The first cargo has been successfully offloaded from what is expected to be Chevron's largest investment in Brazil: the offshore Papa-Terra heavy oil development in the Campos Basin.

"The first offloading at Papa-Terra represents an important milestone for the company, reinforces the progress being made by the project and highlights the success of the partnership between Chevron and Petrobras," said Les Wood, a manager with Chevron Brazil.

The Brasil Voyager, a tanker owned and operated by Chevron, was built with specific features for offloading oil from Papa-Terra.

On May 9, the Brasil Voyager, a tanker built specifically for the operation, lifted approximately 740,000 barrels of oil from Papa-Terra's floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The oil came from the first two production wells in the field.

"This is a significant milestone for the Papa-Terra project," said Kelly Hartshorn, managing director of Chevron's Latin America business unit. "This project will make a positive impact on Chevron's future growth target, and I am proud of the Chevron Brazil team for their efforts to get us to this successful point in the field's development."

The Brasil Voyager is expected to offload around 950,000 barrels of crude from Papa-Terra every 40 days.

"The Brasil Voyager is now bringing cargo to the market, including providing supply to the Pascagoula Refinery, and we look forward to its return to the Papa-Terra Field for the next Chevron shipment," Wood said.

On May 12, production began from a third well at Papa-Terra. Two additional wells are expected to start producing to the FPSO in 2014.

The Papa-Terra Field lies in approximately 3,900 feet (1,189 m) of water. The project includes the FPSO as well Brazil's first tension-leg well platform (TLWP), which was installed in the field in April. Heavier-oil production wells will lead to the platform while lighter-oil production wells will tie back to the FPSO. First oil from the TLWP is expected later this year.

The project has a planned daily capacity of 140,000 barrels of crude oil and 35 million cubic feet of natural gas

The fully owned subsidiary of A.P. Møller - Maersk A/S (the Company), Maersk Olie og Gas A/S (Maersk Oil), completed the acquisition of stakes in three Brazilian blocks from SK Energy for USD 2.4 billion in July 2011.

Maersk Oil has revised its strategy and will no longer pursue growth or operatorship for its business in Brazil. As a consequence of this, Maersk Oil has divested its ownership share in the small producing field Polvo to the operator, Brazilian independent HRT O&G Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo Ltda., subject to regulatory approvals.

The remaining fields Wahoo and Itaipu contain significant potential resources and it is expected that the operating partners of these fields will at a later state be able to present commercially viable development plans.

Based on own assessments Maersk Oil now expects that these plans will result in a lower value than originally anticipated as the appraisal drillings performed have come out at the low end of the original expectations and additional adverse impacts from increased development costs and lower oil price also must be expected.

Consequently, the Company has decided to make an impairment to the book value of Maersk Oil's Brazilian assets of USD 1.7 billion, bringing down the value to USD 0.6 billion which will be included in the Group's Q2 result.

The Group's guidance for the 2014 result will remain an underlying profit of around USD 4 billion and a Group result significantly above last year.

Maersk Oil's revised assessment of its Brazilian assets will have no impact on Maersk Oil's long term production plans since no volumes concerning the Brazilian assets have been included in these plans.

Group CEO, Nils S. Andersen, commented:
"The SK Energy investment was made at a time when the outlook for the oil industry and oil prices were more positive than today and we had growth ambitions for our Brazilian oil business. We have now adapted our strategy to the situation we see today, but it is of course clearly unsatisfactory that the oil volumes in the acquired fields Itaipu and Wahoo after appraisal drilling has proved to be in the low end of our original expectations. Going forward, this strategy adjustment and value impairment allow Maersk Oil to fully focus on its growth strategy".

CEO of Maersk Oil, Jakob Thomasen said:
"Whilst our ambitions for Brazil have only partly lived up to our expectations, Maersk Oil continues to develop an exciting portfolio of new projects around the world that will deliver more value and increased production through the decade."
"The natural uncertainty of exploring for oil and gas has to be balanced with the huge potential rewards. So it is important that we embed the learnings from Brazil into our future plans to grow the business. In the short term that means we will reduce our planned exploration spending whilst we reload the acreage and prospect portfolio."

Cable and pipe seal manufacturer Roxtec has won a major contract to supply one of the largest and deepest oil sea developments in the North Sea.

Roxtec's UK and Korean operations are working with global petroleum giant BP on its offshore oil and gas project called 'Quad 204' where it is building a new floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.

