Cameron Awards JDR Umbilical Contract For Project Offshore India

JDR has landed a major steel tube umbilical contract from Cameron Ltd. for oil and gas wells being developed as part of ONGC’s Western Offshore project.

The subsea development, located offshore India, involves completion of 11 oil and gas wells that are either at an infield location or an extension of existing fields, including marginal pools which will be connected to the nearest host facility, in water depths up to 100 m (328 ft), JDR said Feb. 15.

JDR’s work scope includes project management, engineering and manufacture of 11 umbilicals, with a combined length of over 53 km (33 miles). The company will also supply subsea terminations and accessories. The umbilicals are scheduled for delivery in fourth-quarter 2017. Cameron awarded the contract on behalf of ONGC.

Wood Group Wins BP Global Service Agreement

Wood Group has been awarded a three-year global agreement with BP for conceptual engineering services, pre-FEED and FEED engineering services, according to a news release.

The agreement includes an option to extend for two additional years.

This is not the first time BP has turned to Wood Group for services.

In 2016 BP awarded Wood Group a five-year, $500 million engineering, procurement and construction management services contract for work in Azerbaijan. BP also contracted with Wood Group in 2015 for engineering services related to BP’s existing subsea infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico, U.K. and Norwegian continental shelves and offshore Azerbaijan, the release said.

Bourbon Lands Pipelay EPCI Contract Offshore Gabon

Total Gabon has awarded Bourbon its first pipelay contract as part of the Hylia water injection project, according to a news release.

Bourbon will provide the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of 25 km (16 miles) of 6-in. rigid pipeline. The project will use Zap-Lok technology. Bourbon said it is using subcontractors—including Cortez Subsea for pipelay equipment and Wood Group for the pipeline design and pipelay engineering—to execute the contract.

Operations are scheduled to start in second-quarter 2017 with a multipurpose supply vessel from the Bourbon Evolution 800 series, the release said. ROV services and a platform supply vessel, provided by Bourbon, also will support survey and air diving operations for spool and riser installation.

Eni Starts East Hub Development Production Offshore Angola

Eni has started production of the East Hub Development Project, located in Block 15/06 offshore Angola, ahead of schedule, the company said in a Feb. 8 news release.

Production is taking place through the Armada Olombendo FPSO vessel, which can generate up to 80,000 bbl/d of oil and compress up to 3.4 MMcm/d (120 MMcf/d) of gas. With nine wells and four manifolds at a water depth of 450 m (1,476 ft), the vessel will put into production the Cabaça Southeast Field, 130 km (81 miles) west of Soyo, Eni said.

East Hub production will add to production from the existing West Hub Project in the Sangos, Cinguvu and Mpungi fields, where the FPSO N’Goma vessel is operating. In total, Block 15/06 will reach a peak of 150,000 bbl/d in 2017, Eni said.

Eni is the operator of Block 15/06 holding a 36.84% share with partners Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção (36.84%) and SSI Fifteen Ltd. (26.32%).

BHP Billiton Approves $2.2 Billion For Mad Dog Phase 2

BHP Billiton has agreed to spend $2.2 billion for its share of the BP-operated Mad Dog Phase 2 project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), according to a news release.

Mad Dog Phase 2, located in the Green Canyon area in the deepwater GoM, is a southern and southwestern extension of the existing Mad Dog Field, BHP Billiton said in the release. The project includes a new floating production facility with the capacity to produce up to 140,000 bbl/d (gross) of crude oil from up to 14 production wells. Production is expected to begin in the 2022 financial year.

BHP Billiton holds a 23.9% participating interest in the Mad Dog Field with BP (60.5%) and Chevron USA affiliate Union Oil Co. of California (15.6%). The project was sanctioned by BP in fourth-quarter 2016.

Saudi Aramco Considers Expanding Production From Berri Field

Saudi Aramco is considering expanding its oil and gas production from the Berri offshore oil field, industry sources told Reuters.

Aramco would, over time, add 250,000 bbl/d of crude oil from Berri, possibly by building drilling islands offshore in the Gulf, while also processing higher pressure associated gas for sweetening in Khursaniyah, the sources said.

Low-pressure gas would be sent to the Berri gas plant in Jubail, which will be expanded under a program to recover more NGL and sulfur.

Aramco has invited companies to bid for several packages of FEED work on the project, which one source estimated could cost $6 billion. Two sources told Reuters the estimated cost of the gas plant expansion is about $1.7 billion.

Front-end engineering typically takes as long as a year to complete from the day of the award of contracts.

Aramco declined to comment on the expansion plans.

Energean Names TechnipFMC As Contractor For Karish, Tanin FPSO

Energean Oil & Gas has appointed TechnipFMC as the concept and FEED contractor for the Karish and Tanin development program offshore Israel, the company said in a news release Feb. 2.

The move followed Energean’s recent decision to develop the fields using an FPSO unit, which Energean believes will facilitate the quickest route to market.

The fields are said to contain 68 Bcm (2.4 Tcf) of gas. Energean said it plans to fast the Karish Field development, followed by development of the Tanin Field.

The company intends to submit the field development plan to the Israeli government in mid-2017. Development costs are expected to run between an estimated $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion over the next few years, Energean said.

Egypt Pays Eni $650 Million Under Zohr Development Deal

Egypt paid its $630 million financial obligation in January to Eni to develop the biggest gas fields ever found in the Mediterranean, Rami Aboul Naga, assistant sub-governor for foreign reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt, told state news agency MENA on Feb. 7.

Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said Egypt was committed to repaying the $3.5 billion it owes in arrears to foreign oil companies, but a foreign currency shortage has made drawing down those debts more difficult.

Egypt’s foreign reserves rose to $26.363 billion at the end of January but were still about $10 billion less than the reserves before an uprising in 2011 ushered in a period of political turmoil, scaring away tourists and foreign investors, which are key sources of hard currency. The central bank floated the Egyptian pound in November as part of economic reforms. The move helped Egypt clinch a $12 billion, three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Zohr, discovered by Eni in 2015, is the largest gas field ever found in the Mediterranean, with an estimated 850 Bcm (30 Tcf) of gas in place. The approval process for development of the field was completed in February, and first gas is expected by year-end 2017.

—Staff & Reuters Reports

Offshore