Drilling & Completion News
Latshaw newbuilds begin operations in Permian Basin
Two new rigs from Latshaw Drilling began operations in December in the Permian Basin. The first is Rig #42 (pictured), a National Oilwell Varco (NOV) Ideal 1,500-hp AC rig with a Varco TDS-11, 500-ton AC top drive unit. It features two NOV 12-P-160 mud pumps with 7,500-psi fluid ends and a BOP handling system. The rig is outfitted with the first walking system that NOV has installed on an Ideal rig.
The other Latshaw rig, Rig #19, is an NOV 110-UE SCR rig. It also has two 12-P-160 mud pumps and a walking system. Both rigs are capable of walking up to 150 ft on a multi-well pad location.
Malaysia’s Perisai orders 400-ft jackup from PPL
PPL Shipyard, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, has secured a repeat order to build a third Pacific Class 400 jackup worth US $211.5 million from Perisai Inc, a subsidiary of Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd.
Scheduled for delivery in Q3 2016, the high-specification rig incorporates the latest drilling equipment for improved drilling efficiency, offline handling features and simultaneous operations support.
Additionally, the class 400 jackup is capable of operating in waters up to 400 ft and drilling HPHT wells to depths of 30,000 ft.
GDF SUEZ begins gas production from Juliet field
Gas production has started from the Juliet field, a subsea development on the western flank of the southern gas basin, 24 miles (39 km) east of the Lincolnshire coast in the United Kingdom. Juliet was discovered by GDF SUEZ E&P UK in 2008.
Keppel FELS constructing CAN DO deepwater drillship
Keppel FELS has begun building the CAN DO deepwater exploration, development and completion drillship.
The drillship is designed to overcome the constraints of limited deck space common in modern drillships and allow for the installation of third-party equipment. In addition, the drillship has a double blowout preventer stack integrated into the design and has a riser hold capacity for 12,000-ft water depths with the flexibility to store up to 90-ft risers.
The CAN DO has been model-tested at the MARIN facility in The Netherlands and has obtained class approval for the basic design.
Jointly developed by the Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre and its design partner GustoMSC, the CAN DO drillship is expected to be completed in 2016.
Harsh-environment ENSCO 120 Series jackup delivered
Ensco has taken delivery of ENSCO 121, the second of four ultra-premium, harsh-environment jackups in the ENSCO 120 Series. The rig is scheduled to go to work in the North Sea in Q2 2014 at a dayrate of approximately US $230,000.
ENSCO 121 was constructed at the Keppel FELS yard in Singapore and is expected to soon mobilize to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, for final load-out and crew familiarization.
Petrobras charters FPSO for Santos’ Carioca area
Petrobras and partners BG E&P Brasil and Repsol Sinopec Brasil have signed a letter of intent to charter, through Modec Inc and Schahin Petroleo e Gas S.A., a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the production development of the pre-salt layer in the Carioca area, part of the Santos Basin’s block BM-S-9.
The project will provide for the connection of eight wells to the FPSO, four as producing wells and four as injection. The platform will have a daily processing capacity of up to 100,000 bbls of oil and 5 million cu meters of natural gas.
In addition, Petrobras has drilled well 3-RJS-715D in the Santos Basin pre-salt lara area off the Rio de Janeiro coast to a total depth of 21,889 ft (6,672 meters). After drilling 2,952 ft (900 meters) of carbonate rock below the salt layer at a water depth of 6,981 ft (2,128 meters), a 1,017-ft (310-meter) hydrocarbon column was identified. It is the company’s fifth well in the Santos Basin.
Seadrill to acquire high-spec jackup from Prospector
Seadrill has entered into an agreement to acquire the high-specification Prospector 3 jackup from Prospector Offshore. The rig is based on the F&G JU2000E design with water depth capacity of 400 ft and a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 ft. It is scheduled to be delivered from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore Co in China during Q1 2014.