The unit will be located approximately 80 miles west of Shetland, in Scotland.

The Quad 204 is being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, the largest shipyard in the world. It will replace the existing 'Schiehallion' FPSO and include an extension of a subsea system with new and replacement flow lines, new and replacement risers and 14 wells in addition to the 52 existing ones.

Roxtec UK managing director Graham O'Hare (photo) said the firm's deck seals are being used on the hull and top sides of the project and also in the living quarters.

He said: "We are working in partnership with the yard to supply a range of bespoke products which will seal stainless steel tubes. Our seals were chosen because maintenance of them is quick and simple and they will be easy to upgrade in future renovation work.

"Our Lloyds-approved, watertight seals will protect vital equipment on this production platform against salt water ingress which can be so damaging if cables are not properly sealed.

"The new FPSO was designed in the UK, is being constructed in South Korea and hook-up and commissioning will take place upon arrival in the North Sea. As a global company, we can provide support to the project from our bases in the UK and South Korea for the lifespan of this project.

The Quad 204 is designed to operate in harsh weather conditions and, once it has been completed, is expected to produce 130,000 barrels of oil and more than 2 million cubic meters of gas a day.

The facility will also provide storage capacity for more than 1 million barrels of oil with construction due to be completed in summer 2014 and oil production commencing by 2017.

Mr O'Hare said he is seeing Roxtec's products being used more frequently in the oil and gas sector. Currently there are at least forty offshore assets under construction worldwide using Roxtec's sealing solution, and it is pleasing that a number of these are taking place in the North Sea.

"Because we are a market leading company with an international presence, we are perfectly placed to advise and supply these types of projects which involve multiple geographical locations."

BP and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on Tuesday, a heads of agreement for the supply of up to 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year over 20 years starting in 2019. The agreement was signed in London by BP Executive Vice President, Dev Sanyal and CNOOC Chairman, Wang Yilin, in the presence of UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang.

Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive said: "This is a significant deal for BP and China but it also marks a step up in global connectivity in the gas market. This is important for all countries and regions looking at the diversity of energy supply and energy security - it gives BP greater flexibility to respond to the changing energy demands from Europe, Asia and other regions.

"We are pleased to support China's commitment to improving its air quality. This agreement is the first long-term LNG supply deal with China where BP is the sole supplier and it should play a crucial role in enhancing China's energy diversification and supporting its economic growth."

A full commercial contract is expected to be agreed in mid-2014. BP would expect to supply LNG from its global portfolio, using its own LNG tanker fleet and chartered ships delivering gas to a number of terminals in China.

1.5 million tons of LNG is approx 72 billion cu ft of natural gas.

CNOOC is a pioneer of China's LNG industry and the third largest LNG importer in the world with 13 million tons of LNG imported in 2013. Currently, CNOOC operates 6 LNG receiving terminals in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Tianjin with further terminals under construction.

BP is active in many of the major LNG producing regions as well as in the main LNG markets. It is involved in LNG projects in Australia, UAE, Indonesia, Egypt, Trinidad and Angola.

Shell has announces its third major discovery in the Norphlet play in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico with the successful Rydberg exploration well. After more than 10 years of exploration activities in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Shell continues to lead industry in exploring this Jurassic play.

"The Rydberg discovery builds upon our leadership position in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and its proximity to our other discoveries in the area make Rydberg particularly exciting." said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director. "These successes represent the emergence of another hub for Shell's deep-water activities that should generate shareholder value."

The Rydberg well is located 75 miles (120 kilometres) offshore in the Mississippi Canyon Block 525 in 7,479 feet (2,280 metres) of water. It was drilled to a total depth of 26,371 feet (8,038 metres) and encountered more than 400 feet (122 metres) of net oil pay.

Shell is completing the full evaluation of the well results but expects the resource base to be approximately 100 million barrels of oil equivalent. Together with the Appomattox and Vicksburg discoveries, this brings the total potential Norphlet discoveries to over 700 million barrels of oil equivalent.

This is the first discovery for the partnership of Shell (operator, interest 57.2%), Ecopetrol America Inc. (28.5%) and Nexen (14.3%), a wholly-owned affiliate of CNOOC Limited. The discovery is within 10 miles (16 kilometres) of the planned Appomattox development and the 2013 Vicksburg discovery (Shell, operator, 75% and Nexen, 25%).

