DNO Signs Somaliland PSC

Norway's DNO International reported Tuesday that it has signed a production sharing contract covering Block SL18 onshore Somaliland.

The firm said that President of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo and DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani both attended the signing ceremony Monday in Washington D.C.

DNO has begun studies on Block SL18 ahead of an extensive seismic data acquisition program planned for 2014.

"This 12,000 square kilometer block adds substantial exploration acreage to DNO
International's portfolio and in an area that is both prospective and
undrilled," Mossavar-Rahmani said. 

He added that Somaliland falls within the company's geographic and geological comfort zones. "We have been active across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen since the late 1990s," he said.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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DNO Signs Somaliland PSC

Norway's DNO International reported Tuesday that it has signed a production sharing contract covering Block SL18 onshore Somaliland.

The firm said that President of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo and DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani both attended the signing ceremony Monday in Washington D.C.

DNO has begun studies on Block SL18 ahead of an extensive seismic data acquisition program planned for 2014.

"This 12,000 square kilometer block adds substantial exploration acreage to DNO
International's portfolio and in an area that is both prospective and
undrilled," Mossavar-Rahmani said. 

He added that Somaliland falls within the company's geographic and geological comfort zones. "We have been active across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen since the late 1990s," he said.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Union Drilling Signs Multi-Year Contracts For Two New Rigs

Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 at 11:23 pm

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Union Drilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: UDRL) has entered into contracts to purchase two new drilling rigs based upon executed three-year contracts with a long-standing customer. The 1,500 horsepower AC electric drilling rigs, designed for pad drilling and efficient rig moves, have an aggregate cost of approximately $35 million. Upon completion, which is expected in the first quarter of 2012, the rigs will be deployed to Arkansas for work in the Fayetteville Shale.

Christopher D. Strong, Union Drilling’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “This type of investment is exactly what we had in mind when we entered into an expanded revolving credit facility earlier this year. These two new rigs represent an excellent opportunity to generate attractive returns for our shareholders while expanding our relationship with a key customer.”

Since January 2011, the Company has added two 1,000 horsepower rigs to its fleet and two more 1,000 horsepower rigs are expected to be completed for operations in the Marcellus Shale by the end of 2011.

About Union Drilling

Union Drilling, Inc., headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, provides contract land drilling services and equipment to oil and natural gas producers in the United States. Union Drilling currently owns and markets 71 rigs and specializes in unconventional drilling techniques.

Statements we make in this press release that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those which are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “should” or similar words. These matters include statements concerning management’s plans and objectives relating to our operations or economic performance and related assumptions, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, the continued strength or weakness of the contract land drilling industry in the geographic areas in which we operate, decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas companies, the highly competitive nature of our business, our future financial performance, including availability, terms and deployment of capital, the continued availability of qualified personnel, and changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations, including those relating to workplace safety and the environment. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Further, we specifically disclaim any duty to update any of the information set forth in this press release, including any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and, therefore, involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors described in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

UDRL-G

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Total Signs Up for Cyprus Exploration

NICOSIA - Cyprus on Wednesday signed an agreement with French energy major Total S.A. to conduct exploratory drilling for gas and oil in two blocks off its southern shore.

The deal comes as Cyprus aspires to become a regional energy hub with the prospect of oil as well as natural gas being tapped beneath the sea bed.

"With today's act the government has completed one of the most crucial aims in its energy policy, that of successfully conducting a second round of licensing," Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis told reporters after the signing ceremony.

Total signed a deal to exploit blocks 10 and 11 that are adjacent to a large natural gas find in block 12 and said it seeks to proceed in drilling for oil as well as gas reserves in the said blocks.

Turkey has protested strongly against Nicosia's energy search, branding it illegal and beginning its own exploratory drilling off the breakaway north of the island.

Ankara has warned that companies involved in the Cyprus process could be shut out of Turkey's energy investment.

Mr. Sylikiotis said that having countries such as France, America and Italy involved in the island's hydrocarbon exploration acted as a "political shield" against Turkish threats.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at union with Greece.

It is estimated that there could be around 60 trillion cubic feet of gas lying in the 13 blocks that make up Cyprus's 51,000 square kilometer exclusive economic zone.

Some analysts believe Cyprus is sitting on potential energy revenues of EUR600 billion.

Cyprus is banking on its energy bonanza to eventually rescue it from recession as it seeks a European Union bailout.

Last month, Cyprus signed licence agreements with Italy's ENI and South Korea's Kogas for exploratory drilling aimed at exploiting offshore oil and gas deposits.

In October, drilling permits subject to negotiation were approved for blocks 2, 3, 9 and 11 of Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone, and in December block 10 was added to the list.

An Italian-South Korean partnership signed a deal worth EUR150 million ($200 million) for permits to explore blocks 2, 3 and 9.

U.S. firm Noble Energy Inc. was the first to drill when awarded Block 12, and in December 2011 said it had discovered gas reserves of up to 8 trillion cubic feet (226.5 billion cubic metres), with an estimated value of EUR100 billion.

This would satisfy domestic needs for decades and could enable Cyprus to become a regional player by exporting gas to Europe from 2019.

It plans to bring gas onshore in 2018 and build a liquefied natural gas plant.

In the long term, Cyprus estimates it can supply up to 10% of the EU's energy demand, making the bloc less dependent on Russia. 

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

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Union Drilling Signs Multi-Year Contracts For Two New Rigs

Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 at 11:23 pm

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Union Drilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: UDRL) has entered into contracts to purchase two new drilling rigs based upon executed three-year contracts with a long-standing customer. The 1,500 horsepower AC electric drilling rigs, designed for pad drilling and efficient rig moves, have an aggregate cost of approximately $35 million. Upon completion, which is expected in the first quarter of 2012, the rigs will be deployed to Arkansas for work in the Fayetteville Shale.

