Drilling & Completion News

Seadrill secures jackup contracts with PEMEX, establishes SeaMex

PEMEX has awarded six-year drilling contracts to Seadrill’s West Oberon, West Intrepid, West Defender and West Courageous jackups. A fifth contract for the Prospector 3, a recently acquired jackup that has been renamed West Titania, is expected to be finalized in Q2 2014. Total revenue potential of the five contracts exceeds $1.8 billion.

Seadrill also has established SeaMex, a 50/50 joint venture with an investment fund controlled by Fintech Advisory, to own and manage jackups working for PEMEX. SeaMex will pursue additional opportunities in Latin America.

“This opportunity to expand our relationship with PEMEX was partly developed on the back of Seadrill’s successful operations with our ultra-deepwater semisubmersible West Pegasus in Mexico,” Seadrill CEO Per Wullf said. “Seadrill sees recent developments in Mexico, such as new petroleum legislation, PEMEX’s expansion plans and recent large deepwater discoveries as supportive to the great opportunity to expand business within the country.”

Shell begins production from Mars B through floating deepwater platform

Shell has begun production from the Mars B development through Olympus – the company’s largest floating deepwater platform in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

According to Shell, it is the first deepwater project in the GOM to expand an existing oil and gas field with significant new infrastructure, which should extend the life of the greater Mars basin to 2050 or beyond. Combined future production from Olympus and the original Mars platform is expected to deliver an estimated resource base of 1 billion BOE.

UMW Drilling orders KFELS jackup

UMW Drilling has awarded a contract worth $218 million to Keppel FELS for the construction of a KFELS B Class jackup.

It will be the third KFELS B Class jackup for UMW and is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2015. The first jackup, UMW NAGA 4, was delivered in February 2013, and the second, UMW NAGA 5, is expected to be completed by Q2 2014.

The KFELS B Class jackup was developed by Keppel’s technology arms, Offshore Technology Development and Bennett Offshore, and is able to operate in water depths up to 400 ft, drill to a maximum depth of 30,000 ft and accommodate up to 150 personnel. The rig incorporates Keppel’s advanced and fully automated high-capacity rack and pinion elevating system and self-positioning fixation system.

Maersk rigs awarded contracts in Brunei, Morocco

Brunei Shell Petroleum has awarded Maersk Drilling a four-year contract for the Maersk Completer jackup for operations offshore Brunei in Southeast Asia. The contract will commence in December 2014 in direct continuation of its current contract with the operator. The contract also has options for extension, up to a total of three years.

The Maersk Completer is one of two Baker Marine 375-ft jackups in Maersk Drilling’s fleet. It has been operating in Brunei since it was delivered from the Jurong Shipyard in 2007, and since November 2008, the Maersk Completer has been operating for Brunei Shell Petroleum.

Separately, Maersk Drilling has won a one-well, rig-sharing agreement from Kosmos Energy for the semisubmersible Maersk Discoverer. The rig is expected to commence drilling operations on the FA-1 exploration well in the Foum Assaka block offshore  Morocco during the first half of 2014.

The Maersk Discoverer, a sixth-generation, ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned semisubmersible, has the capability to drill to a maximum depth of 30,000 ft at water depths up to 10,000 ft.

BP begins production from Na Kika well in GOM; second start-up expected in Q2

BP has announced the first Na Kika Phase 3 well began oil production on 19 February, with a second well expected to start up in Q2.

The project includes drilling and completion of two new wells, the addition of subsea infrastructure to tie back to the Na Kika semisubmersible platform and new equipment to allow increased production from an existing well at the site. It will use available production capacity at the Na Kika hub.

Na Kika Phase 3 is BP’s third major upstream project to begin production in 2014, following the earlier start-ups of the Chirag Oil project in Azerbaijan and the Mars B project in the Gulf of Mexico. BP expects to start up an additional three upstream projects through the rest of 2014.

Separately, BP has awarded KCA Deutag a five-year, $220-million contract for the construction and operation of three fast-moving land rigs in Oman. Including options, the contract is valued at $340 million. Bentec will manufacture the three newbuilds, and drilling is expected to commence in Q4 2014.

Currently, KCA Deutag operates seven rigs in Oman ranging from 750-3,000 hp. The contract represents a growth opportunity for Oman, which has plans to further increase its oil and gas production levels.

Enafor orders 7 new desert drilling rigs from Bentec

Algerian state-owned drilling contractor Enafor has awarded a contract to Bentec for the delivery of seven desert drilling rigs within the next 17 months. It is the largest single contract in Bentec’s 20-year history.

The manufacturer previously delivered four drilling rigs to Enafor in 2013. All seven desert rigs will be manufactured at Bentec’s Bad Bentheim yard in Germany.

New KFELS jackup for Fecon targets 2016 delivery

Fecon International has awarded a contract worth $650 million to Keppel FELS for three KFELS B Class jackups.

Fecon is targeting the growing offshore drilling markets of Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia. In addition, the company has identified offshore drilling in Russia as a strategic market with growth opportunities. The three rigs are scheduled for delivery within the second half of 2016.

Maersk Viking drillship on its way to Gulf of Mexico

Maersk Drilling has taken delivery of an ultra-deepwater drillship, Maersk Viking, from the Samsung Heavy lndustries shipyard in South Korea. The rig is on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, where it will commence a three-year contract with ExxonMobil. The rig is the first of a series of four drillships under construction for Maersk, representing a $2.6 billion investment.

Statoil makes gas discovery in Kramsnø prospect

Statoil has made a gas discovery in the Kramsnø prospect in the Barents Sea with its PL532 partners.

The exploration program around the Johan Castberg field has been vital in providing area knowledge but so far not delivered expected oil volumes. The exploration campaign comprises five prospects, and Kramsnø was the fourth of those.

“The last prospect we will test in this exploration campaign is Drivis, and we will commence drilling operations right after the completion of Kramsnø,” said Irene Rummelhoff, Senior VP of Exploration Norway.

Damar projected to produce 200 mcf of gas per day

ExxonMobil has begun natural gas production from the Damar field off the east coast of Malaysia. It has a projected daily capacity of 200 mcf of gas. ExxonMobil and joint-venture partner PETRONAS Carigali have planned 16 development wells for the platform.

The Damar startup follows the previously announced Telok gas development in Malaysia, which began production in March 2013.

Eni makes oil, gas discovery offshore Congo

Eni has made an exploration discovery in the Marine XII Block located approximately 17 km offshore Congo. The exploration well, Nene Marine 3, was drilled in a water depth of 28 m and has encountered a significant wet gas and light oil accumulation in the pre-salt clastic sequence outlining a significant extension to the west of the reservoir and its hydraulic continuity.

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