Shell and Nexen are following up the Rydberg discovery with an exploratory well at Gettysburg, located in Desoto Canyon Block 398 which is also within 10 miles (16 kilometres) of the planned Appomattox Development.

• The Jurassic-period Norphlet play is a geological formation that extends from onshore to the deep waters of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
• Appomattox (Shell 80%, Nexen 20%) is currently in the define phase of development and is moving forward with engineering design for the floating production system, subsea infrastructure and wells.
• The drillship Noble Globetrotter I drilled the Rydberg well and is currently repositioning to drill the Gettysburg exploratory well.
• The Gulf of Mexico is a major production area in the USA, accounting for almost 50% of Shell's oil and gas production in the country and almost 180 thousand boe per day in 2013.
Download fact sheet 'Shell and the Norphlet play' (July 2014) (PDF, 168 KB)

EMAS AMC, the subsea services division of EMAS, a leading global offshore contractor and provider of integrated offshore solutions to the oil and gas (O&G) industry has achieved the significant milestone of installing 50 platforms for Chevron in the Gulf of Thailand.

Under a multi-year contract that commenced in 2011, EMAS AMC has also successfully laid 376km of subsea pipes utilising the construction vessel Lewek Champion, a DP2 rigid pipe laying vessel with heavy lift capabilities. Chevron has since extended the contract to 2015 with a further option thereafter.

In 2014, EMAS AMC is expected to install 25 pipelines and 10 platforms of which 15 and seven, respectively, have already been completed.

"This is a significant project milestone for EMAS AMC and a great achievement together with Chevron," said C.J. D'Cort, CEO, EMAS AMC. "We will continue to work closely with Chevron to deliver the remaining work scope successfully in a safe and timely manner.

"We are also proud of the Lewek Champion project team and crew who have received several noteworthy HSE awards from Chevron during this campaign, one for zero recordable incidents in 2011, another for reliability and performance in 2011, and the Outstanding Crew Award in 2011 and 2013."

GE Oil & Gas (NYSE: GE) announces it has received an order for the offshore oil and gas industry’s first 20,000-psi (20-ksi) rated deepwater blowout preventer (BOP) stack and riser systems from Copenhagen, Denmark-based Maersk Drilling. The equipment, due to enter service in the first half of 2018, is being supplied for Maersk and BP as part of their joint Project 20K™ Rigs design program.

BP and Maersk Drilling announced their joint study agreement in February 2013 to develop conceptual engineering designs for a new generation of advanced drilling rigs that will be critical to unlocking the next frontier of deepwater oil and gas resources. Called 20K Rigs, the BP-Maersk Drilling agreement will result in deepwater drilling vessels designed to efficiently operate in high-pressure and high-temperature reservoirs up to 20,000 psi and 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

“GE Oil & Gas is proud to join with Maersk and BP in developing the 20-ksi drilling system technologies to meet new ultra-deepwater production goals,” said Andrew Way, president and CEO of GE’s Drilling & Surface business—GE Oil & Gas. “By drawing upon GE’s technology portfolio and history of operational excellence, we are providing one of the most advanced drilling systems the industry has to offer.”

GE Oil & Gas will design, test and manufacture the new 20-ksi BOPs and risers at the company’s recently expanded Houston Technology Center in Texas.

“GE’s new deepwater BOP system is a key part of Maersk and BP’s strategy to safely expand offshore field development into previously unexplored areas,” said Claus V. Hemmingsen, CEO of Maersk Drilling. “With its redesigned components, GE’s new BOP technology addresses the needs of drilling companies for BOPs that efficiently operate at extremely high pressures.”

“This is a key milestone in progression of BP’s delivery of Project 20K technologies and supports our industry relationships toward the delivery of standard industry solutions,” said Gary Jones, vice president of BP’s Global Wells Organization.

“The 20-ksi drilling system being developed will include a number of new real-time monitoring and condition-based maintenance technologies aimed at improving uptime by reducing unplanned maintenance,” said Way. “From higher performance mechanicals to real-time monitoring and condition-based maintenance systems, this next-generation system can make accessible new offshore drilling frontiers.”

20K™ is a trade mark of BP plc.

Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) has announced that it has reached an agreement with BP Exploration & Production Inc. to acquire 50 percent of BP's interest in 17 deepwater exploration leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Each of the leases resides in the Atwater Valley protraction area, with Noble Energy acquiring a 50 percent working interest in 13 leases and an average 26 percent working interest in four leases.

