ExxonMobil announces discovery at Pinktail, offshore Guyana
(Courtesy Hess)
IRVING, Texas –Sept. 9, 2021
ExxonMobil today said it made a discovery at Pinktail in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. The Pinktail well encountered 220 feet (67 meters) of net pay in high quality hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs. In addition to successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 meters) of net pay in a newly identified, high quality hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 feet (23 meters) of high quality, oil bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well. This follows the additional pay in deeper reservoirs encountered at the previously announced Whiptail discovery. These results will be incorporated into future developments.
ExxonMobil announces discovery at Pinktail, offshore Guyana
Discovery will add to previous recoverable resource estimate of approximately 9 billion oil equivalent barrels
Extensive well program testing play extensions and new concepts
Liza Unity set sail from Singapore, production startup anticipated early 2022
“These discoveries are part of an extensive well program in the Stabroek Block utilizing six drillships to test play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “Our exploration successes continue to increase the discovered resource and will generate value for both the Guyanese people and our shareholders.”
Separately, the Liza Unity floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel set sail from Singapore to Guyana in early September. The FPSO will be utilized for the Liza Phase 2 development and is expected to begin production in early 2022, with a capacity to produce approximately 220,000 barrels of oil per day. ExxonMobil anticipates at least six projects online by 2027 and sees potential for up to 10 projects to develop its current discovered recoverable resource base. The Liza Destiny FPSO vessel is currently producing approximately 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Pinktail discovery is located approximately 21.7 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of the Liza Phase 1 project, which began production in December 2019, and 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) southeast of Yellowtail-1. Pinktail was drilled in 5,938 feet (1,810 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft. The Turbot-2 discovery is located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) to the southeast of the Liza phase one project, and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the Turbot-1 discovery announced in October 2017. Turbot-2 was drilled in 5,790 feet (1,765 meters) of water by the Noble Sam Croft.
The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers). ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.
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CGX Frontera JV spuds Kawa-1 on Corentyne block
August 23, Nermina Kulovic
CGX Frontera JV began drilling the Kawa-1 exploration well, located on the Corentyne block offshore Guyana,, using the Maersk Discoverer semi-submersible rig. CGX Energy is the operator and Frontera Energy is its partner. CGX Energy is a Frontera majority-owned subsidiary and its joint venture partner in the Demerara and Corentyne blocks. Kawa-1 is located in the northeast quadrant of the Corentyne block, approximately 200 kilometres offshore from Georgetown. The water depth is approximately 355 meters and the expected total depth of the Kawa-1 well is 6,685 meters. The spud window was scheduled in July to occur between 1-15 August and the well was spud with a short delay on 22 August. The Joint Venture has exercised its option to drill a second well with Maersk Drilling through the use of the Maersk Discoverer rig, Frontera said .
Gabriel de Alba, Chairman of Frontera’s Board of Directors and Co-Chair of CGX’s Board of Directors, commented: “The Joint Venture has spud the Kawa-1 well, which we believe is one of the most exciting exploration wells in the world.
“The Joint Venture has also exercised its option to drill a second well offshore Guyana under similar terms and conditions”.
The Joint Venture expects the Kawa-1 well to reach total depth in the first half of December 2021. Frontera said that the Kawa-1 well targets light oil in combination with structural-stratigraphic traps in large Santonian and Campanian slope fan complexes. The primary target is Santonian sand with updip and lateral pinch out of the reservoir, as well as counter-regional dip and structural closure.
The Kawa-1 well is also expected to penetrate secondary objectives in shallower Campanian sand and deeper Santonian sand with the expectation of targeting additional hydrocarbon potential. The stacked targets in Kawa-1 are considered analogous to the discoveries immediately adjacent to the Corentyne Block, in Block 58 in Suriname, where TotalEnergies recently made its fifth offshore discovery.
Kawa-1 well is expected to de-risk multiple other prospects on the block which also have stacked reservoirs and similar structural geometries. The proximity of the Corentyne block to the Cretaceous Berbice Canyon sediment source is interpreted to have concentrated sandstone reservoirs in the North Corentyne area. Channelized, stacked internal fan geometries evident on 3D seismic are indicative of thick, stacked, coarser-grained sand reservoirs.
As part of the agreement between CGX Resources and Maersk, previously announced on 22 April 2021, CGX has exercised its contractual right to use the Maersk Discoverer to drill an additional well.
Haiti
Royal Navy surveys devastation
,August 25th 2021
RFA Wave Knight. Aviators gather nformation to direct the international aid effort
Royal Navy aviators are helping to survey the devastation in Haiti as they fly dawn-to-dusk flights over the earthquake-hit country. A helicopter from support ship RFA Wave Knight has been in the air , flying over the Tiburon Peninsula – epicenter of the quake which struck on August 14 – to locate villages, towns and infrastructure urgently in need of help.
