EnQuest on Track for Kraken Go-Ahead

UK independent EnQuest reported Wednesday that it is on course to submit a field development plan for its Kraken development in the UK North Sea during the current quarter. The firm said it expected to sanction the development of Kraken later in 2013.

"EnQuest's growth and execution remain on course.  We are on track to submit the field development plan (FDP) for Kraken by mid-year and to sanction the project later in 2013.  The well results in north Kraken are in line with expectations and give further confidence in the field development," EnQuest Chief Executive Amjad Bseisu commented in a company update released Wednesday morning.

Bseisu also noted that EnQuest completed its acquisition of eight percent of the Alba field, which he said has similar characteristics to Kraken, in the first quarter.  

"Alba adds four non-operated wells to the twelve wells that EnQuest had originally planned for 2013," he said.

Meanwhile, the firm's Alma/Galia project remains on track for first production during the fourth quarter of 2013 and dry dock work on the EnQuest Producer vessel is now complete.

EnQuest said that its average production during the first four months of the year amounted to 20,494 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with 20,976 boepd over the same period in 2012.

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Kosmos Gets Go-Ahead for Irish Farm-In

Europa Oil & Gas reported Monday that it has received government consent for the farming out of its Irish licensing options to independent oil and gas firm Kosmos Energy.

Europa reported that the Irish government has approved the transfer from Europa to Kosmos of 85 percent of Europa’s Licensing Option 11/7 and LO 11/8, which together cover approximately 770 square miles in the South Porcupine Basin in the Irish Atlantic Margin. Kosmos also assumes operatorship of the licensing options, while Europa will retain 15 percent of both options.

The proposed farm-in deal was previously announced April 18.

Europa CEO Hugh Mackay commented in a company statement Monday:

"Subject to government approval for converting the Licensing Options into full exploration licences, the next steps will involve acquiring 3-D seismic over both blocks. We are pursuing the same Cretaceous stratigraphic play that Kosmos pioneered in the Atlantic Margin basins offshore West Africa. Kosmos have outstanding technical and operational experience of exploring this play and are the ideal partner to lead our exploration programme in the South Porcupine basin.

"The recent announcements by ExxonMobil on 23 April of the commencement of drilling on the nearby Dunquin prospect and by Cairn Energy on 7 May regarding their farm-in to three licences in the North Porcupine basin indicate that we are entering an important period in offshore Ireland oil and gas exploration, in which Europa will be playing a key role."

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Statoil Gives Go-Ahead to Smorbukk South Extension Project

Statoil reported Wednesday that, along with its partners, it has decided to go ahead with the Smørbukk South Extension project on the Åsgard development, offshore Norway.

The extension holds estimated recoverable reserves of 16.5 million barrels of oil equivalent and will be developed with a new subsea template that will be connected to existing infrastructure in the area.

Recovered gas will be re-injected into the reservoir in order to maintain pressure as oil is drained out of it. The field will be connected to the Åsgard A FPSO installation.

Astrid Helga Jørgenvåg, Statoil's asset owner for Åsgard, commented in a company statement:

"We've matured a profitable project out of a discovery from 1985. Experience from Åsgard operations, existing infrastructure and a bit of patience have contributed to an investment decision for this project.

"In addition we will consider the use of a new well technology that will increase the recovery from this type of reservoir. Smørbukk South Extension is a strategically important project that emphasizes our ambitions to increase recovery from mature areas."

The extension project will use standard equipment, and Statoil has already made investments to minimize the time from project sanction to production start-up, the firm said.

Statoil will now award several contracts for the development, it added.

Drilling operations are planned to begin in early 2015, with production start-up planned for September 2015. Total investments for the project are estimated to be around $595 million.

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Statoil Gives Go-Ahead to Smorbukk South Extension Project

Statoil reported Wednesday that, along with its partners, it has decided to go ahead with the Smørbukk South Extension project on the Åsgard development, offshore Norway.

The extension holds estimated recoverable reserves of 16.5 million barrels of oil equivalent and will be developed with a new subsea template that will be connected to existing infrastructure in the area.