As part of the transaction, Noble Energy is participating with a 50 percent working interest in the Bright prospect, which is currently drilling on Atwater Valley Block 362 in a water depth of approximately 5,600 feet. The initial well, targeting multiple Upper and Middle Miocene reservoirs, is anticipated to be drilled to a total depth of 13,500 feet. The Company's total estimated gross unrisked resource range (P75 - P25) for the Bright prospect is 90 to 350 million barrels of oil equivalent. In addition to the Bright prospect, there are multiple follow-on exploration opportunities that have been identified on these newly acquired leases.

Susan M. Cunningham, Senior Vice President, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, and Frontier, said, "The deepwater Gulf of Mexico is one of Noble Energy's core areas and today we have expanded our opportunity set there through the successful capture of a number of attractive and sizeable prospects. We have multiple opportunities for substantial hydrocarbon discovery in the near-term, with the Katmai prospect results expected by our second quarter earnings call and the Bright prospect anticipated to be at total depth by the end of the third quarter. In addition to our exploration programs, we are also currently drilling a second well at Dantzler as we progress multiple major projects toward first production."

UK flowmeter specialist Litre Meter (www.litremeter.com) has launched the second in a series of oil and gas industry safety surveys that will be introduced throughout 2014.

The survey (http://tiny.cc/ped) is designed to enable manufacturers and resellers to test assertions about functionality and construction and quality of manufacture.

The new survey concentrates on the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) and one lucky respondent will win a Kindle for taking part.

The purpose of PED is to harmonize national laws regarding the design, manufacture, testing and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies of pressure equipment. This includes pressurized storage containers, heat exchangers, steam generators, boilers, industrial piping, safety devices and pressure accessories. Such pressure equipment is widely used in the process industries including oil & gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, plastics and rubber and the food and beverage industries - all of which are key markets for Litre Meter.

Litre Meter has launched the second in its series of industry surveys on safety issues in the oil and gas sector.

All relevant equipment, plant and systems in the European Economic Area must comply with the PED. It requires the level of hazard of pressure equipment to be assessed and classified into 1 of 5 categories labelled SEP (sound engineering practice) then categories I-IV. The higher the level of hazard, the more extensive the level of quality assurance required during the design, manufacture and testing of the equipment.

Litre Meter CEO Charles Wemyss said: "There has been increased focus on safety issues in the offshore sector over recent years. We want to make sure that our manufacturing focus is on safety in relation to both the environment and industry trends.

"Issues surrounding the environment and hydrocarbon releases, asset aging and life extension drive the focus on safety. We want to be able to help in the process of recognizing hazards and reducing risk as well as help engineers take ownership of risk and asset integrity through proving assertions about the functionality and construction of instruments.

"Asset integrity management ensures that the people, systems, processes and resources that deliver integrity are in place, in use and will perform on demand over the asset's lifecycle.

"Being able to prove assertions about the manufacture and functionality of equipment are vital in this process."

Earlier this year Litre Meter conducted a survey of the use of Safety Integrity Levels (SIL) in the specification of instrumentation in the oil and gas sector. The results of that survey are published at http://tiny.cc/sil-result.

To take the PED survey visit http://tiny.cc/ped and spend just a few minutes answering the questions.

As technology allows for the more widespread drilling and recovery of oil and liquefied natural gas in the world's oceans, companies and governments are recognizing the need to re-evaluate some long-held notions about the security of offshore platforms and other maritime assets.  In the past 25 years, approximately 50 attacks have been directed at offshore oil and gas assets, according to Mikhail Kashubsky, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies, University of Canberra, Australia.  In a post-9/11 world, the value of and threat to these critical strategic assets have only increased.  While attacks provide a window on the types of threats the oil and gas industry has faced, they can also help prepare the industry for how to protect itself in the future.

Not all threats to offshore oil and gas can be solved with armed security or better firepower, and oftentimes, armed security are not permitted in waters where many assets exist.  In fact, the ones that have been historically the most damaging to companies and their bottom lines cannot.  One of the most disruptive activities directed against offshore platforms in the past has been environmental and political protest. 

