Asab FFD-2 tender is issued

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned giant Adnoc Onshore has issued a tender for work on the second development phase (FFD-2) of its Asab onshore field, with the project thought to be worth close to $200 million, writes Nishant Ugal. Industry sources told Upstream that the tender for the engineering, procurement and construction contract was recently issued by the onshore operator and technical offers are lik

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Nishant Ugal

BP eyes climate action

Supermajor aims to invest more in renewables

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Anamaria Deduleasa

Premier options on the table

Premier Oil and its partners in the Tolmount development have still not decided which onshore terminal will receive and process gas from the UK southern North Sea field, it has emerged, writes Rob Watts. Despite earlier indications that the Perenco-operated Dimlington terminal in East Yorkshire had been selected as the final choice, Premier and its partners this week confirmed that another option

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Rob Watts

Shell in the hunt for Nigeria call-off services contractor

Anglo-Dutch giant Shell is seeking a contractor able to provide call-off services in Nigeria for intervention, installation and support work, writes Iain Esau. The workscope includes light well intervention as well as the inspection, maintenance and repair of its subsea assets in deep-water Nigeria — focused on the Bonga floating production, storage and offloading vessel, single buoy moorings, in

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Iain Esau

Tanzania seismic search

State-owned Tanzania Petroleum & Development Corporation is on the hunt for a contractor to shoot 3D seismic data in the country’s southern waters, writes Iain Esau. The deadline for bids to be submitted is 30 April for a contract that will cover the acquisition and processing of 3D data in ultra-deepwater Block 4/1B. TPDC said the offer documents will be opened in public “promptly thereafter”.

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Iain Esau

Production boost with acquisition of PGN

Also boosts domestic production

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Chevron to move on IDD

Studies on optimisation and cost reduction going well

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Amanda Battersby

Myanmar spud for Woodside

Woodside Petroleum is preparing to spud the first well of its 2018 multi-well exploration and appraisal campaign off Myanmar, writes Russell Searancke. The Australian operator will use Transocean's drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 for an initial three-well contract. Woodside also has five one-well options with the drillship. The first well, Aung Siddhi-1, is due to spud in May. It is located

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Dara East concept selected

Black Platinum Energy has chosen its preferred development concept for the Dara East gas project in the Natuna Sea, Indonesia. The main elements of the project will be six normally unmanned wellhead platforms, a leased floating production unit, infield flowlines and umbilicals, and up to 23 wells. Produced gas would be sent via a third-party pipeline to the West Natuna Transport System. The Jaka

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Body found after fire

The body of a seafarer missing following an explosion and fire on board a Petronas-chartered research vessel off Malaysia on Tuesday has been found. The remains of Mohamad Saiful Ashnar were located on board the Geos on Wednesday following the incident off Kuala Baram, which also left two people injured. A search and rescue operation had been launched for the missing man following the early morn

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Eoin O'Cinneide

Erin aims to shut down Oyo

Operator declares force majeure at Nigeria field

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Barry Morgan

Gazprom Neft upbeat over batch of blocks in West Siberia

Russian state-controlled oil producer Gazprom Neft has released an optimistic assessment for six blocks it now holds in the south of the Khanty-Mansiysk region in West Siberia, writes Vladimir Afanasiev. The company said the blocks may be capable of producing between 15 million and 25 million tonnes (110 million — 183 million barrels) of oil equivalent per annum. Earlier in April, Gazprom Neft c

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Vladimir Afanasiev

Iraq adds time for bidders

Iraq has delayed its planned exploration licensing round to 25 April, giving international oil companies 10 more days to study the proposed model contracts on offer, writes Nassir Shirkhani. The Oil Ministry said it sent the final tender document outlining the bidding process and model for two proposed contracts to international oil companies last Friday. Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi, head of the Oil

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Nassir Shirkhani

Data sale for basins

US seismic company FairfieldNodal has acquired the domestic multiclient data library of Geokinetics, expanding its seismic coverage in a range of key areas including the Permian, Appalachia and Powder River basins. The deal will increase Fairfield's coverage from 3532 square miles (9148 square kilometres) in the Permian basin to 10,460 square miles spread across the broader range of areas. “The

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Five up in US rig count

The US rig count climbed by another five units in the latest week to reach 1008, up by as much as 161 from the tally reported in the same report by service giant Baker Hughes this time last year. The count of rigs exploring for oil was up by seven for the week to 815, a number that has gained substantially over the year-ago figure of 683. The number of gas rigs fell by two to 192, a more modest

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

All change at Jones Energy

US independent Jones Energy has fired its chief executive and president, but has allowed both to keep their seats on the company’s board. The Austin-based company in a regulatory filing said it had "terminated, effective immediately" its chief executive and founder Jonny Jones and president Mike McConnell. Jones Energy did not provide a reason for the personnel moves. Both will keep their seats

