CGG Releases Survey Over Perdido Fold Belt In GoM

CGG Multi-Physics has completed acquiring, processing and interpreting a multiclient airborne gravity and magnetic survey covering about 38,000 line km over the Perdido Fold Belt in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico, according to a news release.

The newly acquired Perdido Fold Belt data show a correlation of discoveries along the flanks of basement topography. The data and interpretation will help explorers map crystalline basement, which is not well imaged by seismic, to construct an improved Earth Model, CGG said in the release. The airborne survey also collected data through the “transition zone” from the marine environment to onshore.

A full geophysical interpretation report will provide important insights to exploration and de-risking of prospective areas by oil companies. The report will include mapping of basement, sediment and any intrusives or salt which may be present,

Data acquisition of the AOI 1 area was completed in December 2016. This survey is the first of six areas to be acquired in a wider program totaling 200,000 line km across the Mexican Gulf of Mexico. More acquisition work is planned for 2018.

Energean Lands Five Exploration Licenses Offshore Israel

The Israeli petroleum commissioner has awarded Energean Israel five offshore exploration licenses within the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone, Energean Oil & Gas said in a news release.

The initial exploration period for each license is three years. The licenses comprise blocks 12, 21, 22, 23 and 31, which were part of Israel’s first offshore bid round. The blocks are located near the Karish and Tanin gas fields, which are moving toward development by Energean, the release stated.

Energean said it believes the awarded licenses are highly prospective and would benefit, if economic hydrocarbon discoveries are made, from being developed via tiebacks to the FPSO unit that Energean will construct for the Karish and Tanin developments.

Lebanon Approves Offshore Oil, Gas Exploration Bid

Lebanon’s cabinet approved a bid Dec. 14 for offshore energy exploration by a consortium made up of Total, Eni and Novatek, in the country’s first oil and gas offshore licensing round, a government source told Reuters.

Lebanon sits on the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean where a number of big subsea gas fields have been discovered since 2009, including the Leviathan and Tamar fields located in Israeli waters near the disputed marine border with Lebanon.

Data suggest there are reserves in Lebanon’s waters, but so far no exploratory drilling has taken place to estimate reserve size.

The first licensing round for E&P rights was relaunched in January after a three-year delay due to political problems in the country.

Total, Eni and Novatek consortium was the only consortium to submit an offer, bidding for Block 4 and Block 9 of the available five blocks.

Eni Strikes More Pay Offshore Mexico, Raises Estimates

Eni has increased its estimate for hydrocarbon in place to 2.0 Bboe for its discoveries in Mexico’s Campeche Bay after a well in the area struck pay.

The Italian major said Dec. 12 the shallow-water Tecoalli 2 well, located in Contractural Area 1, hit about 40 m (131 ft) of net oil pay in the Orca Formation. With a water depth of 33 m (108 ft), the well was drilled to a final depth of 4,420 m (14,501 ft) and then deepened to the Cinco Presidentes Formation exploratory target. There, the well hit another 27 m (89 ft) of net oil pay, Eni said in a news release.

Next steps include conducting a production test followed by temporarily abandoning the well.

“Thanks to the results of this well and the revision of the reservoir models of the Amoca and Miztón fields, the hydrocarbon in place estimate for Area 1 is boosted from 1.4 to 2.0 [Bboe], of which approximately 90% oil and the remaining associated gas,” Eni said.

The Tecoalli Field is 24 km (15 miles) from the Amoca Field and 13 km (8 miles) from the Miztón Field.

The company also said it plans to submit the development plan for Area 1 (Eni 100%) to Mexico’s Natural Hydrocarbons Commission. When the plan is approved, Eni said it will sanction the development. Production startup is planned for first-half 2019.

Kosmos Energy To Plug Offshore Mauritania Well

Kosmos Energy Ltd. said it would plug its Lamantin-1 exploration well offshore Mauritania after it failed to find significant amount of oil and gas.

Lamantin-1 was drilled to a total depth of 5,150 m (16,896 ft) and was designed to evaluate a untested lower Campanian base of slope fan supplied from the Nouakchott River system, trapped in a combination structural-stratigraphic feature, and charged from underlying, oil-prone Cenomanian/Turonian and Albian source rocks.

Evaluation of logs and samples collected during drilling and wireline operations suggests the Campanian reservoir objective was water-bearing with some residual hydrocarbons, Kosmos said.

“We are still in the early stages of exploring this newly emerging basin and our forward drilling program remains unchanged given the independent nature of the prospects,” Andrew Inglis, CEO, said in a statement.

Syria To Start Offshore Energy Exploration In 2019

Syrian offshore gas exploration will begin in early 2019, the country’s oil minister said, Syrian newspaper al-Watan reported.

Oil and mineral resources Minister Ali Ghanem said contracts for five offshore blocks had been signed with “friendly countries”. The report did not say which countries or companies were involved.

He also said Syria has an estimated 1,250 Bcm (44 Tcf) of offshore gas reserves. The report did not say when or how the Syrian government had appraised the reserves.

In 2013, Russian energy firm Soyuzneftegaz signed the first offshore exploration contract with Syria for Block 2. But in 2015, it said it would not go ahead with the project because of Syria’s conflict—now in its seventh year.

In comments made to the Syrian parliament on Dec. 12 and reported by al-Watan on Dec. 13, Ghanem said Syria aims to produce 19 MMcm/d (671 MMcf/d) of gas by the end of 2018 and 24.5 MMcm/d (865 MMcf/d) by the end of 2019.

He also said Syria aims to produce 70,000 bbl/d of oil by the end of 2018 and 219,000 bbl/d by the end of 2019.

The war in Syria meant the government lost control of the majority of Syria’s onshore oil and gas fields, but many have been recaptured as a result of advances made against Islamic State in recent months.

This has enabled the government to produce more power.

—Staff & Reuters Reports