AWE provides Pateke-4H drilling update

AWE reported that the Pateke-4H development well, including the sidetrack section, was at a measured depth of 4,083 m with the 9 5/8 in. casing successfully installed and cemented to a depth of 3,669 m. Preparations are under way for the drilling of the next interval using an 8 ½ in. drilling assembly to drill horizontally through the reservoir section to a planned measured depth of 5,361 m.
 
The Kapuni F10 sandstone objective has already been intersected on prognosis with oil shows and real time logging measurements indicating the likely presence of an oil bearing reservoir. The commercial significance of the oil shows will not be clear until the horizontal drilling is completed and the reservoir size and quality is fully assessed.
 
The Pateke-4H development well is in PMP 38158 and AWE is the operator. Located in the offshore Taranaki basin, New Zealand, PMP 38158 contains the Tui, Amokura and Pateke fields and has been producing since 2007.
 
Pateke-4H is targeting a mapped northern extension of the currently producing Pateke field. The well is being drilled in water depth of approximately 124 m with a planned total measured depth of 5,361 m, including a 1,272 m horizontal section. If successful, the well will be completed for subsequent tie-back to the Tui FPSO (Umuroa) for production in 2015.

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China's natural gas output rises to highest level in 2 years

China’s natural gas production rose in March to the highest level in two years as the nation seeks to use more of the cleaner-burning fuel.

Natural gas output in the world’s largest energy consumer rose 7.6% to 11 Bcm last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing show. That’s the highest since March 2012. NBS didn’t release output figures for January 2013 because the data was distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Chinese government sees expanding gas supply as a way to curb air pollution that has frequently exceeded limits recommended by the World Health Organization. The National Energy Administration said in its work plan in January that gas output is forecast to rise 12% from a year earlier to 131 Bcm this year.

“Higher natural gas output was boosted by robust demand as end users continue to switch their boilers from coal-powered to gas-fed amid environmental requirements,” Wang Ruiqi, an analyst with ICIS-C1 Energy, a Shanghai-based consultancy, said by phone.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the National People’s Congress in March that pollution is a major problem and the government will "declare war" on smog by removing high-emission cars from the road and closing coal-fired furnaces.

Crude processing last month increased 2.6% from a year ago to 41.9 million metric tons, and crude output fell 0.1%  to 17.64 million tons, according to the data. Power output rose 6.2% to 452.8 billion kilowatt hours.

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Emerson invests $60 million in new flow measurement facility

Emerson Process Management is expanding the company’s existing manufacturing and engineering services campus in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The expansion includes a new, 18,800-sq-m flow measurement manufacturing building. This $60-million investment will help meet growing demand for the company’s flow measurement products and services in Europe and other regions.

Additionally, in the summer of 2014, Emerson Process Management moves into a separate, newly constructed $16-million facility on the Cluj campus that will be home to the Regional Project Engineering Center and the European System Integration Center for its PlantWeb Solutions Group. This facility will house up to 600 employees who provide engineering and support services for European control systems and automation projects, plus an initial 100 additional personnel to assemble and test control systems for projects throughout Europe.

The new flow technology manufacturing building will offer calibration, services, and customer training facilities for Emerson Process Management’s Micro Motion, Rosemount, and Roxar flow measurement technologies. This facility will provide modern and spacious production capabilities as well as offices for engineering and customer support services, and fulfill market demands for quality and traceable calibration.
 
In addition, a state-of-the-art customer experience center is planned that will incorporate training and meeting facilities, along with displays of Emerson technologies.  The new facility adds to Emerson’s current European network of facilities, which includes an existing flow manufacturing and service center in Ede, the Netherlands.

“These additional capabilities increase our flexibility and ability to manage our European customers’ most challenging needs,” said Sonnenberg.

The company’s Cluj-Napoca campus currently manufactures Fisher pressure regulators, Roxar flow metering and flow assurance products, Rosemount Analytical products, Leroy-Somer power generators, Control Techniques electrical equipment for photovoltaic power plants, RIDGID tools, and Appleton A.T.X. lighting fixtures and junction boxes for hazardous and adverse environments.