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Julia Martinez

BP gives Vorlich figures

Production from BP’s newly sanctioned Vorlich development in the UK central North Sea is expected to peak at up to 11,000 barrels per day of oil and 1.89 million cubic metres of gas per day a year after start-up, writes Rob Watts. The figures are contained in the environmental statement for the scheme, which was recently submitted to the UK authorities and released publicly on the day last week i

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

IOG deal done

UK minnow Independent Oil & Gas (IOG) has completed its acquisition of the Thames Pipeline a little later than expected from Perenco, Tullow Oil and Spirit Energy, a move central to its ambitions of developing the Vulcan and Blythe gas hubs in the southern North Sea. It means IOG is now operator of the line, which it owns 100%, and can press ahead with a pigging programme to ensure the export lin

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

LNG Ltd cuts Fishermans line

Australia’s Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (LNG Ltd) has completed its exit from the Fisherman's Landing LNG project in Queensland. The company announced it was leaving the project last year after years of trying to secure a long-term gas supply contract.LNG Ltd sold the project to LNG Queensland for US$800,000 plus US$4 million if the buyer reaches a financial close on an LNG project at the Fisherman

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Oil Search ready to spin drillbit on Forelands gas quest

Papua New Guinea's Oil Search is about to start a two-well operated appraisal drilling programme in the Forelands region as it seeks new gas volumes for its liquefied natural gas business, writes Russell Searancke. The Kimu-2 appraisal well in Block PRL 8 is expected to begin drilling shortly and should reach total depth in late May or early June. It will be followed by the Barikewa-3 appraisal

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Awilco deal for semisub divides opinions

Awilco Drilling’s order of a harsh-environment semi-submersible at Singapore’s Keppel Fels earlier this year has given fresh impetus to the ailing rig market, but it has also split market opinion on the wisdom of the deal, writes Eoin O'Cinneide. The $425 million order for one firm mid-water unit also came with a trio of options, with the firm unit set to hit the water in early 2021. “If you bel

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Eoin O'Cinneide

Gorgon phase two approval

The Chevron-led owners of the Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Australia have made a final investment decision for a phase two upstream development, writes Russell Searancke. Phase two is centred on maintaining gas supplies from the deep-water Gorgon and Jansz-Io fields into the three-train Gorgon LNG plant on Barrow Island. Chevron Australia managing director Nigel Hearne said Gorgon sta

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Upgrades win over newbuilds

While drillers across the board see the market for rigs improving through 2018, they still generally favour upgrades to newbuilds, writes Caroline Evans. Helmerich & Payne (H&P), which earlier this year had 171 super-spec units operating at about 98% utilisation, believes there are another 200 to 250 rigs in the industry where upgrades to super-spec capacity would be "economically feasible", and

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Caroline Evans

Tanap makes progress

The first section of the $8 billion Trans-Anatolian pipeline (Tanap) project that will bring gas from BP's Shah Deniz field off Azerbaijan to Turkey is due to be completed on 30 June, writes Kama Mustafeyeva. Tanap's general manager Saltık Duzyol said this week that a 1340-kilometre section running from the Georgian border to Eskisehir in western Turkey is almost complete, with pipeline commissio

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Kama Mustafayeva

Woodside up

A rise in production helped Australian independent Woodside Petroleum increase revenues in the first quarter. The company posted revenues of US$1.17 billion in the three months to the end of March, up from US$902.4 million a year earlier. Output climbed to 22.2 million barrels of oil equivalent in the quarter from 21.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first period of 2016. Woodside’s sh

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Eoin O'Cinneide

Kurds pay more to operators

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has made further payments totalling more than $100 million to a trio of producers to cover January crude exports and licence cash for fields in the autonomous region of northern Iraq, writes Steve Marshall. DNO has been paid a total of $56.44 million for exports from its operated Tawke oilfield to be shared pro-rata with partner Genel Energy based on thei

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Steve Marshall

President programme

President Energy is planning a large workover programme at its Puesto Flores and Estancia Vieja concession in Argentina to follow up what it says are the successful results of its campaign so far. Latin America-focused President will start the six to eight well workover programme at Puesto Flores in Rio Negro province, starting in May. It also plans an accelerated three-well development drilli

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Anamaria Deduleasa

Wells firm up Willow

ConocoPhillips has made a trio of discoveries in what it said was a “promising” winter drilling programme in Alaska’s western North Slope, which firmed up resources at its 2016 Willow oil find, writes Eoin O'Cinneide. The US independent drilled three exploration wells and a trio of appraisals on Willow for a total of six probes, one more than the original target of five, with two being appraisals

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Eoin O'Cinneide

ANP plans tender relaunch for pipeline construction

The Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP) expects to re-launch later this year a tender for construction of the Itaborai-Guapimirim pipeline, the first such concession contract to be offered to private investors since the approval of a gas law in 2009, writes Fabio Palmigiani. The 11-kilometre, 24-inch onshore pipeline will be able to transport 17 million cubic metres per day of natural gas,

