Eni producing 25,000 bopd from offshore Alaska field

Eni has achieved the important production goal of 25,000 bopd at the Nikaitchuq field, in which the company is operator with a 100% interest. The field, located offshore the North Slope of Alaska in a water depth of 3 m, holds reserves estimated at 200 MMbbl of crude oil. Nikaitchuq production, which began in January 2011, is the first operated by Eni in the Arctic.

Development of Nikaitchuq includes the drilling of wells and the construction of facilities both on land and on an artificial island built by Eni in the Beaufort Sea. The location’s extreme climate and environmental constraints required the application of Eni’s proprietary technologies and expertise to drill multilaterals horizontal wells and to build one of the most advanced production facilities in the North Slope, with maximum environmental compatibility and high operating efficiency.

Nikaitchuq horizontal wells are the most complex wells drilled by the industry to date in Alaska, with a lateral displacement that extends up to 22,000 ft. The field treatment plant is able to handle 40,000 bpd of crude oil and up to 120,000 bpd of water. Nikaitchuq production is transported through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to be sold on the market without the need for further treatment. Eni is now working toward achieving the new production target of 30,000 bopd in the next 12 months.

In the United States, Eni owns interests in 200 leases in the Gulf of Mexico and 530 leases in unconventional plays (shale gas and shale oil) onshore Texas. In addition, Eni owns interests in 100 leases in the North Slope of Alaska, which include Nikaitchuq and 30% of the Oooguruk oil field, which has been in production since 2008. Total Eni’s daily net production is approximately 100,000 boe (75% operated).

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Circle Oil starts drilling SAH-W1 well in Sebou permit, Morocco

Circle Oil, reported the preliminary results of drilling of the well SAH-W1 in the Sebou Permit, onshore Morocco.

The well is located within the western central area of the Sebou Permit, about 3.2 km to the south west of the main gas gathering station. The well was spud on 19 May and drilled to a TD of 1,263 m MD. Gas shows were encountered at three levels within the target Guebbas sands, but seven inch casing had to be installed (due to mechanical problems) before drilling a six inch hole through the main target interval. The wireline logging confirmed the presence of three gas-bearing zones, and subsequent pressure testing in the six inch hole confirmed permeable high pressure reservoirs.

The rig has been released from this site before running the 4.5 inch liner as this is a non-standard size for drilling these wells and this is being sourced to test and complete the well for production in the future. The net pay from wireline log analysis is 6 m in the Top Guebbas, 6 m in the main target Intra Guebbas and 3 m in the lower part of the Intra Guebbas. The plan is to produce the three zones sequentially from the bottom up, where the highest pressure is present.

Further updates will be provided in due course.

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Gulf Keystone rises most in month on Kurdistan output estimate

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd., an oil producer in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, gained the most in almost a month after saying production from its key asset was proceeding as planned.

The company advanced as much as 6.3%, the most since May 15, to 85 pence in London trading and was at 82.75 pence at 11:41 a.m. local time.

Gulf Keystone expects production from Shaikan to rise to 40,000 bopd by the end of the year, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Gulf Keystone said in a statement. The shares had lost 14% this week through yesterday, June 12, amid concern violent unrest in Iraq could spread toward Kurdistan.

The company’s operations “are progressing in line with our previous guidance, whilst we remain alert to the current security situation in Iraq, which has recently escalated outside the Kurdistan region,” Todd Kozel, CEO, said in the statement.

Eight cargoes have so far been sold into the international market, it said.

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Genel’s Kurdistan oil production jumps after pipeline opens

Genel Energy Plc, the oil explorer headed by former BP Plc CEO Tony Hayward, said production jumped in June after Iraq’s Kurdistan region opened an export pipeline to Turkey.

Net production averaged 84,000 bpd in June compared with a 63,000 bpd rate for the whole of the first half, the company said in a statement.

The opening of the pipeline in May allowed the autonomous region to increase exports through Turkey, bypassing the central Iraqi network. While the government in Baghdad disputes Kurdistan’s right to sell oil directly, the regional administration has sold a cargo of oil at international prices and banked the proceeds in a Turkish bank, Genel said.

Kurdistan, which plans a referendum on independence from Iraq, has largely remained calm as Islamist militants fight the central government for control of large parts of the country. London-based Genel said its operations remain safe and secure.

Genel maintained a forecast for average output in 2014 of 60,000 to 70,000 bpd and said revenue would be $500 million to $600 million.

The pipeline will allow Kurdistan to raise exports to 200,000 to 250,000 bpd this month from 125,000 bbl early last month, Ashti Hawrami, the regional natural resources minister, said on June 18. Daily shipments may increase to 400,000 bbl by the end of the year, he said.

Iraq, excluding the Kurdish region, holds 150 billion bbl of proven crude reserves in the world’s fifth-biggest deposits. The Kurdistan regional government controls 45 billion bbl and has attracted international oil companies including Genel, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Total SA with financial terms many see as more generous than those in the rest of the country.

Genel fell 0.8% to 1,015 pence by 8:31 a.m. in London. The company said today, July 3, an exploration well off Malta was plugged and abandoned without discovering oil and gas.

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Exxon, BP Evacuate Iraq workers amid limited oil drilling impact

Exxon Mobil and BP began removing employees in Iraq as militants continued a push toward Baghdad and a battle raged for control of the nation’s largest oil refinery.

The evacuations come amid government and company assertions that Iraq’s output of almost 3 MMbpd should remain unaffected by escalating sectarian tensions. Exxon has removed some workers from the West Qurna oil field as operations continue, according to a person familiar with the company’s Iraq operations. BP has removed non-essential workers, CEO Bob Dudley said.

