Statoil Awards Aker Solutions Subsea Contracts For Troll, Askeladd

Aker Solutions said on Jan. 23 it was awarded contracts from Statoil to provide subsea production systems and services for the Troll Phase 3 and Askeladd natural gas developments offshore Norway.

The company will deliver a subsea production system consisting of two manifolds and nine trees for the Troll development in the North Sea. The system for Askeladd, in the Barents Sea, will comprise two manifolds and four trees. Both orders include installation and commissioning support services.

The contracts have a total estimated value of between $146 million and $194 million and will be booked in the first quarter. Work starts this month, with final deliveries scheduled for 2020.

Work on the two systems will involve facilities in Norway, Brazil, the U.K. and Malaysia. Initial deliveries are scheduled for second-quarter 2019. Aker Solutions’ facilities in Ågotnes on the west coast of Norway and Hammerfest will provide the subsea services for Troll and Askeladd.

Troll, which contains about 40% of Norway’s offshore gas reserves, is expected to continue producing for decades to come. Askeladd is slated to come onstream after 2020. It is located about 180 km (111 miles) from the Melkøya onshore plant, where the gas will be processed.

LLOG Kicks Off Drilling At Buckskin In US GoM

Louisiana-based LLOG Exploration has started development drilling at its Buckskin project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s Keathley Canyon area with a goal of starting production by mid-2019, the company said.

The initial phase of the deepwater project, where the water depth is about 2,073 m (6,800 ft), includes two development wells and a 1-km (0.6-mile) subsea tieback to the Lucius platform, which is also located in Keathley Canyon. The initial two wells will be drilled to about 8,839 m (29,000 ft), LLOG said. Following drilling and completion, subsea facilities will be installed.

LLOG said the field in the Lower Tertiary trend is estimated to hold nearly 5 Bbbl of oil and place. More wells and subsea facilities will be needed to fully develop the field, the company said.

LLOG affiliates Buckstone Development Co. and LLOG Deepwater Development Co. I hold a own a combined 33.8% working interest in the Buckskin development, with LLOG Exploration Offshore serving as operator. Partners are Repsol E&P USA Inc. (22.5%), Beacon Offshore Energy Buckskin LLC (18.7%), Navitas Buckskin US LLC (7.5%) and two entities managed by Ridgewood Energy Corp., Ridgewood Buckskin LLC and ILX Prospect Buckskin LLC, each of which owns 8.75%.

Aker BP Inks Frame Agreement With Aqualis Offshore

Marine and offshore engineering consultancy Aqualis Offshore has signed a frame agreement to provide marine services to Aker BP.

Under the frame agreement, Aqualis Offshore will provide marine warranty surveyor and marine services to Aker BP’s fixed platforms, mobile units and subsea fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Aqualis Offshore’s scope of work covers loadouts, transports, installation, towages, moorings, rig moves and vessel inspections.

The agreement is valid for five years.

Aqualis Offshore, part of Oslo-listed Aqualis ASA, will support Aker BP with marine services from the company’s offices in Norway.

Statoil Awards Sverdrup Reservoir Contract To Alcatel

Statoil has selected Alcatel Submarine Networks for permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) on the Johan Sverdrup Field, according to a news release.

The seismic technology, a potential digital enabler for the field, will be a key contributor to delivering on Johan Sverdrup’s 70% recovery ambition.

With 380 km (236 miles) of fiber-optic seismic cables installed on the seabed and more than 6,500 acoustic sensors covering an area of more than 120 sq km (46 sq miles), Johan Sverdrup will have one of the largest fiber-optic seismic systems of its kind.

For the first time on any field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the seismic technology will be in place ready to optimize production in time for startup. The seismic cables will be installed on the seabed of Johan Sverdrup during 2019.

With PRM, seismic sensors are permanently embedded into the seabed, which enables more frequent and much improved seismic images of changes in the reservoir. The system on Johan Sverdrup will use optical fiber technology, which allows for continuous recording of changes in the subsurface, the release said. Data generated by this system are considered a key input to enable Statoil to deliver on its digital roadmap for the field.

The frame agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks also includes opportunities for future collaboration around technology development and solutions to further maximize the potential from the PRM system. An option to extend seismic coverage to include the southernmost part of the Johan Sverdrup Field is also part of the agreement.

Aker Solutions Installs Manifold At Iracema Sul

Aker Solutions has installed its first subsea manifold for Petrobras’ deepwater presalt fields, the company said via Facebook.

The manifold was installed at the Iracema Sul Field in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

At a water depth of 2,200 m, the company called the equipment installation one of its deepest.

“Three more manifolds will be installed by May,” the company said.

Production from Iracema Sul Field started in October 2014 via the Cidade de Mangaratiba FPSO unit.

Statoil May Build Onshore Terminal For Castberg Oil

Statoil has begun work on a proposal to build an onshore terminal in northern Norway for handling oil from the Arctic offshore Johan Castberg oil field and other yet-to-be-developed resources, the country’s energy minister and Statoil’s CEO said Jan. 16.

A report on the proposal is expected in 2019, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Soeviknes told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.

“We are working together with several other license holders and operators to see if there is a basis for building a terminal,” said Statoil’s CEO Eldar Saetre, also speaking to Reuters. “We want to make it work, but we need more resources than Castberg for it to be realistic.”