The information aviators gather is helping direct the international aid effort, which RFA Wave Knight has been supporting.
The flagship of the Royal Navy’s Caribbean task group, also including patrol vessel HMS Medway – has been providing fuel for US Army Black Hawks heavily engaged in the relief effort ashore in Haiti.
Saving the helicopters from 228 Regiment the long flight back to their bases for refueling, providing rest for crews and any mechanical repairs, the support ship’s company have helped to ‘turbo-charge’ the US effort.
Joining the flight crew on the missions over Haiti are Captain Jake Lott, a Royal Engineer who’s in charge of the specialist disaster relief team of Commando engineers embarked on RFA Wave Knight, and task group cameraman Leading Photographer Rory Arnold whose imagery is pored over by those directing the relief mission.
“Engineer reconnaissance and conducting damage assessment is a core part of the Crisis Response Troop’s skill-set. It’s great to see it being put to such good use,” said Captain Lott.
Leading Photographer Arnold added: “Knowing that my work is being used to assess the areas damaged by last week’s earthquake is humbling. It’s great to see my training being used to help those affected.”
The Wildcat – call-sign Knightrider – is embarked in Wave Knight for precisely such missions, but can also be used for moving supplies, aid and personnel around if required.
The Flight Commander, Lieutenant Cdr Eifion Parri, 213 Flight Commander “The Wildcat is a brilliant intelligence-gathering aircraft – and it’s been great to use it to full effect. Embarking a photographer and Commando Engineer to gather imagery and conduct the damage assessment has shortened the time taken after the flight to feed analysis back to 228 Regiment and Joint Task Force Bravo.
“It’s great to know that our work as a team is being used to prioritize the aid efforts ashore
OTC 2021
16–19 August 2021
Inside a major industry live event during the pandemic.
It was not exactly a return to business as usual, but the energy industry attempted to move on as protracted coronavirus lockdowns eased
26 August 2021 8:08 GMT
By Leia Marie Parker in Houston
As the Offshore Technology Conference got under way in Houston last week, it bore signs of these pandemic-riven times: the masks we’ve grown all too familiar with, but which in some cases sported energy-industry pride or company logos; the omnipresent hand-sanitiser stations; the awkward elbow bumps; and hybrid events featuring in-person speakers sharing the stage with other faces beamed in on TV screens from distant locales.
With Covid-19 cases spreading locally and taxing the resources of Houston-area hospitals, show organisers and many attendees took safety precautions to minimise the risks at OTC 2021: from rows of seats reserved for social distancing to clear partitions between panellists, and the use of masks encouraged while indoors.
The parking lots and assembly halls at the vast NRG Center in Houston were not as full as in pre-Covid years at OTC, but those who did gather got to enjoy face-to-face discussions with new and old industry contacts as well as a lineup of speakers offering insights on the offshore oil and gas industry, its energy transition and new technologies.(Copyright)
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Colombia Round 2021 offers diversified investment opportunities. Jose Miguel de Armas, technical vice president at ANH describes the areas on offer and the information available to investors interested in Colombia Round 2021
SPONSOR CONTENT FROM AGENCIA NACIONAL DE HIDROCARBUROS (ANH)
José Miguel de Armas, Technical Vice President, ANH
https://www.anh.gov.co
18 August 2021 20:14 GMT
“On June 10, 2021, Colombia’s ANH launched Colombia Round 2021 which provides investment opportunities in nine basins located both on and offshore. The areas offered in the 2021 bid round provide a wide variety of opportunities for investment, including opportunities in frontier, emerging, and mature areas. The four frontier basins offered include Uraba and Choco Basins onshore, as well as the Choco and Tumaco Basins offshore. Two areas are considered emerging and are located in the Sinu-San Jacinto Basin and Lower Magdalena Valley. The remaining three areas are in mature basins – Middle Magdalena Valley, Upper Magdalena Valley, and the Eastern Llanos Basin. Estimated recoverable resources in the offered areas are over 1 billion barrels of oil and 1 Tcf of gas.
ANH is offering two types of contracts– Technical Evaluation Agreements (TEAs) in eight areas and Exploration and Production Contracts in twenty areas. Of the 28 areas offered in this round, five are offshore while the remaining 23 are located onshore.”
Where are the opportunities located?
“Colombia Round 2021 is offering areas in nine basins: four frontier (Uraba, Choco Onshore, Choco Offshore and Tumaco Offshore); two emerging (Sinu -San Jacinto and Lower Magdalena Valley) and three mature (Middle Magdalena Valley, Upper Magdalena Valley and Eastern Llanos).
