E&P Notes (April 2019)
Authors: Jacobs Trent , Zborowski Matt , Whitfield Stephen , Rassenfoss Stephen 
Published: March 2019

E&P Notes

CNOOC’s “Major Find” In North Sea Is Biggest In 11 Years

Trent Jacobs, JPT Digital Editor

The Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) discovered a gas and condensate reservoir at the state-owned company’s Glengorm prospect in the UK North Sea. The resource, located 118 miles east of Aberdeen, is estimated to hold close to 250 million bbl BOE.

CNOOC tapped the reservoir in a water depth of 282 ft with a jackup rig. Total depth of the exploration well was just over 16,500 ft and gas and condensate pay zones were found with a thickness of 123 ft. The company had previously tried and failed to drill two prospect wells in 2017.

Xie Yuhong, executive vice president of CNOOC, said the “Glengorm discovery demonstrates the great exploration potential” for the offshore block and that the company is “looking forward to further appraisal.” CNOOC is the operator of the field with a 50% interest. French supermajor Total owns a 25% stake in the field and Euroil holds the remaining 25%.

 

Chesapeake Teams with Analytics Firm to Improve Asset Performance 

Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer

Chesapeake Energy is partnering with RS Energy Group to improve operational efficiency and capital discipline by employing advanced analytics and machine learning.

RS Energy is a Calgary-based energy research firm founded in 1998 covering more than 150 operators in the major North American and international oil and gas regions, including the US shale plays. It provides technical analysis of basins, including completions and production, as well as asset evaluations for operators considering acreage additions. All of this is done within the context of shifting capital markets. 

Chesapeake announced the pact fresh off its $4-billion merger with WildHorse Resource Development, which bolstered its position in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. The Oklahoma City-based independent has overhauled its portfolio in recent years and now is focused on just a few major US basins, increasing its companywide share of oil production, and reducing debt.

 

Noble Energy Touts Output Gains, Potential from “Row Development” Concept

Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer

“Row development” is in full swing on Noble Energy’s operated acreage in Colorado’s DJ Basin, and now the company is beginning to apply the approach to its Delaware Basin acreage in West Texas.

The first completed row in Noble’s 75,000-acre Mustang project in the DJ Basin produced 26,000 BOE/D, of which 60% was oil, during fourth quarter 2018, the independent reported in its year-end earnings call. The row consists of 31 wells.

“We expect that momentum to continue into 2019,” said Brent Smolik, Noble president and chief operating officer. Bolstered in part by row development, the firm’s overall DJ oil and gas output increased 10% during the quarter and 15% for the year.

 

EIA Adds New Plays to Shale Gas, Tight Oil Reports

Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has added new play production data to its shale gas and tight oil reports. Last December, US shale and tight plays produced approximately 65 Bcf/D of natural gas and 7 million B/D of crude oil, accounting for 70% and 60% of US production in those areas, respectively. These totals represent a significant jump in the last 10 years: shale gas and tight oil accounted for 16% of total US gas production and approximately 12% of US total crude oil production, according to EIA statistics.

EIA updated its production volume estimates to include seven additional shale gas and tight oil plays, increasing the share of shale gas by 9% and tight oil by 8% compared with previously estimated shale production volumes. The change captures increasing production from new, emerging plays as well as from older plays that had previously been in decline, but are now rebounding because of advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

 

Devon Pulls Up Its Roots, Goes All In on US Oil

Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor

Devon Energy will be shedding its holdings in the Barnett and the Canadian oil sands as part of a program to shrink the company to focus on four US unconventional oil plays.

The program announced along with earnings is the last step in a series of asset sales to create a “New Devon,” which also promises to reduce annual costs by $780 million by 2021, with most of that done by the end of this year.

The “sustainable cost reductions” will target expenses in field operations, drilling, and completions. It did not specifically mention job reductions, but the list of cost-saving steps includes “better aligning personnel with the go-forward business.”

 

Brazil’s Lula Field a Step Closer to Producing 1 Million B/D

Petrobras, alongside partners Shell and Galp, has launched production from the seventh Lula field floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, bringing the consortium a step closer to reaching 1 million B/D of oil from the prolific Lula hub offshore Brazil.

Hydrocarbons are flowing to the P-67 FPSO as part of the Lula North deepwater project in the pre-salt Santos Basin. The vessel, which has a capacity of 150,000 B/D of oil and 6 million cu m/day of natural gas, sits in 2130 m of water on the BM-S-11 concession 260 km off Rio de Janeiro state.

P-67 will be connected to nine production wells and multiple injection wells. Oil will be offloaded to lifting vessels and gas will be sent through pre-salt gas pipelines.