Mexico: reassurance or uncertainty?
Italian major Eni received approval this week for a $7.49bn development of the Amoca, Mizton and Tecoalli fields offshore Mexico, and the first such approval since the election of the new administration under President -elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (Amlo). Last week, Amlo unveiled his plans to boost the country’s energy sector, with $4bn set aside for state operator Pemex to drill new wells in 2019, and with the goal of increasing production by 600,000bbl/d over the next two years. Also included are plans to build a new refinery and rehabilitate six existing refineries, but no reference was made to the fate of future bid rounds, which he pledged during campaigning to pause and review.
Read more...Drilling success remains elusive in Suriname
Kosmos Energy’s Anapai-1 is being plugged and abandoned after failing to find hydrocarbons in the latest well to be drilled offshore Suriname. The well is the latest in a number of recent attempts to prove an extension of the Cretaceous fan play that has been so successful for ExxonMobil in neighbouring Guyana (The company has just announced its eighth discovery, Longtail, in its prolific Stabroek block).
Read more...Major resource upgrade for Europa in the Porcupine Basin
Europa Oil & Gas has almost doubled its prospective resource estimate in its FEL 3/13 licence in the Porcupine Basin offshore Ireland. The completion of pre-stack depth migration (PSDM) reprocessing of 3D seismic data originally acquired in 2013 has led to an estimated combined gross mean un-risked prospective resources on the licence of 2.9 bnboe, up from the 2016 estimate of just under 1.5 bnboe. The increased understanding of the Beckett, Shaw and Wilde prospects will provide a fuller picture to potential partners that Europa will be hoping to attract when it launches a farm out process for FEL 3/13 after providing similar updates on its other Porcupine licences, FEL 2/13 and FEL 1/17.
Read more...Plenty of action for Hurricane on Lancaster EPS
Since our most recent note on Hurricane Energy, ‘Lancaster EPS on track and on budget’ activity has continued at pace for the company as it remains on track for first oil in H119. Last week the offshore installation phase of the Lancaster EPS commenced with the installation of the Enhanced Horizontal Xmas Trees on the two existing wells, 6 and 7z, completed by the Far Superior offshore construction vessel. In addition the Lancaster EPS buoy departed from Drydocks World in Dubai on the Jumbo Kinetic vessel and is scheduled to arrive in Lerwick in the Shetland Isles by the end of June, allowing installation of the turret mooring system for the Aoka Mizu FPSO to take place on schedule by the end of Q318. Meanwhile, we expect that re-entry and completion operations on the 6 and 7z wells will commence imminently, since the Paul B Loyd Jr rig is now on location. The activity will provide plenty of opportunities for those who like to track vessel movements.
Read more...Implications of Rabat Deep 1 results
Following on from this weeks’ announcement that Eni’s Rabat Deep 1 well offshore Morocco had encountered only limited hydrocarbon indications, partner Chariot Oil & Gas has provided an early set of conclusions regarding the outcome of the well.Under the terms of its farmout to Eni, Chariot was fully carried for the cost of the well.
Read more...UK independents pick up blocks in Mexico’s Round 3.1
Premier Oil was awarded three blocks, while Cairn Energy has picked up one block in the latest shallow water round offshore Mexico. Premier beat off bids from five other consortia for Block 30, which was the most hotly contested of the round. The company holds a 30% WI in the Sureste basin block, which will be operated by DEA and partnered by new entrant Sapura.
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