Leiv Eriksson

Past decades have seen environmentalist protestors interfere with and illegally board the Stella Carron drillship and the Stella Don offshore drilling rig in 2010.  The unauthorized boarding of the Liev Erikkson offshore drilling rig in Turkey and the boarding of the Parabe offshore production platform in Nigeria are still more examples.  Perhaps most memorable among these types of incidents was the illegal boarding and occupation of Shell's "Brent Spar" offshore oil storage facility in the North Sea on 30 April 1995.  Following the incident, Shell was forced to release a statement which read: "Shell's position as a major European enterprise has become untenable. The Spar had gained a symbolic significance out of all proportion to its environmental impact. In consequence, Shell companies were faced with increasingly intense public criticism, mostly in Continental northern Europe. Many politicians and ministers were openly hostile and several called for consumer boycotts. There was violence against Shell service stations, accompanied by threats to Shell staff."  This demonstrates beyond any question the potential damage to a company and its reputation that illegal boarding by protestors can cause.  The violence against Shell employees and the damage to the company's bottom line could be calculated in the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.

In addition to these illegal boardings, the oil and gas industry faces a growing number of terrorist and asymmetric threats from violent actors worldwide.  Israeli State Comptroller Joseph Shapira recently reported to Israel's Ministry of Defense(http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-offshore-gas-platforms-vulnerable-to-attack-1000923993):

"The reality in which Israel's economy and international standing are improving in the gas production industry, and the economy's growing dependence on the gas supply, make the gas facilities targets of attacks by hostile countries and terrorist organizations.  Hezbollah has made explicit threats to attack Israel's gas platforms. Threats against the Tamar production platform and the Yam Tethys platform which contain combustible gas and complex machinery, which are close to the Gaza Strip and not far from shore, are diverse and should be prepared for."

Additional detail within the lengthy report outlines Israel's significant increases in its concerns over these threats and the direct and indirect impacts on the country, its security, and its economy.  Shapira's concerns are not unfounded.  Precedents for this type of attack are plentiful.  Between 2006 and 2010, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND carried out at least thirteen attacks on offshore oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria as part of their campaign against the oil and gas industry.  In April 2004, Iraq's Al Basrah Oil Terminal and the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal were attacked nearly simultaneously by suicide boats.  The attacks were reportedly launched by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Zarqawi network based in Iraq.  Terrorist, criminal, and separatist groups all see offshore oil and gas as high-profile, largely unprotected targets.  Even when populated by armed security teams, offshore platforms are tiny islands in a vast 360-degree field of fire.

The offshore oil and gas industry is beginning to understand the need for more comprehensive platform security plans that can address not only the high-profile "lethal" threats from terrorist and criminal groups, but also the non-lethal threats posed by protestors, refugees, fishermen, and any other group that seeks to illegally board a rig.  Security teams, naval patrols, and passive "fenceline" defenses such as the Alcyonics ™ Fixed Site Entanglement System (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/critical-maritime-assets-and-infrastructure-gain-greater-protection-222200101.html) are the best measures available today to reduce risk, mitigate damages, and stop threats.  With, when allowed, armed security teams providing protection against lethal threats to the platform and its personnel, naval patrols and a fixed perimeter system to stop incoming threats can deter illegal boardings without resorting to the use of deadly force.  This multi-layer, integrated approach is essential to the industry as non-lethal events can have far greater financial impact to a company than even a lethal attack can.  The notion of preparing to deal with threats with a one-dimensional response (i.e. "only" security teams, "only" naval patrols, etc.) is one whose time has passed.  Full spectrum protection is more important now than it has ever been. 

About Alcyonics

www.alcyonics.com - Alcyonics designs and produces passive and highly effective standoff defenses to combat the dramatically increasing global terrorist, piracy and political threats against oil & gas platforms, shipping and other maritime assets.

CGG announces its recent inauguration of an open subsurface imaging center in Yangon to service and support anticipated growth in Myanmar's oil and gas exploration sector. The new center is the first of its kind to be opened in Myanmar by a major international geoscience company.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Myanmar's Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Energy, His Excellency, U Aung Htoo, the guest of honor, and over 50 client representatives.

Myanmar's Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Energy, His Excellency, U Aung Htoo, was guest of honor at the inauguration ceremony for CGG's new Myanmar subsuface imaging center.

The aim of the center is to give international and local E&P companies operating in Myanmar onsite access to CGG's industry-leading subsurface imaging technology and expertise. Over time the center will also act as a base from which CGG intends to expand its business in the country.

The new center is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art hardware and CGG's renowned seismic processing software to meet the subsurface imaging requirements of CGG's clients operating in Myanmar. A fast dedicated network link to CGG's Singapore hub is also available for processing large data volumes.

