Cobalt Appraisal Well Hits Oil At GoM’s North Platte

Preliminary results from Cobalt International Energy Inc.’s latest appraisal well at the North Platte prospect in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico show the well hit about 198 m (650 ft) of net oil pay.

Results of drilling operations on the North Platte #4 appraisal well were released Jan. 4.

The company noted that the amount is more than the approximately 168 m (550 ft) found at the North Platte #3 appraisal well.

“The North Platte #4 initial appraisal results also indicate high quality Inboard Lower Tertiary Wilcox reservoirs on the eastern flank of the North Platte field,” according to a Business Wire news release. “Cobalt is currently evaluating log data, fluid samples and pressure information and is preparing for a geologic sidetrack to further analyze the extent of the eastern flank of the field.”

The sidetrack should be finished in first-quarter 2017. Cobalt serves as the operator with a 60% working interest. Partner Total E&P USA Inc. has a 40% working interest.

ExxonMobil Makes Gas Discovery In Papua New Guinea

ExxonMobil Corp. announced on Dec. 28 a new natural gas discovery in Papua New Guinea. ExxonMobil said it has a 42.5% stake in the project, while the rest of the interest is owned by operator Oil Search Ltd. and Santos Ltd.

“We are excited by the results of the Muruk-1 exploration well, which confirms the presence of hydrocarbons in the same high-quality sandstone reservoirs as the Hides Field that underpins the PNG LNG project,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co.

The PNG LNG Project is a 6.9 million tonnes per annum integrated LNG project operated by ExxonMobil PNG. The gas is sourced from seven fields, including the Hides, Angore and Juha gas fields.

Egypt Signs Three E&P Deals For Mediterranean Blocks

Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla has signed three offshore oil and gas E&P deals worth at least $220 million with Total, BP and Eni’s Egyptian subsidiary IEOC, the ministry said on Dec. 27, 2016.

The deals include drilling for six wells and a signing bonus of $9 million, the ministry said in a statement, and are the result of a tender called by Egyptian state gas board EGAS. They are all in exploration blocks in the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea.

The first deal, with a consortium of BP and IEOC, is worth $75 million for an exploration block in the North Ras El Esh Block; the second, with a consortium of all three companies, is in the North El Hammad Block and is worth $80 million, and the third, with BP alone, is in the North Tabia Block and worth $65 million.

Egypt’s oil sector has signed 73 oil and gas exploration deals with international oil companies in the past three years’ worth at least $15 billion so far, Molla said in Dec. 28’s statement, and signing bonuses of more than $1 billion for the drilling of 306 wells.

Earlier on Dec. 28, an EGAS official told Reuters that the board determined Egypt needed about 100 shipments of LNG worth $2.2 billion in 2017, and had already secured 60 shipments.

BOEM Sale In 2017 Will Offer 48 Million Central GoM Acres

More than 48 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama will be offered for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Dec. 22.

About 9,118 blocks ranging 5 km (3 miles) to about 370 km (230 miles) offshore in water from 2.7 m (9 ft) to more than 3,388 m (11,115 ft) will be offered.

This sale, Lease Sale 247, will be livestreamed on March 22, 2017 at 9 a.m. CST via the BOEM website.

—Reuters & Staff Reports

Offshore