Recovered gas will be re-injected into the reservoir in order to maintain pressure as oil is drained out of it. The field will be connected to the Åsgard A FPSO installation.

Astrid Helga Jørgenvåg, Statoil's asset owner for Åsgard, commented in a company statement:

"We've matured a profitable project out of a discovery from 1985. Experience from Åsgard operations, existing infrastructure and a bit of patience have contributed to an investment decision for this project.

"In addition we will consider the use of a new well technology that will increase the recovery from this type of reservoir. Smørbukk South Extension is a strategically important project that emphasizes our ambitions to increase recovery from mature areas."

The extension project will use standard equipment, and Statoil has already made investments to minimize the time from project sanction to production start-up, the firm said.

Statoil will now award several contracts for the development, it added.

Drilling operations are planned to begin in early 2015, with production start-up planned for September 2015. Total investments for the project are estimated to be around $595 million.

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Novatek Gets Go-Ahead for Arctic LNG Gas Project

MOSCOW - Russia's largest independent gas producer OAO Novatek said Wednesday it has received environmental approval for a liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic and that construction will begin soon.

Yamal LNG, a joint project with France's Total SA, is expected to produce its first gas at the start of 2017, with output eventually reaching 16.5 million metric tons per year.

Last week, Novatek said it was in advanced talks with a number of potential clients, including China and India on selling LNG supplies from the Arctic project.

Novatek has been banking on Russia's government ending state-controlled OAO Gazprom's monopoly on gas exports and allowing other firms to sell LNG on foreign markets, which are more lucrative than Russia's. Last month, President Vladimir Putin instructed government officials to consider liberalizing exports to boost Russia's share of the global LNG market from 3.6%.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Statoil Gives Go-Ahead to Smorbukk South Extension Project

Statoil reported Wednesday that, along with its partners, it has decided to go ahead with the Smørbukk South Extension project on the Åsgard development, offshore Norway.

The extension holds estimated recoverable reserves of 16.5 million barrels of oil equivalent and will be developed with a new subsea template that will be connected to existing infrastructure in the area.

Recovered gas will be re-injected into the reservoir in order to maintain pressure as oil is drained out of it. The field will be connected to the Åsgard A FPSO installation.

Astrid Helga Jørgenvåg, Statoil's asset owner for Åsgard, commented in a company statement:

"We've matured a profitable project out of a discovery from 1985. Experience from Åsgard operations, existing infrastructure and a bit of patience have contributed to an investment decision for this project.

"In addition we will consider the use of a new well technology that will increase the recovery from this type of reservoir. Smørbukk South Extension is a strategically important project that emphasizes our ambitions to increase recovery from mature areas."

The extension project will use standard equipment, and Statoil has already made investments to minimize the time from project sanction to production start-up, the firm said.

Statoil will now award several contracts for the development, it added.

Drilling operations are planned to begin in early 2015, with production start-up planned for September 2015. Total investments for the project are estimated to be around $595 million.

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Shell Gets Go-Ahead for Norwegian Well

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted A/S Norske Shell a drilling permit for well 6406/9-3, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.

Well 6406/9-3 will be drilled from the drilling facility Transocean Barents (UDW semisub) in position 64 degrees 25'15.97" north and 6 degrees 58'42.79" east following completion of drilling of wildcat well 7218/11-1 for Repsol Exploration Norge AS in production license 531.

The drilling program for well 6406/9-3 concerns drilling of a wildcat well in production license 255. A/S Norske Shell is the operator with an ownership interest of 30 percent. The other licensees are Petoro AS with 30 percent, Statoil Petroleum AS with 20 percent and Total E&P Norge AS with 20 percent.

The area in this license consists of parts of blocks 6406/5, 6406/6 and 6406/9. The well will be drilled about 4 miles (7 kilometers) southeast of 6406/9-1 Linnorm.

Production license 255 was awarded May 12, 2000 in the 16th licensing round on the Norwegian shelf. This is the sixth well to be drilled in this license.

The permit is contingent upon the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities before commencing drilling activities.