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Cub Energy commences drilling of Olgovskoye-11 well

Cub Energy reports that the Olgovskoye-11 (O-11) development well has commenced drilling. The O-11 well is operated by KUB-Gas, a partially-owned subsidiary in which Cub has a 30% effective ownership interest through its 30% shareholding of Kubgas Holdings.
 
The O-11 well will be drilled as a step out to the O-9 well for the R30c zone in the Bashkirian and an appraisal of the O-15 well in the S6 zone of the Serpukhovian. The well is located approximately one km southeast of the company’s Olgovskoye-15 (O-15), which was drilled last year and began producing from the S6 in July 2013.
 
The well will be drilled with the KUB-Gas owned K-200 drilling rig and the company expects that both zones targeted in the O-11 will require fracture stimulation.The O-11 well is expected to take approximately 70 days to reach TD.
 
The company’s Olgovskoye field comprises approximately 43% of gross KUB-Gas production and is Cub’s second-highest producing field. Given the success last year in the Serpukhovian with the O-15, and the M-16 well on the Makeevskoye field, the company’s new exploration and development efforts have been expanded to include the deeper Serpukhovian targets.

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Natural gas continues to shrink America’s carbon footprint, API says

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest report shows that natural gas continues to help shrink America’s carbon footprint, said API spokesman Zachary Cikanek.

“America is leading the world in reducing greenhouse gasses thanks, in part, to the revolution in natural gas production,” said Cikanek. “This latest report shows that emissions dropped an additional 3.4% from 2011 to 2012, and emissions are down 10% since 2005.”

“Innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have helped make the U.S. the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and these technologies are a great example of how we can grow the economy, create jobs, and protect the environment.”

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BOEM proposes Western Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau reported that the bureau will offer more than 21 mn acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.

Proposed Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 238, scheduled to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in August 2014, will be the sixth offshore sale under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program). This sale will build on the first five sales in the current Five Year Program, which have offered more than 60 mn acres and netted nearly $2.3 bn for American taxpayers.

“The nation’s economy and our national security depend heavily on adequate and reliable domestic sources of energy and the Gulf of Mexico continues to be a critical component of the Nation’s energy portfolio,” said Beaudreau.“This proposed lease sale underscores our commitment to make millions of acres of Federal waters available for safe and responsible exploration and development.”

Sale 238 will include approximately 3,992 blocks, covering roughly 21.4 mn acres, located from nine to 250 mi offshore, in water depths ranging from 16 to more than 10,975 ft (5 to 3,346 m). BOEM plans to offer blocks located, or partially located, within the three statute mile U.S.-Mexico Boundary Area subject to the terms of the U.S.- Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreement.

BOEM estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 116 to 200 MMbbl and 538 to 938 Bcf of natural gas.

“As one of the most productive basins in the world, this lease sale is another important step to promoting responsible domestic energy production through the safe, environmentally sound development of the Nation’s offshore energy resources,” said Beaudreau.

The proposed terms of this sale include conditions to ensure both orderly resource development and protection of the human, marine and coastal environments. These include stipulations to protect biologically sensitive resources, mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species and avoid potential conflicts associated with oil and gas development in the region.

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South Sudan's Unity State oil production to restart by July

South Sudan plans to resume crude output in Unity state by July after conflict in the world’s newest nation caused the northern region to freeze production.

Oil fields in Unity will gradually raise output toward the 50,000 bpd they produced before the December shutdown, Petroleum Ministry spokesman Nicodemus Ajak Bior said in an interview in the capital, Juba. A new refinery built by Russian and South Sudanese companies near the state capital, Bentiu, will begin producing 3,000 bpd of diesel in July, he said.

“In the beginning there will be a challenge to bring back production to the pre-shutdown levels,” Bior said. “People are working day and night to see to it that production has restarted.”