An onshore terminal could help to cut oil shipping costs as it would allow larger tankers to ship the oil. The decision to build such a terminal would depend on whether it could also receive oil from other developments, including Lundin’s Alta/Gohta and OMV’s Wisting discoveries.

Lundin and OMV have yet to decide whether to develop those discoveries.

Eni and Norway’s state-owned Petoro are Statoil’s partners in the Johan Castberg license.

Talos Releases IP Results From GoM’s Tornado II Well

Talos Energy is growing production at the Phoenix Field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s Green Canyon area, with the Tornado II deepwater well flowing more than 12,350 boe/d during a two-week test in December 2017.

The Houston-based company, which is set to merge with Stone Energy Corp., released IP results from the well on Jan. 16. The well is located in about 823 m (2,700 ft) of water.

Talos said the Tornado II drilling program consisted of an exploratory test penetration in a fault block adjacent to the company’s initial Tornado discovery in 2016, followed by the Tornado II producer to delineate and further develop the initial reservoir. More than 80% of the gross production from the Tornado II deepwater well during the test was oil.

Coupled with the first Tornado well, Talos said it plans to flow the wells at a combined gross rate of between 24,000 boe/d and 27,000 boe/d. The wells flow through the existing Phoenix Field subsea infrastructure into the Helix Producer I floating production unit on the adjacent Green Canyon Block 237, the company said in a news release.

Talos serves as operator with 65% interest. Its partner is Deep Gulf Energy III with a 35% working interest.

KBR JV Wins Two FEED Contracts For Azeri Central East Project

KBR Inc. said on Jan. 16 that its joint venture (JV) with SOCAR has been awarded two separate FEED contracts for a new production, drilling and quarters platform.

The Azeri Central East platform will be located in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) Field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.

The contracts cover the provision of FEED services for the new platform, along with associated brownfield tie-ins to other existing platforms in the ACG Field, and a separate contract for the subsea services FEED.

Following previous awards to other regional and international clients, these contracts mark the fourth and fifth awards to the JV, SOCAR-KBR Ltd. Liability Co. (SOCAR-KBR), since its inception in mid-2015. SOCAR-KBR was formed to help further Azerbaijan's ambition for creating a world-class Azerbaijan based engineering company.

The value of the contract was booked into the backlog of unfilled orders for KBR’s Engineering & Construction business segment in fourth-quarter of 2017.

Canada Orders Husky To Halt SeaRose Operation After Iceberg Close Call

Canadian regulators on Jan. 17 ordered Husky Energy to suspend operations on its 27,000-bbl/d SeaRose floating production vessel off the coast of eastern Canada after an iceberg came too close to the facility in March 2017.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) made its decision after an investigation found Husky did not follow its own Ice Management Plan when an iceberg came within 0.25 nautical mile of the FPSO vessel.

Husky did not disconnect the SeaRose FPSO vessel and sail away from the iceberg as it should have done, and at one point people onboard were ordered to “brace for impact,” the C-NLOPB said in a statement. “The C-NLOPB has determined there are serious issues respecting Husky’s ice management, management systems and organizational decision-making,” the regulator said.

At the time, there were 84 people and 340,000 barrels of crude onboard the vessel, which is located in the North Atlantic’s White Rose oil field, about 350 km (217 miles) east off the coast of New Brunswick province.

The iceberg did not ultimately make contact with the SeaRose or underwater infrastructure and there were no injuries, environmental damage or damage to Husky facilities.

“We could have and should have responded differently according to the pre-existing plan, and we will learn from this incident. We will work with the C-NLOPB and take the actions necessary to satisfy the regulator,” Husky’s CEO Rob Peabody said in a statement.

Husky spokesman Mel Duvall said the company does not know for how long the SeaRose FPSO vessel will be shut down.

The C-NLOPB said SeaRose operations will remain suspended until it is confident Husky has addressed the findings in the investigation.

The SeaRose FPSO vessel began operations in 2005 and serves the White Rose Field as well as the North Amethyst, West White Rose and South White Rose extensions.

Rockhopper Eyes 2018 FID For Sea Lion Development

Rockhopper Exploration aims to make a final investment decision (FID) for the $1.5 billion Sea Lion Phase 1 development in the North Falkland Basin by year-end 2018.

Sea Lion is operated by Premier Oil, holding 60% interest.

The company, which delivered an update in January, said a new draft field development plan for the project was submitted to the Falkland Islands government in November 2017, and the governmental authorities “recently confirmed it does not anticipate that the planned discussions will uncover any major issues, and that the minor issues under discussion should be satisfactorily resolved in due course.”

Recoverable resources for Phase 1 to be commercialized are about 220 MMbbl with peak production planned for about 80,000 bbl/d. The expected life of the field is 20 years, according to Rockhopper.

FEED work for the project has been completed, and focus turned to the project’s commercial, fiscal and financing elements during second-half 2017, the company said. “The joint venture continues to progress financing for the Sea Lion project including through senior debt and subordinated contractor funding streams,” Rockhopper said.

Based on the latest update, letters of intent have been entered with contractors for well and certain logistical services as well as vendor financing. Rockhopper and its joint venture partners anticipate entering further agreements associated with drilling and the subsea system during first-quarter 2018.

On the financial side, the company continues potential export credit talks and “expects to commence a bank engagement process with the aim of establishing bank market appetite for the project” during first-quarter 2018.

Rockhopper holds a 40% working interest in the development.

—Staff & Reuters Reports