AFRICA

Cairn makes second oil discovery offshore Senegal

Cairn has made a discovery of high-quality oil in the second well in the Senegal exploration program, the company said in a press release. The SNE-1 well is located in 1,100 m (3,609 ft) water depth about 100 km (62 miles) offshore in the Sangomar Offshore Block with a target depth of about 3,000 m (9,843 ft) targeting the Shelf Edge Prospect. Intermediate logging of the SNE-1 well has confirmed hydrocarbons in the Cretaceous clastics objective, which is of similar age to oil-bearing sands found about 24 km (15 miles) away in FAN-1.

Sidi Moussa well encounters oil

Testing operations have now concluded on the SM-1 well on the Genel-operated Sidi Moussa license offshore Morocco, according to partners Serica Energy Plc, Genel Energy and San Leon Energy. The well was drilled to a total depth of 2,825 m (9,268 ft) subsea and encountered oil in fractured and brecciated cavernous Upper Jurassic carbonates. During the course of drilling and well control operations, 26˚API oil was produced to surface with the drilling fluids. A subsequent testing program confirmed the presence of oil.

ASIA-PACIFIC

Mubadala starts production at Thailand’s Manora Field

Production commenced at Mubadala Petroleum-operated Manora oil field in the northern Gulf of Thailand, according to a press release. Production is expected to reach a peak rate of about 15,000 bbl/d of oil as production wells are completed. Up to 10 production wells and five injection wells in the main reservoir sequence are planned. The field is located within the G1/48 concession, about 80 km (50 miles) offshore in 44 m (144 ft) of water depth.

CNOOC makes mid-sized discovery in South China Sea

CNOOC Ltd. has made a mid-sized discovery in Lufeng14-4 in the eastern South China Sea, the company said in a news release. The Lufeng14-4 structure is located in Lufeng Sag in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea with an average water depth of 145 m (476 ft). The discovery well Lufeng14-4-1 was drilled and completed at a depth of 4,098 m (13,445 ft) and encountered oil pay zones with a total thickness of about 150 m (492 ft). The oil production of the well tested around 1,320 bbl/d.

AUSTRALIA

Bauer-19 well hits oil pay in Cooper Basin

The Bauer-19 deviated development well in PPL 253 within PEL 91 has been cased and suspended as a future McKinlay and Namur oil producer after intersecting net oil pay within the Namur Sandstone as well as a 4-m (13-ft) gross interval of oil-bearing McKinlay Member, Beach Energy said in a news release. Bauer-19 was the third well in a six-well development campaign at Bauer. The well intersected the top of the Namur reservoir 4.7 m (15.4 ft) high to prognosis. The 8.7-m (28.5-ft) Namur oil column is better than the predrill prediction of 4 m.

SOUTH AMERICA

Petrobras makes first find in Colombian Caribbean deepwater

The Petrobras Orca–1 exploratory well (Tayrona Block) has revealed a natural gas accumulation in Colombian Caribbean deepwater 40 km (25 miles) off the coast of La Guajira. This is the first discovery in the history of the deepwater exploration of this region of the Caribbean. Petrobras is the operator (40%) in partnership with Ecopetrol (30%) and Repsol (30%). The natural gas accumulation was confirmed at 3,600 m (11,811 ft).

Spectrum begins deepwater project offshore Uruguay

Spectrum has commenced a 3,600-km (2,237-mile) multiclient 2-D seismic survey offshore Uruguay, a news release said. The new acquisition program will infill Spectrum’s survey acquired in 2013 and cover open ultradeepwater acreage in the Oriental del Plata and Pelotas basins, anticipating the third licensing round in Uruguay expected to be held in 2015, according to the release. The data are being collected by the vessel BGP Challenger and will be processed in Spectrum’s processing center in Houston.

NORTH AMERICA

ICA Fluor, Shell sign heavy oil deal

ICA Fluor, a joint venture between Fluor Corp. and Empresas ICA, signed a contract with Shell Canada Energy to supply modular fabrication and procurement services for 13 well pads for heavy oil extraction at Shell’s Carmon Creek project under construction in northern Alberta. The project is expected to produce about 80 Mbbl/d of heavy oil from Shell’s Peace River operations using steam recovery methods. The initial contract awarded to ICA Fluor is worth $264 million. ICA Fluor will fabricate the modules at the El Empalme Yard in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The completion is scheduled for December 2017.

GULF OF MEXICO

Hess starts production from Tubular Bells Field

Production has commenced from the Tubular Bells Field located in the Mississippi Canyon area of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Hess said in a news release. Following a ramp-up period, Tubular Bells is expected to deliver gross production of about 50 Mboe from three producing wells by year-end 2014. The Tubular Bells Field was discovered in 2003, and the development was sanctioned in October 2011. It lies in about 1,310 m (4,300 ft) of water 217 km (135 miles) southeast of New Orleans.

Chevron produces first oil from Jack/St. Malo project

Crude oil and natural gas production has begun at the Jack/St. Malo project in the Lower Tertiary trend in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Chevron Corp. said in a press release. The Jack and St. Malo fields are among the largest in the GoM. They were discovered in 2004 and 2003, respectively, and production from the first development stage is expected to ramp up over the next several years to a total daily rate of 94 Mbbl of crude oil and 595 Mcm (21 MMcf) of natural gas.

EUROPE

Statoil completes Barents Sea exploration program

Statoil has completed the extensive 2013-14 exploration program in the Barents Sea, a press release said. This represents an all-time high in exploration activity and 10% of all exploration wells drilled in the Barents Sea since its opening in 1980. The exploration program started with five wells in the vicinity of Johan Castberg to clarify the oil potential in the area to plan the development of the Johan Castberg Field. The three wells drilled in the Hoop area during the summer allowed the company to build knowledge of this huge frontier area of the Barents Sea. The last part of the exploration program was designed to increase understanding of the petroleum potential in different areas of the Barents Sea.

Centrica makes gas discovery in North Sea

Well tests at the Pegasus West discovery have led to positive results, indicating a combined sustained flow rate of more than 2.5 MMcm/d (90 MMcf/d) of gas. Centrica drilled the exploration well at Pegasus West using the Paragon 391 jackup rig as part of its strategy to build on its existing hubs. The Pegasus area is in the southern North Sea 150 km (93 miles) east of Teesside, England, close to the large Cygnus gas development, where Centrica has a significant interest. The Pegasus West well will now be suspended while the company assesses the data it has gathered and makes a decision on development.

RUSSIA CIS

Eni signs agreements for Turkmenistan activity

Eni and Turkmenistan’s State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources signed an addendum to the production-sharing agreement (PSA) with respect to the onshore Nebit Dag area located in West Turkmenistan, a press release said. The addendum extends the duration of the PSA to February 2032, and a 10% stake out of the contractor share is transferred by Eni, operator of the block, to Turkmenneft. Eni will keep the remaining 90% interest stake in the PSA. This agreement will enable further E&P investments in Burun and other satellite fields of the Nebit Dag Block.