The team of highly experienced native Myanmar geophysicists running the center is expected to expand with the anticipated growth in the Myanmar oil and gas exploration sector. As in other regions of the world, CGG is strongly committed to training and developing local data processing talents in Myanmar.

Sophie Zurquiyah, Senior Executive Vice President, Geology, Geophysics & Reservoir, CGG, said: "With the Myanmar government's recent award of 16 onshore and 20 offshore blocks to international and local oil and gas companies, we foresee a quickening in the pace of exploration activity over the next 18 months. CGG's launch of a subsurface imaging center in Myanmar underlines our commitment to participating in the opening up of Myanmar to the international E&P industry. We intend to build on our new center's strong local presence to help unlock the potential of this emerging market."

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Acting Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Walter Cruickshank have announced the first step in a robust public engagement process to develop the next schedule of potential offshore oil and gas lease sales.

The publication in the Federal Register of a Request for Information (RFI) and Comments on the Preparation of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program (RFI) is the initial step in the multi-year planning process and does not identify any specific course of action. Per statute and consistent with previous efforts, BOEM will evaluate all of the OCS planning areas during this first stage.

Today’s publication of a RFI begins a 45-day comment period. Substantial public involvement and extensive analysis will accompany all stages of the planning process, which will take up to three years to complete.

“The development of the next Five Year Program will be a thorough and open process that incorporates stakeholder input and uses the best available science to develop a proposed offshore oil and gas program that creates jobs and safely and responsibly meets the energy needs of the nation,” said Secretary Jewell. “Today marks the first step of engaging interested parties across the spectrum to balance the various uses and values inherent in managing the resources of federal offshore waters that belong to all Americans and future generations.”

The OCS Lands Act requires the Secretary of the Interior, through BOEM, to prepare and maintain a schedule of proposed oil and gas lease sales in federal waters, indicating the size, timing and location of auctions that would best meet national energy needs for the five-year period following its approval. In developing the Five Year Program, the Secretary is required to achieve an appropriate balance among the potential for environmental impacts, for discovery of oil and gas, and for adverse effects on the coastal zone.

“In issuing the RFI, BOEM does not propose to schedule sales in particular areas, or make any preliminary decisions on what areas will be included in the schedule,” said BOEM Acting Director Cruickshank. “Rather, the RFI provides an opportunity for interested parties to submit comments and suggestions about the potential for leasing and to identify environmental and other concerns and uses that may be affected by offshore leasing.”

BOEM seeks a wide array of input, including information on the economic, social and environmental values of all OCS resources, as well as the potential impact of oil and gas exploration and development on other resource values of the OCS and the marine, coastal and human environments.

Using the information received, BOEM will prepare a Draft Proposed Program, followed by a Proposed Program and a Proposed Final Program. Throughout the planning process, BOEM consults with all interested parties and seeks additional public comment. Concurrently, BOEM will prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) required by the National Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of various OCS oil and gas leasing alternatives under the Proposed Program and to help inform decisions on the Proposed Final Program.

The current Five Year Program for 2012–2017, which expires in August 2017, schedules 15 potential lease sales in six planning areas with the greatest resource potential, including more than 75 percent of the estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in federal offshore waters. BOEM has held five sales thus far, including annual auctions in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico and a single sale in the portion of the Eastern Gulf not subject to the Congressional moratorium.

These five auctions offered more than 60 million offshore acres and leased 4.3 million of those, generating more than $2.3 billion in high bids. The sixth lease sale in August 2014 will offer 21 million OCS acres in the Western Gulf of Mexico. Off Alaska, the current Five Year Program includes one potential sale each for the Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea and Cook Inlet planning areas.

BOEM currently manages about 6,200 active OCS leases, covering more than 33 million acres – the vast majority in the Gulf of Mexico. Of those, 1,064 are producing leases, covering 5.2 million producing acres – the highest acreage under production since 2008. In 2013, OCS oil and gas leases accounted for about 18 percent of domestic oil production and 5 percent of domestic natural gas production. This production generates billions of dollars in revenue for state and local governments and the U.S. taxpayer, while supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Under the RFI published today, BOEM will accept comments until July 30, 2014 in either of the following ways: On BOEM’s website. Click on the “Open Comment Documents” link and follow instructions to view relevant documents and submit comments. In written form, deliver to: Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Five Year Program Manager; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; 381 Elden Street - HM-3120; Herndon, Virginia 20170. Additional information on the process of developing the next Five-Year Program as well as on the current Five Year Program can be found here.

