Drilling & Completion News

Keppel, ConocoPhillips to design first ‘ice-worthy’ jackup rig

Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre (KOMtech) and ConocoPhillips are jointly designing a first-of-its-kind “ice-worthy” jackup to operate in the Arctic seas.

The jackup will have dual cantilevers to optimize drilling operations within a limited time frame. It will be capable of operating in a self-sustained manner for 14 days and be equipped with a hull designed for towing in ice. The rig also will be able to resist the impacts from multi-year ice floes and ridges, as well as withstand a certain level of ice thickness.

“The features of this jackup rig make it a cost-effective and promising drilling solution for the Arctic offshore,” Dr Foo Kok Seng, KOMtech director, said. “We believe that this joint project will achieve significant breakthroughs in offshore Arctic drilling.” The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

In 2008, Keppel Singmarine broke into the Arctic market when it delivered the first pair of icebreakers to LUKOIL-Kaliningradmorneft.

Eni confirms Mozambique natural gas discovery

Eni announced in February a natural gas discovery at the Mamba North 1 prospect, in Area 4 offshore Mozambique, encountering a mineral potential of 212.5 billion cu meters (7.5 Tcf) of gas in place.

This new discovery, in addition to the Mamba South discovery from October 2011, further increases the potential of the Mamba complex in Area 4. It is estimated that the total volume of gas in place can potentially be approximately 850 billion cu meters (30 Tcf).

Eni plans to drill at least five more wells this year in nearby structures to assess the Mamba complex.

Levant Basin yields new discovery for Noble Energy

Noble Energy has made a natural gas discovery at the Tanin prospect offshore Israel. The discovery well was drilled to 18,212 ft and encountered approximately 130 ft of gross natural gas pay.

The well is in the Alon A license and is the sixth consecutive field discovery for Noble and its partners in the Levant Basin. Discovered gross resources are estimated to range between 0.9 and 1.4 Tcf.

Ensco secures contract for ultra-deepwater semisubmersible with Anadarko Petroleum

Ensco recently secured a contract with Anadarko Petroleum for ENSCO 8506. The initial contract term is for two and a half years in the Gulf of Mexico.

Delivery of ENSCO 8506 from the Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore is scheduled for Q3 2012, followed by contract commencement in Q4 2012 after mobilization, sea trials and acceptance testing are completed.

“We are very pleased that Anadarko has chosen to contract a third ENSCO 8500 Series rig for its drilling programs,” Dan Rabun, chairman, president and CEO of Ensco and 2012 IADC chairman, said.

The ENSCO 8500 Series rigs address drilling requirements for deepwater fields around the world. The design includes a 35,000-ft nominal rated drilling depth, 2 million lbs of hoisting capacity, 8,000 tons of variable deckload and an open layout suited for subsea completion activities.

BOEM, BSEE anticipate increased funding for 2013

US President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget request announced in February includes $164.1 million to fund the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and $222.2 million to fund the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

For BOEM, the funding will be critical to implement the Five-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012 to 2017.

For BSEE, the request is a $25 million (13%) increase above 2012 and would provide the resources for offshore regulatory programs.

Petrobras approves contracts for 26 newbuild rigs

Petrobras recently approved contracts for 21 offline rigs with Sete Brasil and for five dual-activity rigs with Ocean Rig, both with a 15-year term.

All units are to be delivered within 48 to 90 months. The project includes the construction of new Brazilian shipyards and the use of existing infrastructure.

Petrobras has fully implemented its plan to contract 28 rigs to be built in Brazil to meet the long-term demands of its drilling program, primarily for pre-salt oil wells. Petrobras opted to order an additional five rigs that were not originally planned.

Anadarko announces successful appraisal wells in GOM and Ghana

Anadarko Petroleum recently announced successful results of the Heidelberg-2 appraisal well, in Green Canyon block 903 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which encountered approximately 250 net ft of oil pay in high-quality Miocene sands.

The appraisal well was drilled to a total depth of 31,030 ft in approximately 5,000 ft of water. The initial Heidelberg discovery well was drilled in 2009 and encountered more than 200 net ft of oil pay.

Anadarko also found success in the Ntomme-2A appraisal well, in the deepwater Tano Block offshore the Republic of Ghana. The well encountered approximately 128 net ft of light oil pay in excellent-quality sandstone reservoirs. The well was drilled to a depth of approximately 12,810 ft.

Three Seadrill jackups awarded contracts for 2012

Seadrill has secured contracts for three jackups: Offshore Mischief, Offshore Defender and West Leda.

The Offshore Mischief was awarded a contract by Equion Energia in Colombia. The assignment is for a firm period of 180 days, with commencement of operations scheduled for late Q1 2012 in direct continuation of the existing contract.

The Offshore Defender has been awarded a contract by Brunei Shell Petroleum for drilling offshore Negara Brunei Darussalam. The four-year contract is expected to commence in Q2 2012.

The West Leda has been, in association with local partner IPS, awarded a contract by ExxonMobil E&P Malaysia for development drilling offshore Malaysia. The assignment is for a firm 18-month period. The contract is expected to commence late March in continuation of its current contract.

Atwood Beacon to work for Israel’s Shemen Oil

Atwood Oceanics announced in February it has been awarded a drilling services contract by Shemen Oil and Gas Resources, an Israel-based oil and gas company, for the Atwood Beacon. The contract will commence in September in direct continuation of the current contract. The award has a firm duration of 180 days.

KCA DEUTAG T-208 to drill in northeastern Germany

KCA DEUTAG has secured a contract with Central European Petroleum GmbH (CEP) for the land drilling rig T-208, which is a Bentec EURO RIG design. The contract includes drilling and related services for CEP’s exploration campaign, which will begin in the northeastern part of Germany in Q2 2012.

Whittenburg exploratory wells turned to oil producers

Apache Corp’s exploratory drilling program in the Whittenburg Basin play in the Texas Panhandle has produced encouraging results. Five of six initial vertical tests were completed as oil producers in the Canyon Wash interval.

The Bivins Ranch acreage play is part of Apache’s stepped-up program to explore in underdeveloped areas – beyond existing operations – that can benefit from Apache’s technical expertise and financial capacity. Ten additional wells are scheduled for 2012.

Vantage drillship to take on Sonardyne navigation system

Vantage Drilling will install Sonardyne International’s Dynamic Positioning Inertial Navigation System (DP-INS) on its new 12,000 ft-rated drillship Dragonquest.

The drillship will become the first deepwater drilling unit to be equipped with the new system when it begins operations in the Gulf of Mexico for Petrobras later this year.

Sonardyne DP-INS aids vessel positioning through the integration of acoustic and inertial technologies and has been developed to meet regulatory requirements.