Christopher D. Strong, Union Drilling’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “This type of investment is exactly what we had in mind when we entered into an expanded revolving credit facility earlier this year. These two new rigs represent an excellent opportunity to generate attractive returns for our shareholders while expanding our relationship with a key customer.”

Since January 2011, the Company has added two 1,000 horsepower rigs to its fleet and two more 1,000 horsepower rigs are expected to be completed for operations in the Marcellus Shale by the end of 2011.

About Union Drilling

Union Drilling, Inc., headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, provides contract land drilling services and equipment to oil and natural gas producers in the United States. Union Drilling currently owns and markets 71 rigs and specializes in unconventional drilling techniques.

Statements we make in this press release that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those which are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “should” or similar words. These matters include statements concerning management’s plans and objectives relating to our operations or economic performance and related assumptions, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, the continued strength or weakness of the contract land drilling industry in the geographic areas in which we operate, decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas companies, the highly competitive nature of our business, our future financial performance, including availability, terms and deployment of capital, the continued availability of qualified personnel, and changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations, including those relating to workplace safety and the environment. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Further, we specifically disclaim any duty to update any of the information set forth in this press release, including any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and, therefore, involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors described in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

UDRL-G

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Monday's mining news: Anglo Asian signs Glencore contract

Anglo Asian Mining was buoyed by a new copper sales contract with Glencore International, while Aurum Mining announced encouraging drilling results.

Anglo Asian signs Glencore sales agreement

Shares in Anglo Asian Mining (AAZ) gained 4.5% on the news that it has signed a contract with Glencore International (GLEN) for the sale of 2,500 wet metric tonnes (WMT) and 550 dry metric tonnes of copper concentrate, when available, from its Gedabek gold/copper/silver mine in Azerbaijan.

Under the terms of the sales agreement, which is due to commence before the end of the current year, Glencore will purchase 250 WMT per month of copper concentrate product.

There is also an option for Anglo Asian to stop selling copper concentrate product to Glencore after 1,500 WMT has been sold.

Further positive results for Aurum and Ormonde

Aurum Mining (AUR) and Ormonde Mining (ORM) have reported further encouraging results from a trenching programme at their joint venture, the Cabeza de Caballo Gold Prospect in Spain.

Results received from samples collected in the latest two trenches excavated on an extensive gold-in-soil anomaly have encountered gold mineralisation over wide zones of good grade. The results came from two trenches and followed initial results that encountered similar gold mineralisation.

Trench CABTR004 encountered two main zones of veining and mineralisation of 19 metres and 30 metres width. The best interval within the two mineralised zones included four metres at 8.17 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, and one metre at 14 g/t.

If zero gold grade is assigned to the intervals that were not sampled in this zone, then this gives an average grade of 0.97 g/t over the 30 metres.

Trench CABTR006, located approximately 90 metres south of the first, returned 21 metres grading at 3.71 g/t from a similar zone of quartz-sulphide veining.

These trenches are located on a gold-in-soil anomaly, which has a strike length of 800 metres.

Shares in Ormonde gained 7.8% on Monday morning, while Aurum moved up 3%.

Stellar Diamonds ups Droujba resource

Stellar Diamonds (STEL) has increased the resource estimate at its Droujba Kimberlite Project, Guinea.

A 475-metre long section of Katcha dyke has added a further 446,500 carats to the resource, increasing the total Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource increased to 2.9 million carats.

Katcha remains open with an estimated strike length of five kilometres based on field mapping. An economic scoping study is planned for the first quarter of 2013.

Despite the upgrade, shares in the firm lost 4.5% on Monday morning.

Afferro unveils testing results

Afferro Mining (AFF) has released the results from the direct shipping ore bulk metallurgical testing conducted on material from the Nkout project in Cameroon.

Over five tonnes of potential ore material was tested from 12 representative holes across the Nkout deposit, with the fines product achieved with a 63.4% iron grade and low-deleterious materials, using simple attrition scrubbing.

Low-cost crushing was implied, due to the soft, incompetent rock with a very low bond work index of 2,600 kilowatt hours per tonne.

Saprolite and magnetite bulk metallurgical testing is expected to be delivered in January 2013.

Amur drilling doubles mineralisation length

Amur Minerals (AMC) has doubled the strike length of mineralisation at its Maly Kurumkon nickel-copper sulphide project in Russia as a result of its 2012 drilling programme.

A total of 4,149 metres of drilling in 23 holes were completed in a 1.5 kilometre-long area immediately east of Maly Kurumkon. Results confirmed the mineralisation extends eastward along strike for a total of two kilometres, doubling the previous drill-defined length within the 2007 pre-feasibility study.

Historical and 2012 drill results indicated that that mineralisation at Maly Kurumkon remains open along strike in both directions and at depth, providing the company with the potential to further increase the resource at this deposit.

Red Rock raises

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TV anchor Libby Weaver signs off KDVR, for good

Libby Weaver had been at KDVR since 2000.

Half of Denver's longest-lasting TV anchor team signed off Thursday, as Libby Weaver ended her tenure at KDVR and, most likely, in broadcasting. Her co-anchor, Ron Zappolo, is preparing to exit the anchor chair in March, although he'll remain at the station, shifting his attention to sports.

Weaver and Zappolo, an on-air team since the station's news department launched in 2000, clicked from the beginning and have been trading easy ad-libs ever since. (When they've verged on too cute, there has always been BBC World News on Channel 6 for balance.)

Weaver has said she's not retiring, just seeking a change. Would the station have extended her contract? It never got that far.

"It was her decision," Fox31 news director Ed Ostrow's Off the Record Blog

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