Drilling & Completion News
KCA Deutag wins contracts in Russia for 8 rigs
KCA Deutag has been awarded three new contracts in Russia, worth approximately $168 million, for eight high-performance land rigs.
The first contract is with an existing client for five of those rigs to carry out drilling operations in two fields in Eastern Siberia. Each rig is expected to drill for varying periods of between three and four years. The contract increases the number of rigs the company currently has operating for this client from four to five.
The next contract is for two 1,500-hp Cluster Slider rigs to drill in Northern Russia. It is an extension to an existing contract and will run until 31 December 2021.
In addition, the company has won a new contract for one of its 2,000-hp land rigs to drill four wells in Southern Russia. This has an estimated duration of five months per well.
Seven of the eight rigs in these contracts were built by Bentec.
PTTEP makes gas discovery offshore Sarawak, Malaysia
PTTEP’s subsidiary in Malaysia has made a gas discovery at the Lang Lebah-1RDR2, the first exploration well in the Sarawak SK410B Project, located approximately 90 km offshore Sarawak.
Commenced in March 2019, the well targeted non-associated gas in the primary target of the Middle Miocene cycle IV/V carbonate reservoir. The well was drilled to a total depth of 3,810 m and encountered 252 m of net gas pay, indicating a multi-TCF gas discovery. The well was tested in carbonate main target reservoir with a completion-constrained rate of 41.3 MMSCFD and 246 bbl of condensate per day through 40/64-in. choke size.
The drilling result of the Lang Lebah-1RDR2 is historically PTTEP’s largest discovery. It will require further drilling to confirm upside potential.
Maersk Valiant to drill for Repsol offshore Mexico in 2020
Maersk Drilling has secured contracts for a two-well project for the Maersk Valiant drillship with Repsol Exploración Mexico. The rig will work in blocks 10 and 29 offshore Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico.
The contracts have an expected duration of 138 days and are set to commence in March 2020. In addition to the firm work scope, the contracts include two one-well options.
The Maersk Valiant, which was delivered in 2013, is a high-specification seventh-generation drillship with integrated MPD capability. It is currently warm-stacked in Port Fourchon, La.
ADNOC joint venture begins oil production from Haliba field
Al Dhafra Petroleum has begun producing crude oil for the first time since it was established in 2014. The company is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) with Korea National Oil Co and GS Energy. Production came from the Haliba field, a building block of ADNOC’s oil production capacity growth to 4 million bbl/day by the end of 2020. Al Dhafra also announced it discovered potential resources in three new fields in its concession area – Al Humrah, Bu Tasah and Bu Nikhelah.
Talos Energy completes Zama appraisal program
The Zama appraisal program, located in Block 7 offshore Mexico, has concluded with the third and final appraisal well, Talos Energy announced in late June. Zama-3 was drilled approximately 1.5 miles south of the original Zama-1 location. It logged approximately 1,000 ft of gross TVD sand and 748 ft of gross TVD pay-bearing section. The net-to-gross ratio across the entire pay section is consistent with prior penetrations, with Zone 3 significantly exceeding expectations, with a net-to-gross ratio of approximately 85-90%.
Talos captured 717 ft of whole core with 99% recovery, breaking its record for the longest whole core from a single well in the history of offshore Mexico. The core samples will help in evaluating expected recovery factors, completion techniques and other details.
Front-end engineering and design is advancing, as well as unitization discussions with Pemex. The aim is to make a Final Investment Decision on the project in 2020.
BP, ENI sign agreement for Block 77 in central Oman
BP and Eni have signed an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) for Block 77 in central Oman with the Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Sultanate of Oman. BP and Eni will each hold 50% interest in the EPSA, with Eni acting as operator during the exploration phase. Block 77 is located 30 km east of the BP-operated Block 61, which contains the already-producing Khazzan gas project, as well as the Ghazeer project, currently under development.
Seadrill’s West Gemini awarded 9-well contract
Seadrill has secured a nine-well contract with three options, each for two wells, for the West Gemini drillship in West Africa. Total contract value for the firm portion of the contract is expected to be approximately $84 million, with commencement expected in early Q4 2019 and running through Q4 2020.