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Israel Gives Go-Ahead to Drilling on Golan Heights

JERUSALEM - Israel said Thursday that it has awarded the first license to drill for oil in the disputed Golan Heights to a local subsidiary of U.S.-listed explorer Genie Energy Ltd.

Genie Israel Oil and Gas Ltd. has been granted exclusive rights to drill in an area of about 397 square kilometers, or about one-third of the Golan Heights total area, the Energy Ministry said.

In recent months, there have been several incidents of artillery fire from the civil war in Syria spilling into the Golan region, which has been an internationally patrolled demilitarized zone since the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Israel first occupied Golan during the 1967 six-day war, and annexed it in 1981. The U.S. government has previously called on Israel to rescind the latter move, saying it has "no validity" and is "a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the region."

A spokesman for Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau declined to comment on how the political situation in Syria, or what many consider the occupied nature of the Golan Heights, could affect the project. The U.S. State Department didn't immediately offer comment.

"I can tell you that the process [for granting the license] was all professional and was made by the oil and gas council in the office," the Israeli spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Genie said in a statement that preliminary tests show that the newly-licensed area likely contains "significant quantities of conventional oil and gas in relatively tight formations, the development of which would entail significantly different technical approaches and project time lines than other projects."

Significant quantities of natural gas have been found in recent years off Israel's coast, including at the giant Leviathan field, potentially setting up Israel as an exporter of energy.

The news wasn't enough to lift the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which was trading negatively Thursday.

Newark, N.J.-based Genie is also working on developing two oil shale projects, one in California and one in Israel, near Jerusalem.

Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney sits on the advisory board of Genie Oil and Gas, as does Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., parent company of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Israel Gives Go-Ahead to Drilling on Golan Heights

JERUSALEM - Israel said Thursday that it has awarded the first license to drill for oil in the disputed Golan Heights to a local subsidiary of U.S.-listed explorer Genie Energy Ltd.

Genie Israel Oil and Gas Ltd. has been granted exclusive rights to drill in an area of about 397 square kilometers, or about one-third of the Golan Heights total area, the Energy Ministry said.

In recent months, there have been several incidents of artillery fire from the civil war in Syria spilling into the Golan region, which has been an internationally patrolled demilitarized zone since the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Israel first occupied Golan during the 1967 six-day war, and annexed it in 1981. The U.S. government has previously called on Israel to rescind the latter move, saying it has "no validity" and is "a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the region."

A spokesman for Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau declined to comment on how the political situation in Syria, or what many consider the occupied nature of the Golan Heights, could affect the project. The U.S. State Department didn't immediately offer comment.

"I can tell you that the process [for granting the license] was all professional and was made by the oil and gas council in the office," the Israeli spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Genie said in a statement that preliminary tests show that the newly-licensed area likely contains "significant quantities of conventional oil and gas in relatively tight formations, the development of which would entail significantly different technical approaches and project time lines than other projects."

Significant quantities of natural gas have been found in recent years off Israel's coast, including at the giant Leviathan field, potentially setting up Israel as an exporter of energy.

The news wasn't enough to lift the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which was trading negatively Thursday.

Newark, N.J.-based Genie is also working on developing two oil shale projects, one in California and one in Israel, near Jerusalem.

Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney sits on the advisory board of Genie Oil and Gas, as does Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., parent company of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Sound to Hear of Nervesa Go-Ahead Soon

Italy-focused Sound Oil announced Tuesday that it has successfully concluded the 'Conferenza Servizi' process for its Nervesa appraisal well, onshore northern Italy.

The process is the final step needed for the Ministry of Economic Development and various governmental bodies to approve the drilling of the well. Written authorization approving the appraisal well will now be issued and Sound expects to receive this before the end of January.

Sound also confirmed that preparation of the Nervesa well site has now begun.

Sound Oil CEO James Parsons commented in a statement:

"Nervesa is a 21 billion standard cubic feet gas discovery which was discovered by ENI in 1985 and was put into production for several years. The discovery has an independent assessed base case value of circa $60 million and is a flagship project for the company.

"I am pleased to report that preparatory operations on site have commenced which will accelerate spud of the well once the Autorizzazione is issued. We still expect to receive the written Autorizzazione during January."

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