• Repsol has discovered hydrocarbons in its TB14 well in the TSP block offshore Trinidad and Tobago, east of the Island of Trinidad.

• This discovery, made outside of the existing extension of the Teak field, has an estimated 40 million barrels of oil in place.

• The TB14 well has produced 1,200 barrels of oil a day of good quality crude in testing and is in commercial production.

• The find adds to the successful completion of the TB13 development well, which began producing in May.

The company has for the last three years beaten its own resource addition targets, outlined in its 2012-2016 strategic plan.

Repsol has made a new hydrocarbons discovery in the Teak field, offshore Trinidad and Tobago, in the TSP block east of the island of Trinidad.

The find in the TB14 well has upgraded the northern portion of the Teak B field that was not known to exist before.
The newly-discovered area is estimated to contain over 40 million barrels of oil in place, which increases the field's current reserves, extends its productive life and adds new output.

Repsol operates the field with a 70% interest, partnered by co-venturers Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Petrotrin) and The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), with a 15% stake each.

Repsol and its partners are carrying out a drilling campaign to add new resources and production to the TSP block, which has been producing since the 1970s. The program includes new drilling throughout 2014.

The TB14 well, which has produced 1,200 barrels of oil a day in testing, adds to the start-up in June of the TB13 well, which added 1,384 bopd to the field's output. The new wells add 24% to the block's existing production, which averaged 10,900 bopd during 2013.
The drilling programs in Trinidad and Tobago have been benefitted by fiscal reforms implemented by the government in the last few years to incentivise exploration and production in mature fields. This has resulted in increased rig activity, additional production and new reserves.
Repsol and its partners continue to work in the area, expecting to complete at least two more wells during the current year, with further drilling scheduled for the following years.

Repsol has boosted its exploratory activity in the last few years with significant success, with more than 50 discoveries since 2008, including some of the world's largest finds in the period.

In 2013, Repsol posted the highest reserve replacement rate amongst its peers at 275%, which also beat the company's own reserve addition targets for a third consecutive year to reach a total 1.515 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Repsol in Trinidad and Tobago

Repsol has been operating in Trinidad and Tobago since 1995. It currently holds rights over seven offshore blocks. Repsol's production in the country averaged 135,046 boepd in 2013.

At the end of 2013, Repsol has hydrocarbons reserves in Trinidad and Tobago totalling 325.3 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Statoil will increase the Oseberg Øst field recovery rate by means of a drilling campaign starting up in the summer of 2015.

Oseberg Øst. (Photo: Øyvind Hagen)

On Wednesday 2 July it was made public that Prosafe Offshore has been awarded a contract for the use of Safe Scandinavia in connection with this campaign.

Support vessel Safe Scandinavia is currently a flotel, but it will be modified to enable it to store and treat drilling fluid and cuttings as the drilling operations take place.

Transferring treatment capacity from Oseberg Øst to Safe Scandinavia will enable greater amounts of drilling fluid and cuttings to be stored. The support vessel will help make drilling operations more efficient, and enable longer wells to be drilled than is currently the case. 

The drilling of new wells is an important measure towards boosting recovery rates and doubling the lifetime of the Oseberg Øst field.

"We are expecting to increase the recovery rate on Oseberg Øst from around 20% to up to 30% when we drill the first planned wells. We also have the possibility of drilling more wells and further increasing the recovery rate towards 40%, which is almost double the rate in the plan for development and operation. As operator we are determined to ensure the greatest possible recovery of profitable barrels, and are pleased that the license has taken this important decision," says Kjetil Hove, senior vice president for operations in Statoil's Development & Production Norway business area. 

The contract is of three years' duration with the option of extending the contract, by one year at a time, for four years. Safe Scandinavia will be modified by Westcon in Ølensvåg. 

"We have worked intensively to achieve profitability in this project, which is time critical in terms of recovering remaining resources, and are satisfied at having come up with a good concept. Our solution also provides the possibility of developing the field in the longer term," adds Hove.

Oseberg Øst is the smallest of the platforms in the Oseberg area. It is situated 25 kilometers northeast of the Oseberg field center. Field development includes an integrated drilling, accommodation and production platform with equipment for first-phase processing. The field's reservoirs are layered and there is limited communication between the layers, which makes recovery demanding compared with the other Oseberg fields.

Statoil has a 49.30% license share in Oseberg Øst. The other partners are Petoro (33.6%), Total E&P Norge (14.70%) and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (2.4%).