Seadrill’s West Auriga begins development drilling
Seadrill’s new ultra-deepwater drillship, the West Auriga, recently began development drilling work on BP’s Thunder Horse field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The sixth-generation drillship has forward and aft top drives, pipe rackers and a driller’s cabin. The rig can operate in up to 12,000 ft (3,657 meters) of water and has been equipped with a simulator that provides a virtual representation of drill floor equipment to facilitate onboard training.
BP also recently resumed development drilling at the Mad Dog field complex. The company added a reconstructed rig onto the Mad Dog oil and gas production platform to replace the original rig that was damaged and left inoperable by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
With both the West Auriga and Mad Dog rigs online, BP has a company record of nine rigs in its fleet. The company anticipates investing, on average, at least $4 billion in the GOM each year for the next decade. The company plans to concentrate future activity and investment in the GOM on growth opportunities around its four major operated production hubs and three non-operated production hubs in the deepwater, as well as on significant exploration and appraisal opportunities in the Paleogene and elsewhere.
Oil, natural gas discovered in Mirawa-1 well in Iraq
In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Marathon Oil, Total and the Kurdistan regional government have discovered oil in the Mirawa-1 exploration well on the Harir block. The discovery well reached significant oil and gas columns and was drilled to a total depth of approximately 14,000 ft (4,260 meters).
Mirawa-1 will be suspended for future use as a producing well.
Transocean, Ensco order more jackups from Keppel
Keppel FELS has secured orders to construct jackups for Transocean and Ensco. Keppel will build five KFELS Super B Class jackups for Transocean, as well as one KFELS Super A Class harsh-environment jackup for Ensco. The rigs are scheduled for delivery beginning in 2016 and into 2017.
Eni establishes exploration project with Quicksilver
Eni has signed an agreement with Quicksilver Resources to jointly evaluate, explore and develop unconventional reservoirs onshore in the US. Eni will earn a 50% share in the 52,500 acres held by Quicksilver in the Leon Valley area, located in Pecos County, Texas.
The agreement establishes a three-phase program that includes the drilling of up to five exploration wells and the acquisition of a 3D seismic survey, aimed at determining the hydrocarbon potential of the area and the subsequent development plan.
Eni, along with partners Shell, Petronas Carigali and Osaka Gas Australia, have also drilled an appraisal well in the Evans Shoal gas field in the Timor Sea, Australia. The field is located in the NT/P48 exploration permit in the north Bonaparte Basin.
The Evans Shoal North 1 well was drilled in a water depth of 364 ft (111 meters) and reached a target depth of 12,975 ft (3,955 meters).
Statoil finds oil at Snilehorn in Norwegian Sea
Statoil and its partners have made an oil discovery in the Snilehorn prospect in the Norwegian Sea, approximately 9 miles (15 km) northeast of the Njord field.
Exploration well 6407/8-6 and sidetrack 6407/8-6A, drilled by Songa Offshore’s Trym semisubmersible, have proven several oil columns in formations dating from the Jurassic period. The estimated volume of the discovery is in the range of 55 million to 100 million bbls of recoverable oil equivalent.
Platform P-63 begins production in Papa Terra field
Petrobras and Chevron have started production on platform P-63 in the Papa Terra field located in the southern Campos Basin off the Brazilian coast. The floating production, storage and offloading platform is anchored at a water depth of 3,937 ft (1,200 meters) and has the capacity to process 140,000 bbls of oil per day and 1,000,000 cu meters of gas.
A combination of reservoirs containing 14° to 17° API crude and the deepwater location has made Papa Terra one of the most challenging projects conceived by Petrobras.
Shell to go ahead with Carmon Creek heavy oil project
Shell will proceed with its Carmon Creek heavy oil project in Alberta, Canada, and expects the project to produce up to 80,000 bbls/day. The Carmon Creek design includes a novel well delivery system and the use of cogeneration that will feed power into the Alberta grid. The project aims to eliminate the need to use freshwater for steam generation through recycling of water produced with the oil.
Ocean Rig Skyros en route to Angola for Total
Ocean Rig took delivery of its sixth newbuild drillship, the Ocean Rig Skyros, in December. The drillship is mobilizing to offshore Angola to commence drilling operations with Total.