The opportunities are related to several geological features, such as bright spot sandstones associated with gas chimneys, structures affected by mud diapirs, transpressional structural traps, reservoirs truncated against basement paleohighs, subthrust structures, and anthitetic faults within others.
Leads have been identified with a majority located in emerging and mature basins in close proximity to existing oil and gas pipelines. Almost 100 leads have been identified using 32,762 kms of 2D seismic, 3,732 kms of 3D seismic and more than 40 offset wells. 40 of these leads are gas-prone while 60 are oil-prone. Estimates of these recoverable prospective resources (best estimate) are 1.125 billion barrels of oil and 1.257 TCF of gas.
Outside the initial 28 areas, another five areas have already been nominated in open acreage by qualified companies. The areas nominated include one in the Lower Magdalena Valley, two in the Middle Magdalena Valley and two in the Eastern Llanos Basin.”
What information is available?
“During Colombia Round 2021, ANH is offering qualified companies’ geological brochures, previous ANH evaluations, datarooms, technical files, seismic lines, well data, interpreted products in PETREL, information of prospective play fairways, amongst others details on the available areas.
As a part of Colombia Round 2021, ANH has organised weekly Technical Workshops for interested industry participants. The workshops cover all technical aspects of Colombia’s existing basins in providing information on the 33 offered areas in the Colombia Round 2021 as well as the nomination of areas in open acreage. The technical workshops are held every Friday from 8 AM to 10AM through mid-November when the process ends, with the presentations and recordings for each workshop available on ANH’s website for download or viewing. The workshops are supported by experts in the Colombian oil and gas sector from universities such as Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC), Universidad de Pamplona, Universidad de Caldas and associations such as ACGGP, AAPG, SEG, ACIPET, ACP and EAGE.
Overall, the Colombia Round 2021 offers a great variety of opportunities for oil and gas in Colombia, a country that is historically attractive to investors of all types. Final offers are expected by the Colombia Petroleum Summit in mid-November 2021
Agility is key: It can help to solve the dual challenges of providing energy while also reducing greenhouse gas emissionsPhoto: AP/SCANPIX
BP pairs ‘agile mindset’ with technology in its energy transition
‘Agile mindset’ paired with traditional oil and gas skills needed for the energy transition”
‘Agile mindset’ paired with traditional oil and gas skills needed for the energy transition
18 August 2021
By Jennifer Presley in Houston
The dual challenges of providing the energy the world needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions are enabling transformational change within the oil and gas industry.
Many within the industry possessing traditional oil and gas are puzzling over the future as the energy transition accelerates.
London-based supermajor BP on Tuesday shared its strategy on how it plans to deliver lower carbon emissions while generating continued returns using existing and emerging technologies.
For Rob Kelly, the company’s vice president of digital production and products, the first step for those wondering where they fit into the energy transition is to adopt what he calls an “agile mindset”.
The skills learned through a career in oil and gas, “overlaid with an agile mindset: being inquisitive, open to learning, wanting to develop and being open to change”, are needed for the energy transition, he told attendees at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.
Efficiency improvements
He noted that in the International Energy Agency’s 2019 World Energy Outlook, improvements in efficiency were highlighted as one way that all industries could deliver the required reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
“So 37% of the reduction that we would need to deliver by 2050 can come from efficiency. And the sort of things they were talking about were efficient design using recycled materials, such as steel, aluminum, cement and plastics.
“But also the impact of digital technologies on how we operate our energy systems,” he said.
“Now that feels like something I think all of us can play in that space. If you’ve got an oil and gas background and experience, that’s about making our current business better and more efficient.”
BP, according to Kelly, is working on a whole range of fronts to deliver those reductions in its operational carbon dioxide emissions.
Optimising and standardising
One front is the standardisation of all end-to-end workflows across its oil and gas operations and seven refineries, he said.
“And within BP, we’ll look at this as various value chains, as we call it. Production management is one, so are refining optimisation and well delivery.
“It’s looking at how we do work at our facilities — either offshore or onshore facilities — engineering, our turnarounds, then our projects … but a lot of work just optimising what we currently do, standardising and then actually transforming it through that digitalisation.”
An example of this will soon be found when BP’s Argos floating production unit is installed at the company’s Mad Dog field in the US Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to the three years spent standardising all aspects of the project, a complete dynamic digital twin of the FPU was also developed, further enabling efficient operations of the platform.
“The skills that I have are not going to perfectly match what’s needed in the future,” said Kelly.
“But the key one is about that agile mindset, and about being open to learn new things, and just recognising the world is changing,” he added.(Copyright)
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