GE Oil & Gas (NYSE: GE) has announced it will provide vital surface equipment to Mexico's national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos Exploración y Producción (PEMEX Exploration and Production) for use at its offshore project in the Ayatsil heavy oil field located in the Campeche Sound, in the Gulf of Mexico.

The multi-year contract includes the installation of GE's surface wellheads and trees in new wells that will be drilled by PEMEX through the duration of the contract. PEMEX is focused on strengthening oil extraction in the Marine Zone, an area located within territorial waters near the coasts of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. PEMEX considers Ayatsil to be one of the fields that will help the company recover the historic production of the zone and continue to increase it in the coming years.

GE's surface wellheads and trees will be manufactured at the company's Ecatepec plant in Mexico City, which has been equipped with new high-end manufacturing equipment. Employees at the plant have received the required training to handle this type of advanced technology.
"These surface systems will be manufactured in Mexico, and therefore will have a high degree of local content," said Antonio Ferreira, general manager, Latin America—Drilling & Surface for GE Oil & Gas. "In turn, this will contribute to the national industry's growth that Mexico is looking to achieve."

While the Ayatsil offshore project is GE's largest contract currently underway in the Marine Zone, the company is also working with PEMEX on several other important initiatives. GE recently announced it is teaming up with PEMEX and the Mexico Institute of Petroleum to research and develop technologies to help improve productivity and efficiency in mature fields, develop deep and ultra-deep water projects, and modernize Mexico's energy infrastructure.

Royal Dutch Shell plc ("Shell") has announced the sale of a total of approximately 156.5 million shares in Woodside Petroleum Limited ("Woodside") representing a total estimated value to Shell of around US$5.0 billion on an after tax basis.

The sale, which represents 19.0% of Woodside's issued share capital, is through an underwritten sell-down to equity market investors and a selective share buy-back by Woodside.

"This announcement is part of our drive to improve Shell's capital efficiency and to focus our Australia growth in directly owned assets", said Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden. "It doesn't change our view of Australia as an important player on the global energy stage, or Shell's central role in the country's energy industry."

Shell Australia's Country Chair, Andrew Smith, added, "Woodside is an important strategic partner for us, through our investments in established projects such as the North West Shelf and growth opportunities such as Browse.

We are pleased we have been able to work with Woodside to find a solution that allows us both to meet our strategic objectives. We continue to see Australia as an important place for us to invest and grow our business."

Shell's subsidiary, Shell Energy Holding Australia Limited ("SEHAL") has mandated two investment banks to sell 78.27 million shares in Woodside, through an underwritten sell-down at a price of A$41.35 per share.

This part of the sale represents around 9.5% of the issued capital in Woodside, with the shares to be sold to a range of equity market investors. The sell-down is expected to complete on 18 June 2014.

Under an agreement with SEHAL, Woodside will also buy-back 78.27 million of its shares from SEHAL at a price of US$34.24 per share.
The buy-back price per share has been split into a dividend component of US$26.29 per share and a capital component of US$7.95 per share, as agreed with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in a private ruling. SEHAL will receive franking (tax paid) credits on the dividend component with the effect that no further tax is payable by SEHAL on the dividend component.

Completion of the buy-back will be subject to limited conditions, including consent under a number of Woodside's facility agreements, an independent expert opinion and Woodside shareholder approval. Completion of the buy-back is expected in early August 2014.

After the buy-back and the sell-down have been completed, including cancellation of the buy-back shares by Woodside, SEHAL's shareholding in Woodside will reduce to below 5%. As part of this transaction, SEHAL has committed to retain its remaining shares in Woodside for 90 days from completion of the sell-down, with limited exceptions.

Shell's world-wide LNG equity liquefaction capacity is 26.1 mtpa (million tonnes per annum), with interests in eleven LNG plants. The announced transaction will reduce Shell's equity liquefaction capacity to 25.5 mtpa after the sell-down and to 24.9 mtpa after completion of the share buy-back.

Australia is set to underpin Shell's next tranche of LNG growth, with the Gorgon LNG project (~15 mtpa), where Shell has a 25% interest and the Shell-operated Prelude Floating LNG project (3.6 mtpa LNG + 1.7 mtpa NGLs), in which Shell holds a 67.5% interest.

Shell has further options for the next generation of LNG growth, in Australia, North America and Indonesia.

Shell also continues with an active and successful exploration campaign adding to further options for future development.