Esgian Week 12 Report: New Finds in Guyana, China and Norway
Esgian reports fresh finds confirmed in Guyana, China and Norway in its Week 12 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.
Report Outline:
Contracts
Dolphin Drilling has announced the award of a $154 million drilling contract from India's exploration and production company, Oil India Limited (Oil India), to the 6,000-ft semisub Blackford Dolphin.
Malaysian offshore drilling firm Velesto confirmed Friday it had recently secured long-term contract extensions for three of its jackup rigs with Petronas Carigali, worth $265 million in total.
Drilling Activity and Discoveries
ExxonMobil has reported its first discovery offshore Guyana in 2024 at the Bluefin well on the Stabroek block.
China's CNOOC has made a major oilfield discovery in the Bohai Sea, which adds over a hundred million tonnes of oil equivalent proved in-place volume.
Eni has begun its two-well exploration campaign offshore Mexico with Valaris 8,500-ft semisubmersible Valaris DPS-5.
The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) has given Aker BP consent for exploration drilling in the North Sea offshore Norway. The consent is related to exploration drilling operations in production licence PL102 F/G, operated by Aker BP in partnership with Petoro and PGNiG Upstream Norway.
Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) has finished drilling the Akseki-1 ultra-deepwater wildcat well offshore the Eastern Mediterranean after a seven-month operation.
Equinor has delineated the Heisenberg oil and gas discovery in wells 35/10-11 S and A in the North Sea and has also proven oil in the Hummer prospect.
The Orion-1X exploration well preliminary results indicate no commercial hydrocarbons, after reaching the target reservoir in March 2024.
Demand
Harvester Energy has been awarded two blocks in the UK North Sea containing reserves suitable for low-cost development.
Mobilisation/Rig Moves
Valaris 12,000-ft drillship Valaris DS-14 has arrived in the Canary Islands, where the unit will be stacked until it secures a contract.
The Valaris-owned 400-ft jackup Valaris 107 has started moving towards a location off Western Australia to start its plug and abandon (P&A) contract.
The 1,640-ft semisub rig Transocean Equinox has arrived in Australian waters, where it will soon start drilling for Shell at the Crux field.
Other News
Following an incident from early February 2024, Diamond Offshore’s 10,000-ft semisubmersible Ocean GreatWhite is now expected to stay off rate a month longer than previously expected.
The boards of directors of Vår Energi and Vår Energi Norge (formerly Neptune Energy Norge) have agreed on a joint merger plan for an intra-group merger of the two companies.
Africa Oil Corp. has made a cash offer to acquire up to 8.0% of the issued shares in Impact Oil and Gas Limited from minority shareholders.
A consortium formed by ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy has decided not to move forward with the second exploration phase of two blocks in the Malvinas Oeste basin, offshore southern Argentina.
UK-based geoscientific company Geoex MCG Ltd has signed a contract for a multi-client seismic project offshore Venezuela with Venezuela’s People’s Ministry of Petroleum (MINPET).
The New South Wales government has passed legislation to ban offshore drilling; however, partners in PEP-11, an exploration permit for natural gas located in the Offshore Sydney Basin, say the government has no jurisdiction over their block.
Jindal Drilling has approved the purchase of 350-ft jackup Jindal Pioneer from Discovery Drilling Pte. Ltd., Singapore, a Jindal Drilling joint venture, for $75 million.
3D Energi has been granted a 2-year suspension and extension of the primary term work commitment for the WA-527-P petroleum exploration permit off Western Australia. This means the company now has until 28 December 2025, to acquire the Sauropod MC3D seismic survey, with the permit term now ending on 28 December 2028.
Zanzibar has launched its first licencing round, inviting bids for eight offshore blocks covering a total of 31,883 km².
Anasuria Hibiscus UK Limited, a subsidiary of Hibiscus Petroleum, has informed that the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has approved the extension request for the second term of the Licence P2451, which contains an undeveloped Fyne oil field in the North Sea.
Energean expects to complete its farm-in to acreage offshore Morocco imminently. The farm-in will be followed by an appraisal well east of the Anchois field planned for the third quarter of 2024.