Drilling & Completion News

FOR ANADARKO, ANOTHER SUCCESS IN GHANA; MOZAMBIQUE ON 2010 AGENDA

Anadarko Petroleum has announced another successful appraisal well in the West Cape Three Points Block offshore Ghana. The Mahogany-4 well, the eastern-most appraisal of the Jubilee field, encountered more than 140 net ft of predominately oil pay in high-quality, stacked reservoir sands. The well is located approximately 5 miles east of the original Mahogany-1 discovery well.

The well was drilled to a total depth of about 12,000 ft in approximately 3,540 ft of water by the Atwood Hunter semisubmersible. Once the rig completes operations at Mahogany-4, it will move to drill a development well in the Jubilee field, followed by appraisal wells to delineate the Odum and Tweneboa discoveries.

The partnership also recently spud the Mahogany Deep-2 well in the West Cape Three Points Block. This well is an appraisal of the Mahogany Deep discovery announced earlier in 2009.

In Cote d’Ivoire, the company announced that the South Grand Lahou exploration well in block CI-105 was drilled to a total depth of approximately 14,900 ft in about 6,100 ft of water. Although the well did not encounter hydrocarbons, it provided data that the company plans to incorporate into models as it evaluates its 2010 program.

The company now intends to mobilize the Belford Dolphin drillship to Mozambique to begin its drilling program obligation with the Windjammer prospect. Windjammer will be the first deepwater exploration well to be drilled offshore Mozambique.

MAERSK DISCOVERER DELIVERED BY KEPPEL

Keppel FELS delivered the Maersk Discoverer, the second of three DSS 21 deepwater rigs, to Maersk Drilling on 22 August. The rig has been contracted by Woodside Energy for drilling operations in Australia for three years.

Claus V Hemmingsen, Maersk Drilling CEO and 2009 IADC chairman, said, “Maersk Discoverer, our second DSS 21 rig, is another outstanding example of the winning collaboration between Maersk Drilling and Keppel FELS.

“Optimised for field development work, the new-generation DSS 21 series is derived from the experiences gained from our highly successful DSS 20 Maersk Explorer semisubmersible built in 2003. These deepwater units are among the most technically advanced in the world, and we are confident that they will position Maersk Drilling as the foremost provider of robust offshore solutions in the industry.”

OIL DISCOVERY MADE AT TEBE OFFSHORE ANGOLA

Sonangol and BP recently announced the Tebe oil discovery in ultra-deepwater Block 31, offshore Angola. This is the 19th discovery made by BP in Block 31 and is located in the southern portion of Block 31 some 350 km northwest of Luanda and about 12 km southeast of the Hebe discovery. Tebe was drilled in a water depth of 1,752 m and reached a total depth of 3,325 m below sea level. The well results confirmed the capacity of the reservoir to flow in excess of 5,000 bbl/day under production conditions.

XTREME COIL RIGS LAND CONTRACTS IN MEXICO

Xtreme Coil Drilling Corp has signed new 18-month contracts for eight Coil Over Top Drive drilling rigs located in Mexico. The company now has all 10 rigs in Mexico contracted into the 2011 fiscal year. The rigs will continue to operate in the Chicontepec oil development project near Poza Rica in the state of Veracruz.

ENSCO 8501 BEGINS OPERATIONS IN GOM

Ensco International’s ENSCO 8501, the second of seven new ultra-deepwater semisubmersibles in the ENSCO 8500 series, commenced operations in the Gulf of Mexico on 8 October under a 3 ½-year contract with Nexen and Noble Energy.

As planned, commencement of operations began by spudding the initial well, followed by a short period of final acceptance testing before recommencing operations.

CONSTRUCTION RESTARTS ON 4TH ROWAN EXL JACKUP IN TEXAS

Rowan Companies announced that it will resume construction of its fourth EXL class jackup rig at the Keppel AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, with delivery expected in the first quarter of 2012. Construction had been suspended in early 2009 due to liquidity concerns and a weakening jackup drilling market.

“We believe the recovery outlook in global oil demand and a potential re-tightening of rig markets will have gained momentum by the time this rig is delivered in 2012,” said Matt Ralls, Rowan president and CEO. The first three EXL rigs have deliveries scheduled for the second, third and fourth quarters of 2010.

PV DRILLING JACKUPS NAMED SIMULTANEOUSLY

Two identical jackups, PV Drilling II and PV Drilling III, were named by Keppel FELS and PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corp (PV Drilling) in early September.

It is estimated that there will be some 900 exploration wells drilled in Vietnam over the next 15 years. To meet the tight exploration schedule, PV Drilling intends to make capital investments of around US$1.7 billion from now until 2025 to build and operate an 11-strong fleet of offshore and onshore rigs.

Mr Do Van Khanh, CEO of PV Drilling and chairman of PVD Invest, said, ”We want to position ourselves to capture Vietnam’s growing market for oil and gas services with the support of a strong and reliable shipyard that can deliver projects punctually, on budget and without incidents.”

The KFELS B Class rigs can operate in water depths up to 400 ft with a drilling depth of 30,000 ft. PV Drilling III has been further enhanced with features like engines that meet more stringent emission standards and lower spud can bearing pressure for operation in areas with soft soil conditions.

Click below for a DC exclusive video interview with Mr Khanh.

PETROBRAS 10000 BEGINS OPERATIONS IN ANGOLA

Transocean’s newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Petrobras 10000 has commenced operations in Angola for a subsidiary of Petrobras under a 10-year drilling contract. Transocean has an agreement with the P&M Drilling International B.V. joint venture of Petrobras and Mitsui to acquire the rig under a 20-year capital lease contract.

The rig features patented dual-activity drilling technology, allowing for parallel drilling operations. Other features include expanded completions capabilities, a variable deck-load of more than 20,000 metric tons and the capability of development and exploration drilling in greater than 10,000 ft of water.

Separately, the company’s ultra-deepwater semisubmersible Deepwater Horizon has been awarded a three-year contract extension by a subsidiary of BP for operations in the US Gulf of Mexico commencing September 2010. The rig is capable of operating in water depths up to 10,000 ft, and it recently set the world record for the deepest oil and gas well at 35,050 ft total vertical depth, drilled for BP.

SEADRILL TO MOBILIZE JACKUP OFFSHORE SUDAN

Seadrill has been awarded a two-well contract by Red Sea Petroleum Operating Company Ltd (RSPOC) for the jackup West Prospero. The assignment is for operations offshore Sudan, with mobilization scheduled for December 2009. The drilling assignment is expected to take some six months, and the estimated contract value is approximately US$49.9 million. The rig, which is currently idle in Indonesia, will be upgraded with high-pressure, high-temperature capabilities prior to moving to Sudan.

NEW STIMULATION VESSEL SET TO WORK IN GOM

BJ Services Company is launching Blue Dolphin, a high-performance stimulation vessel for wells in the Lower Tertiary and other Gulf of Mexico formations. It’s been designed to provide 20,000 psi working pressure via multiple Coflexip reeled flexible umbilical lines. With accommodations for up to 45 crew members, the vessel can perform large-volume, high-pressure stimulation operations with minimal downtime for multizone or multiwell operations. It features a DP-2 system and will receive well stimulation/offshore support vessel class notation, certified by ABS. It comes equipped with eight 3,000-brake hp Gorilla fracturing units and storage capacity for 2.75 million lb of proppant.