Genel: Taq Taq Field Hits 109,000 Barrels per Day

Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy announced Friday that production from its onshore Taq Taq field hit a high Jan. 4 of 109,000 barrels of oil per day. The company added that during the first two weeks of January production from Taq Taq has averaged 89,000 bopd.

Genel, reporting an operational update, said that it expects to complete its current exploration program in the Kurdistan region of Iraq during the first half of 2013. This program comprises three high-impact wells that are targeting a gross un-risked resource of more than 750 million barrels of oil equivalent. Tawke Deep and Chia Surkh 10 are currently drilling on schedule with results expected by the end of the first quarter. A third well (Taq Taq Deep) will spud during the next couple of months.

Capital expenditure for 2013 is expected to be between $400 million and $500 million. The firm spent approximately $230 million in 2012, which was fully funded by cash generated from current operations in Kurdistan.

Genel said that its average net working interest production for 2012 was 44,500 bopd, compared with 42,000 bopd in 2011. The company said that it began reducing exports of oil in mid-November, switching sales of production back into Kurdistan's domestic market, in response to the uncertainty regarding the receipt of the second payment for historic exports owed from the Federal Government of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Genel started exporting crude oil from Taq Taq into Turkey by truck earlier this month.

Genel Chief Executive Tony Hayward commented in the statement:

"2012 saw a strong production performance and a materially expanded exploration portfolio which will provide us with significant opportunities in 2013, both in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Africa. We expect revenues to be ahead of previous guidance and all development and exploration activities in Kurdistan to be funded from cash flow generated locally in line with our stated strategy. We are today exporting oil to Turkey in accordance with the authority granted to us by the Kurdistan Regional Government and as the largest independent operator in Kurdistan, are well placed to take advantage of regional opportunities for a broader export market as the political situation continues to develop." 

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Pacific Drilling Orders Eighth UDW Drillship

Pacific Drilling S.A. announced Tuesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary exercised an option to construct its eighth ultra-deepwater drillship with Samsung Heavy Industries.

"We are extremely pleased to announce the order of our eighth ultra-deepwater drillship," stated Pacific Drilling CEO Chris Beckett. "The strong market for deepwater drilling, attractive construction cost, strength of relationships with our preferred vendors, and robust operating performance of our in-service rigs support the decision to invest in the further expansion of our fleet."

The drillship will have a rated water depth of 12,000 feet, be equipped for 40,000 feet drilling depth, have accommodation for 200 personnel and be equipped to support dual gradient drilling. The total cost, excluding capitalized interest, will be approximately $620 million and delivery is scheduled for March 16, 2015. Financing for the construction of this rig is expected to be provided by a combination of cash flows from ongoing operations and long-term debt.

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EnQuest Buys 8% of Alba Field

North Sea-focused independent EnQuest has made an agreement that will see it acquire an 8 percent interest in the Alba oil field. The deal is being achieved by the firm's subsidiary EnQuest Britain Limited acquiring two of CIECO Energy's affiliate companies, which together hold 8 percent of the field.

EnQuest will pay $29.6 million (GBP 18.75 million) cash, along with a further deferred cash consideration of up to $790,000 (GBP 500,000) contingent on project milestones being achieved. The eight percent interest in Alba means that EnQuest is gaining net 2P reserves of 5.9 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Alba field contains around 1 billion barrels of oil in place and has so far produced around 400 million barrels. It produces heavy oil from Eocene turbidite sandstones in block 16/26 in the UK North Sea and produces from the Alba Northern platform. The field is operated by Chevron, which has a 23.37-percent interest.

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PTTEP Targets 2013 Sales Volume at 310,000 BOED

BANGKOK - Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production is targeting a sales volume of 310,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2013, up from 280,000 boed sold last year, the company's chief executive said Thursday. 

An increase in sales this year would derive from the start of commercial operations at its Montara oil field offshore Australia in the first quarter, which was delayed from late last year, Tevin Vongvanich told reporters on the sidelines of an economic seminar. 

Located in the Timor Sea off northern Australia, Montara is the site of the worst oil spill in Australia's history. In August 2009, a drilling rig at Montara burst into flames and eventually spilled more than 20,000 barrels into the sea. 

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Survey Confirms Significant Oil Potential off Northern Ireland

Irish explorer Providence Resources reported Thursday that an airborne survey carried out over its P1885 and PL 5/10 licenses in the Rathlin Basin, offshore Northern Ireland, has confirmed significant oil potential in the area.

Providence said it acquired data from a 'Full Tensor Gradiometry' (FTG) and magnetic airborne survey, carried out by Bell Geospace, and that initial processing of these data revealed the presence of five FTG anomalies that were deemed prospective for hydrocarbon exploration. The company added that the primary FTG anomaly, the 'Polaris' prospect, which lies in the Rathlin Sound just off the coast of Northern Ireland, is coincident with a significant structural feature imaged on vintage 2D seismic data. This prospect also lies structurally on-trend with the onshore 2008 Ballinlea-1 well, which successfully recovered good quality oil to the surface during testing.

Providence that further processing of its newly-acquired gravity data indicates that the Polaris feature is a large areally-extensive structure covering around 12 square miles. An initial P50 volumetric estimate, based on gravity and offset well data, indicates an in-place prospective resource potential of approximately 530 million barrels of oil for the prospect.

Providence Technical Director John O'Sullivan commented in a statement Thursday:

"We continue to be very encouraged by the results of the recent FTG programme, which has exceeded our pre-survey expectations. The Rathlin Basin has always been considered prospective due to the presence of a rich oil prone source rock, however poor seismic imaging has historically rendered it difficult to determine the basin's true hydrocarbon entrapment potential. We believe that our application of new technologies such as Full Tensor Gradiometry should allow for a complete re-assessment of this frontier basin. We have now commenced planning for a future drilling programme in 2014, which includes necessary site investigations, local permitting requirements together with regulatory and local stakeholder liaison."