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Fabio Palmigiani

Total well ahead with Buliisa operation

France's Total is well advanced in its tendering activities in connection with the 800 million barrel Buliisa asset in Uganda, even though it does not expect to take a final investment decision until towards the end of this year, writes Xu Yihe. Sources said engineering, procurement and construction services giants CB&I and Fluor are running neck and neck for the contract, which covers a 200,000-

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Xu Yihe

Nord Stream 2 gains permission to cross Finnish territory

The Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2 gas export pipeline project has received the second of two permits that are required to build and operate a section of its planned subsea pipe in Finland’s exclusive economic zone, writes Vladimir Afanasiev. The permit, which was granted by the regional state administrative agency of Southern Finland in accordance with the country’s Water Act, completes the permittin

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Vladimir Afanasiev

Seadrill plan is ratified

Seadrill has gained legal ratification of a major refinancing plan after releasing its results from last year that revealed the full extent of the London-based rig giant’s financial woes, writes Steve Marshall. The New York and Oslo-listed company, backed by billionaire investor John Fredriksen, racked up a $3.1 billion net loss in 2017 on the back of heavy impairments on newbuilds and other inve

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator

Ivela well hits oil off Gabon

Spain’s Repsol and its Australian partner Woodside Energy have hit oil with their Ivela-1 wildcat off Gabon, writes Iain Esau. Drilled by the drillship West Capella, Ivela-1 found a 78-metre gross oil column, according to Woodside. Results are being assessed. Ivela is located in 2665 metres of water in the Luna Muetse block and was drilled to a total depth of 5487 metres beneath the rotary table

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Iain Esau

Merakes nod in Indonesia

The Indonesian government has approved Eni's development plan for the large Merakes satellite gas discovery near the Jangkrik floating production unit. Eni said Merakes is estimated to hold 2 trillion cubic feet of gas in place and is located in 1500 metres of water, 35 kilometres from the Jangkrik floater. Merakes will be a subsea development tied back to the floater, and the gas will then be p

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Russell Searancke

Chevron arrests

Chevron confirmed that a pair of its employees from its Global Technology Services Company in Venezuela were arrested on Monday. The US supermajor, a partner with PDVSA in the Petropiar joint venture, said it contacted local authorities for an explanation and has a legal team working towards their timely release.

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Kathrine Schmidt

Aramco award

Saudi state-owned giant Saudi Aramco has awarded Canadian group SNC-Lavalin a contract to install additional facilities for its Wasit gas plant in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province. Under the “multi-million-dollar” contract, SNC-Lavalin will construct the Arabiah condensate handling facility and sour water disposal unit project at the plant. The job includes the installation of process equipment a

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Anamaria Deduleasa

Kenya engages

Oil service giant Schlumberger has been contracted by the National Oil Company of Kenya (NOCK) to help evolve in-house field development expertise and provide an independent perspective and ahead of moves to secure oil production from the Lokichar basin and beyond.

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Barry Morgan

Oil price sustains recent rally

Resilience of values is 'a further indication that Opec-led supply curbs are paying off'

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Nassir Shirkhani

Logistics support bids set to land for Libra

Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras is due to receive commercial proposals on 14 May in a tender covering the provision of integrated logistics support activities to serve the giant Libra pre-salt development in the Santos basin, writes Fabio Palmigiani. According to a well-informed source, Petrobras has divided the tender in three separate packages. Lot 1 calls for the charter of he

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Fabio Palmigiani

Charters on the table for vessels

Petrobras was set to receive bids this week in a new tender to charter shallow-water diving support vessels to operate off Brazil. The oil giant reopened the competition following a technical glitch that prevented some companies from submitting their proposals. Petrobras has rescheduled the tender for 17 April, and is offering two and three-year charters, renewable for an equal period, for SDSVs

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Fabio Palmigiani

Subsea concept has already had a run out in the pre-salt

The Brazilian pre-salt has already seen the application of flexibles, submerged riser buoys and steel lazy-wave configurations, writes Fabio Palmigiani. Petrobras used conventional free-hanging flexibles for the first series of extended well tests in the pre-salt, and also on the pilot floating production, storage and offloading vessel on the Lula field, even though these products were not qualif

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Fabio Palmigiani

New Buzios FPSO tender date delay

Brazil’s Petrobras has postponed for the seventh time the date for submission of commercial proposals in the tender for the Buzios 5 floating production, storage and offloading vessel. According to sources, Petrobras has pushed back the date by another two weeks, to 30 April from 13 April, on request of some companies invited to bid. Petrobras is asking for a large FPSO for Buzios 5. The unit wil

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Fabio Palmigiani

Nexen rapped for diesel spill at Buzzard North Sea platform

North Sea operator Nexen has been sanctioned by the UK authorities following a diesel spillage at the Buzzard platform, writes Rob Watts. UK regulators said 1.42 to 2.69 tonnes of diesel found its way into the sea when a diesel storage tank was overfilled on 1 December last year. Enforcement action has now been taken against the Chinese-owned company by the UK Offshore Petroleum Regulator for En

Weekly  upstreamonline.com 19 Apr 23:00 GMT Global Mediator