co. (ENH) said on Nov. 23 it had approved its investment plan for the Coral South gas project offshore Mozambique being led by Eni.

Eni’s board backed its investment plan last week.

Once all partners do the same, the participants can take a final investment decision and arrange financing for the LNG, part of a larger scheme that will require an estimated $50 billion to develop.

Noble Corp. Names Senior Vice President, CFO

Adam C. Peakes will become senior vice president and CFO of Noble Corp. Plc, effective Jan. 23, 2017, the offshore drilling contractor said Nov. 21.

Peakes will oversee corporate finance, financial reporting, accounting, tax and treasury activities.

Since 2011 Peakes has been managing director and head of OFS investment banking at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. From 2000 to 2011 he worked at Goldman Sachs & Co., most recently as managing director of global natural resources—investment banking division.

Peakes received an undergraduate degree from Rice University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.

Injunction Suspends Petrobras’ Sale Of Bauna, Tartaruga Verde Fields

Petrobras said in a securities filing on Nov. 21 that an injunction in a civil lawsuit has forced the company to suspend the sale of stakes in the Bauna and Tartaruga Verde oil fields. Petrobras will appeal, the filing said.

On Oct. 6, Petrobras said it was in exclusive talks with Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. to sell its 100% stake in the 45,000-bbl/d Bauna Field in the Santos Basin and a 50% interest in Tartaruga Verde, still in development, in the Campos Basin.

Maersk, DONG Discuss $10 Billion Operations Merger

Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk and DONG Energy are in talks to merge their oil and gas operations in a deal that would create a business worth more than $10 billion including debt, sources familiar with the matter said.

Maersk is working with Bank of America on the potential deal, while JP Morgan is assisting Dong Energy, said the sources, who cautioned there is no certainty the parties would come to terms.

In September Maersk said it planned to merge or spin off its energy assets as part of a major restructuring and instead focus on its core transport and logistics businesses.

In November DONG Energy said it was putting its oil and gas assets up for sale, as it wants to shift away from fossil fuels toward offshore wind.

Some analysts have said, however, that it could be hard to find buyers, with many other energy companies also putting assets up for sale due to low oil prices.

Energean Will Invest $50 Million To Develop Field Offshore Western Greece

Greece’s sole oil producer, Energean Oil & Gas, will invest $50 million to develop a proven oil and gas field offshore western Greece, the third field it will exploit in the country, it said on Nov. 29.

Energean, 45% owned by hedge fund Third Point, has two oil fields in the Prinos Basin off the northern Greek island of Thassos. It aims to increase its output to 10,000 barrels per day (Mbbl/d) by 2018 from 5 Mbbl/d currently, with an ongoing $200 million investment program.

Energean, said on Nov. 29 that it had agreed with the energy ministry to turn an exploration license for a block in a western Greek region, the West Katakolon Field, into a 25-year development license with immediate effect.

The producer will submit its development plan for the field by the end of February. It wants to start drilling in 2018.

“It will be the first ever hydrocarbon production program in the west of the country and a major boost to the economy following the challenges of the last few years,”

Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said in a statement.

Greece is still struggling to emerge from a debt crisis that began in 2010, plunging its economy in recession for years.

Over the last 50 years, it has made several fruitless attempts to find big oil and gas reserves, but important findings in neighboring countries recently have prompted the country to step up those efforts.

The West Katakolon Field has about 10 MMbbl in recoverable oil, the company said.

Energean has said ongoing exploration activity in the onshore Ioannina Field has potential. It has also recently acquired two natural gas fields in Israel.

Africa Energy Acquires Interest In Offshore Namibia Block

Canada-based Africa Energy Corp. entered into a farmout agreement with a Pancontinental Oil & Gas NL subsidiary, acquiring a 10% participating interest in Petroleum

Exploration License 37 (PEL 37) offshore Namibia.

Africa Energy’s participating interest share of all joint venture (JV) costs, including the drilling of the first exploration well on PEL 37, will be fully carried through the current exploration period by a JV partner.

Africa Energy will pay Pancontinental $1.7 million at the closing, and an additional $4.8 million when the first exploration well is spudded, the company said Nov. 29.

The farm-out’s completion is subject to receipt of all requisite government approvals, other regulatory approvals, third-party consents, partner approvals, and finalization of due diligence procedures.

James Phillips, president and CEO of Africa Energy, said that PEL 37 contains a series of extensive base-of-slope fan prospects with significant combined resource potential. The fans directly overlie a mature oil-prone source rock of Aptian age, he said.

Report: Petrobras Will Review Workers’ Profit-sharing Pact

Petrobras, the world’s most indebted large oil company, is reviewing terms of a profit-sharing accord with workers while rifts between the Brazilian state-controlled company and unions escalate, the Valor Economico newspaper reported on Nov. 22.

According to Valor, Petrobras intends to modify aspects of the PLR, as the profit-sharing mechanism is commonly known.

Union leaders told the newspaper that the proposal could include barring a current rule that would guarantee a one-time bonus for workers even if the company posts an annual loss.

Unions are challenging efforts by Petrobras’ CEO, Pedro Parente, to dispose of assets and limit pay raises.

Parente claims such actions could help prevent the company’s $130 billion debt from growing.

Workers are considering a stoppage on Nov. 30 to protest a potential revision of the profit-sharing agreement, according to the newspaper.

Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras, as well as the media offices for unions representing oil workers in the states of Sergipe and Alagoas, did not respond to requests for immediate comment.

Last week, Parente vowed to stick to a $15.1 billion asset sale goal for the two years ending in 2016, signaling that Petrobras is making headway on its downsizing plan.

Unions recently won an injunction to halt the sale of the

Bauna and Tartaruga Verde fields to Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. Petrobras has vowed to appeal the injunction, Valor said.

—Staff & Reuters Reports

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