Providence had plenty of success around Ireland last year, where it proved up significant resources at its Barryroe discovery off the south coast and saw progress with several other exploration projects. O'Sullivan confirmed Thursday that drilling operations planned for 2013 include the upcoming deepwater exploration well on the Dunquin prospect, an appraisal well on the Spanish Point gas condensate discovery and an exploration well in the Kish Bank Basin.

"In 2014, we plan to drill an exploration well on the Polaris Prospect and an appraisal well on the Dragon gas field," he added.

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

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In Amenas Hostage Crisis an 'Inside Job'

OSLO (AFP) – Islamist commandos behind the spectacular hostage-taking at an Algerian gas field probably had help from someone inside the plant, Norway's foreign minister said in a newspaper interview published Thursday.

"We have reports that the terrorists had people on the inside who laid the groundwork over time," Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told the Verdens Gang. "They had for example pre-positioned equipment at the site."

A foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed Eide's comments to AFP.

Citing other unidentified sources, VG said the Islamist militants had placed weapons inside the complex ahead of their Jan. 16 attack, when they took hundreds of people hostage until a raid by Algerian security forces brought a bloody end to the crisis Saturday.

At least 37 foreign hostages were killed, including Western and Asian nationals, according to a preliminary death toll, as well as one Algerian hostage. Several people are still missing and some bodies haven't yet been identified.

The newspaper also cited hostage witness accounts as saying that the attackers knew exactly where to find the expatriate workers inside the vast complex.

An Algerian security official told AFP Wednesday that one of the assailants had been employed as a chauffeur at the site up until last year.

Five Norwegians remain unaccounted for. They are employees of the Norwegian oil group Statoil, which jointly operates the site with BP and state-run Algerian energy firm Sonatrach.

The Scandinavian country has sent a forensics team to try to find the Norwegians among the unidentified bodies.

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Statoil, Pertamina Relinquish Stakes in Deepwater Karama Block

Statoil Indonesia and Pertamina Hulu Energi have relinquished their stakes in the deepwater Karama block, sited offshore in the Makassar Strait, after evaluation works completed by both of the companies indicated that there are no hydrocarbon reserves in the block, temporary regulatory unit SKMigas said in a statement late Wednesday.

The exploration activities Statoil has undertaken under the agreement include the study of geology and geophysics, 3D seismic and the drilling of three wells.

"For six years, Statoil has made all the commitments and obligations of exploration activities specified in the contract agreement," SKMigas said in its disclosure. The entire exploration program in the work area is estimated to have cost at least $271 million.

Statoil, as operator, held a 51 percent stake in the block, while Pertamina Hulu Energi held the remaining 49 percent interest.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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Atwood Mako to Keep Drilling Offshore Thailand

Atwood Oceanics announced Thursday that one of its subsidiaries has been awarded a 12-month contract extension by Salamander Energy (Bualuang) Limited for the jackup Atwood Mako (400' ILC).

The extension is priced at a day rate of $155,000 and begins Sept. 9, 2013. The Atwood Mako commenced its initial twelve month drilling services contract with Salamander on Sept. 9,2012 for operations offshore Thailand. With the extension, the Atwood Mako's firm commitment extends through Sept. 9, 2014.

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O&G Firms Evacuate Workers, Shut In Fields for Cyclone Peta's Passing

Oil and gas companies operating offshore northwest of Western Australia have started shut in operations and personnel evacuation programs, after they received warnings to expect winds of up to 62 miles an hour in the wake of a tropical low which has strengthened into Cyclone Peta.

People in the area are being warned to expect thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, and a flood warning has been issued for Pilbara.

A spokesperson representing Apache Corp. confirmed with Rigzone Wednesday that the Stag and Van Gogh fields are shut in, due to the expected path of Cyclone Peta.

"Preparations include the making safe of all facilities in the forecast radius to gales, and the evacuation of non-essential personnel from offshore operations in the area," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson representing Woodside said that the company is taking the necessary precautions to safeguard its people and assets in response to Cyclone Peta.

Cyclone Peta follows closely on the heels of Cyclone Narelle, which passed offshore Western Australia in the second week of January.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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Brazil Sets 11th Oil, Natural Gas Concession Auction for May

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil will hold its much-anticipated auction of new oil and natural gas exploration concessions on May 14 and 15, beefing up the so-called 11th bid round with additional blocks under order from President Dilma Rousseff, the Mines and Energy Ministry said Wednesday.

The 11th-round auction, the first since December 2008, will include 289 exploration blocks, said Marco Antonio Almeida, the ministry's secretary for oil and natural gas. Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao had said earlier this month that the 11th round would include 172 blocks, with about half of the blocks inland and half offshore.

The fresh round of bidding is expected to generate a surge in activity across Brazil's oil industry, which was running out of areas to explore in the absence of concession auctions. Oil companies had warned that exploration could dry up as soon as 2015 without new sales of exploration acreage.

The ministry also said that the first of auction of subsalt exploration acreage under new production-sharing agreements had been preliminarily set for Nov. 28 and 29. Billions of barrels of oil have been discovered in the subsalt region, where oil and natural gas were found trapped deep beneath the ocean floor under a thick layer of salt.

The subsalt bid round would be followed by the sale of unconventional oil and natural gas concessions, the same type of shale and tight gas acreage that sparked an oil-industry revolution in the U.S., on Dec. 11 and 12.

The 11th round will include areas in Brazil's equatorial margin, which runs from Bahia state to Amazonas state in the country's far north. Some of the blocks from the canceled eighth bidding round also will be included in this round, the ministry said.

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