While violence is sweeping northern Iraq, the conflict so far spared Iraq’s crude production in the south and the Kirkuk oilfield in the north is being defended by Kurds.

“The only infrastructure that is currently producing and supplying international markets is in the south and will remain untouched,” said Kyle Stelma, managing director of Dunia Frontier Consultants, which researches Iraq for clients.

Fighters from ISIL battled government forces for control of the Baiji refinery in northern Iraq today, a day after clashes in Baquba, 55 km northeast of the capital. A military spokesman said elite Iraqi forces were defending the Baiji refinery, but the comments contradicted local police who said militants had captured the facility.

A fuel tank at the refinery caught fire after shelling by militants, according to the Salahuddin provincial police command. The refinery halted operations because its storage tanks were full, according to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

The market impact of the clashing continued to be muted, with Brent crude little changed at $114.23 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange New York.

Companies such as Chevron, Total and Marathon Oil, which are drilling in the Kurdistan region, are continuing to operate. Marathon hasn’t evacuated employees, spokeswoman Lee Warren said. Chevron’s operations continue “as normal,” spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said. Oryx Petroleum reported successful testing and a ramp up in drilling activity in Kurdistan.

The rapid battlefield success of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, a Sunni Muslim al-Qaeda breakaway group also embroiled in battles in neighboring Syria, threatens to re-ignite a sectarian civil war in Iraq. It also risks escalating into a wider conflict that draws in the United States and Iran in defense of PM Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government three years after the withdrawal of United States forces. Iraq is the largest oil producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia.

BP CEO Bob Dudley said the violence, which he called “terrible” and said would have “far-reaching, wide-ranging implications” for the region, isn’t likely to spread all the way to the country’s southern oil fields.

“The implications for oil production at the moment appear limited,” he told reporters yesterday in Moscow. “We are of course very vigilant.”

Anti-terrorism forces killed a Saudi fighter identified as Abu Yamama al-Dossary during the “failed attack” on the Baiji refinery. A fuel tank at the plant caught fire during the clashes. The refinery has halted operations since June 15, the police said. Baiji has about 40% of Iraq’s refining capacity, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Iraq will have to increase the import of oil products to make up for the loss of Baiji’s production,” Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management, said “Baiji mainly supplies the north, but also Baghdad.”

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Eni granted three new permits in Algeria

Eni has been granted three prospection permits by Sonatrach, the Algerian state company. The permits authorize Eni, as operator, and Sonatrach to carry out prospection activities in the basins of Timimoun and Oued Mya, in onshore southern Algeria.

The three permits (El Guefoul, Tinerkouk and Terfas), issued from the national agency for the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources (Agence Nationale pour la Valorisation des Ressources en Hydrocarbures, ALNAFT), are valid for two years and cover a total area of 46,837 sq km. The work program includes studies and drilling of prospection wells to define the potential of the areas. The three areas are considered of great interest and potential.

Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and has interests in 29 exploration and development licenses, which are currently in production, and in 3 permits under development. Eni is the leading international producer in the country, with daily equity production of approximately 125,000 boe.

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Argentine governors said to seek tax breaks for rigs in oil bill

Argentine provincial authorities are pushing for tax cuts to be included in an energy bill covering the country’s nascent shale oil and gas industry, three officials briefed on the matter said.

The governors of 10 provinces with oil and gas reserves agreed to request the elimination of a 35% levy on imports of rigs and other machinery before agreeing to the federal government’s proposed reform, the provincial officials said, asking not to be named as discussions are private. Provinces also want royalties to be based on global benchmarks rather than the price set by the federal government, they said.

The demands are part of federal-provincial talks on replacing a 1967 hydrocarbons law with rules for distributing revenue from the world’s fourth-biggest shale oil reserves and second-largest shale gas reserves. The bill would end political tensions derived from unclear regulations for both shale and offshore resources and lure more investors to Vaca Muerta, a Belgium-sized formation in the country’s south.

“All I can say is that all the actors are participating in the writing of the draft,” Horacio Mizrahi, spokesman for federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido, said by phone from Buenos Aires. “We prefer not to comment while negotiations between all parties involved are going on in a civilized way.”

Chubut Governor Martin Buzzi, who heads a committee of the 10 provinces, and Neuquen Governor Jorge Sapag weren’t available to comment, their respective assistants said.

While the provinces are prepared to reduce their taxes and the participation of provincial companies in projects, they want the same benefits stipulated in a July decree imposed for a venture between YPF SA and Chevron Corp. to be extended to all companies, the officials said.

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Gazprom Neft inks drilling, fracturing agreement with C.A.T. oil AG

C.A.T. oil AG, a provider of oil and gas field services in Russia and Kazakhstan, signed a framework agreement with Gazprom Neft on drilling and hydraulic fracturing services on June 17, 2014.

The agreement guarantees full utilization of four new drilling rigs and one new fracturing fleet until the end of 2016 and foresees conclusion of respective service agreements between the operating subsidiaries of Gazprom Neft and C.A.T. oil.

The new drilling and fracturing capacities will be successively deployed in the field from September to December 2014 and are part of C.A.T. oil’s growth strategy.
 
In November 2013, C.A.T. oil announced its 2014-16 investment program of EUR 390 million aiming at expansion of its operating capacities by around 33% for fracturing, 55% for sidetracking and 170% for drilling by the end of 2016 as compared to the end of 2013

For 2014, C.A.T. oil has ordered six drilling rigs, four sidetracking rigs and one fracturing fleet. Execution of the program and manufacturing of the ordered new capacities are fully on schedule.

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