South Sudan’s oil output has fallen by about a third since fighting erupted on Dec. 15 between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. Violence has left thousands of people dead and forced more than a million to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

The country is currently producing about 160,000 bpd from Upper Nile, the only state still pumping crude, Bior said. Machar has vowed to seize key oil installations in a bid to starve the military of revenue.

Government forces retook Bentiu from rebels on Jan. 26 and the Juba-based Sudd Petroleum Operating Co. has assessed damage to the facilities, Bior said. China National Petroleum Corp., India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Petroliam Nasional Bhd., the main producers of South Sudan’s oil, evacuated employees from the country due to the fighting.

Construction is finished on Bentiu’s refinery, a JV by Russia’s Safinat and the state-owned Nile Petroleum Corp., Bior said. A later expansion will raise output to 5,000 bpd, he said, without specifying a timescale.

“The refinery is ready, however commissioning will commence once the oil field in Unity state resumes production,” Bior said.

Construction of a 10,000 bpd refinery in Melut county, Upper Nile state, has halted due to the conflict, Bior said. Texas-based Ventech Engineers International LLC was building the facility which is set to produce diesel, kerosene and fuel oil, he said.

South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, has sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest oil reserves, according to BP Plc data.

The country’s low-sulfur crude is prized by Japanese buyers as a cleaner-burning fuel for power generation. The country has the capacity to produce as much as 350,000 to 400,000 bpd, Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said on Feb. 11.

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Aker Solutions wins subsea contract for Total's Kaombo project

Aker Solutions won a contract worth $234 bn from Total to provide a subsea production system for the Kaombo Block 32 development in Angola.

Aker Solutions will deliver 20 subsea manifolds and 65 vertical subsea wellsets. The order also includes associated controls as well as work-over and tie-in systems. The first deliveries are scheduled for the second quarter of 2015.

"This is a landmark contract and further strengthens an important relationship with a key partner," said Oyvind Eriksen, Executive Chairman of Aker Solutions."It' s a significant commercial achievement for our subsea business as well as an important strategic development in our expansion in Angola and the broader region."

Kaombo, one of the world' s largest subsea developments, is located in block 32 about 150 km off the coast of Angola.

Aker Solutions is committed to developing local content and project execution capabilities in Angola, where it employs about 130 people. The company has set up a JV with Prodiaman Oil Services, an Angolan company that will execute local content activities related to this and other future Aker Solutions subsea projects in Angola.

"I am delighted to be part of this significant project with Aker Solutions for Total," said Prodiaman' s president Pedro Godinho."I look forward to seeing that this project makes significant contributions to the education system through knowledge transfer and job creation in a high-tech industry, all for the benefit of Angola."

Aker Solutions has been in Angola since 1999.

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OMV to invest $550 million in Lower Austria

OMV is consolidating its commitment to oil and gas production in Lower Austria. The Weinviertel region is the third most important production site in the company’s global portfolio after the exploration and production areas in Romania and Norway.

In line with the corporate strategy, OMV has invested heavily in exploration and production in Lower Austria. Investment in Lower Austria is set to rise to around $550 million (EUR 400 million) in the next two years.
Until 2016 around 80% of OMV’s total investment of around EUR 3.9 bn worldwide will go on exploration and production.

OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss: "Anyone striving for international growth needs to have a strong foundation. For us this foundation is Lower Austria. This investment in exploration and production underlines the importance of this region in the OMV portfolio."

"We took the decision on these investments in Lower Austria last year. Resources are needed in order to counter the natural depletion and stabilize production in what are mostly mature fields. Without these investments it wouldn’t be possible for us to maintain production levels", said OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss.

Last year the region produced 35,000 boed. Despite the natural depletion of resources, this level should remain stable in 2014 as the investment is set to balance out the natural depletion of 10% per year.

Drilling additional wells in Lower Austria is the key to securing and increasing production. Up to 24 drillings will be realized in Weinviertel in 2014, with 20 more planned for 2015 and 2016, respectively. 14 projects involve exploration wells with additional production potential.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Tolfem Investments Limited, online.