Transocean rig leaving Gulf of Mexico for Egypt

Transocean rig leaving Gulf of Mexico for Egypt

Another Transocean Ltd rig is leaving the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, still under contract with Statoil -- the fourth rig departure resulting from a moratorium on U.S. deepwater drilling.

The world's largest offshore drilling contractor said the Discoverer Americas would leave next week, becoming its second rig to depart the region since the disaster in April that destroyed the company's Deepwater Horizon.

An explosion on that rig, under contract with BP Plc, led to an environmental disaster and a U.S. moratorium on deepwater drilling, which the Interior Department said on Tuesday was unlikely to last beyond November 30.

Analysts have said they do not expect many more rigs to depart the region, so long as the moratorium expires on time.

Norway's Statoil will pay $486,000 a day for the Discoverer Americas in Egypt, or $4,000 more than before, when the new five-month contract starts in October. The rig is then due back in the Gulf of Mexico next March at the same rate, under a contract running until November 2013.

In July, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc agreed with Devon Energy Corp to move a Gulf of Mexico rig to Egypt with a new operator, followed by Murphy Oil Corp moving a Diamond rig to the Republic of Congo until it can meet the Gulf of Mexico regulatory requirements and return.

Transocean said earlier this month that its Marianas rig was heading out of the Gulf of Mexico with Italy's Eni, bound for West Africa.

Before the moves, there were 30 deepwater rigs contracted for the Gulf of Mexico this year, including others owned by Noble Corp, Ensco Plc and Seadrill.

Transocean also said in its fleet report that it pulled two of its shallow-water rigs off the market due to lack of demand, leaving only 35 of its 65 jackups under contract.

The GSF Labrador, in the UK North Sea, had earned $90,000 a day before its contract ran out in July, while the Roger W. Mowell had a dayrate of $150,000 in Malaysia up until August.

Shares of Transocean, which have lost more than a third of their value since the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion, fell 20 cents to $58.15 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Kuwait Energy drills deep in Western Desert

Kuwait Energy drills deep in Western Desert

Eng. Osama Farouq, the Vice President for Exploration & Development in Kuwait Energy Egypt Company, told Egypt Oil & Gas newspaper in exclusive statements that his company succeeded to win the approval of EGPC to drill 4 expletory wells in the Abu Sinan concession in the Western Desert, after extracting the needed permits.

The total cost of drilling the four wells $6million, as the company conducted a market survey to rent a rig of 2000hp due to time constraint, as it must carry out a tender to do that.

Al Anbaa, the Kuwaiti newspaper, recently announced that the company said it considered the previous exploration in that area as the biggest of its kind.

Egypt Oil & gas newspaper also learned that Kuwait Energy drills the deepest wells in the Western Desert area, as the depth reaches 18, 400 feet. The first test will be conducted next week with a cost of $7million using SHENGLI BOHAI’s rig, which has a capacity of 2000hp.

Al Anbaa newspaper also referred to Kuwait Energy’s announcements that this exploration contains high oil and gas reserves with lofty commercial importance and a promising develop in the oil production. Besides, it will positively reflect on the growth of revenue and the level of profitability. The newspaper also pointed out as well that the presence of two big Canadian and Australian companies in the same block.

The well was recently placed on the production line with a rate of 2500 barrels of oil per day; Kuwait Energy owns 700 barrels of it, located in Zahra area in Ras Qattara block.

It is worth mentioning that Kuwait Energy is a private company that was founded in 2005 as an independent entity for exploring and producing oil and natural gas in the Middle East and North Africa and considered one the most growing companies in the Middle East.

he Petroleum Ministry unites with GANOPE

he Petroleum Ministry unites with GANOPE

Sameh Fahmy, the Egyptian minister of petroleum, has signed three new agreements. EGPC teamed up with GANOPE to sign the contracts in the Western Desert area. The primal deal between EGPC and Apache and Dana Petroleum, located in East Beni Suef, to add more exploration sessions with commitments of minimum spend of $12.5million, to drill more wells, and a Signature Bonus of $ 6 million. Mr. Thomas Voytovich, VP Region of Apache, and Mr. Brian Twaddle, Dana Petroleum Country Manager, were there to sign the deal on behalf of their companies.

The later agreement is in Faiyum district, between EGPC and Merlon Petroleum Company to add more search sessions with commitments of minimum spend of $ 24 million to drill six new wells, and a Signature Bonus of $3million. Eng. Moustafa Shaarawy, Merlon country manager, was there to sign the contract.

The final agreement was for GANOPE, which will drill for the first time in its history, in the area of Gilf Al-Kebir Al-Awinat in south west the Western Desert, with commitments of minimum spend of $8million including 2D seismic survey and to drill two new expletory wells. Eng. Sherif Ismail, CEO of Ganope, was there to sign the agreement.

Sureclean initiates its Egyptian base

Sureclean initiates its Egyptian base

Sureclean, the international industrial cleaning and waste management firm, has announced expansion into the North Africa and Middle East region with the launch of a new base in Egypt to serve the Egyptian oil & gas industry.

Within days of the Sureclean facilities opening in Egypt, projects with major drilling contractors were secured for offshore cleaning and water-jetting services. Moreover, more than $2million has been invested in equipment for the region to ensure that the firm continues offering the same high levels of service to clients wherever in the world they operate.

“North Africa and the Middle East has emerged as an important growth market for Sureclean,” Paul McAlister, Sureclean business development director, said.

“Our presence in Alexandria and Cairo will ensure we have resources in place to meet the needs of the market. Winning our first contracts so quickly is a clear indication of the high demand there is for our services,’’ McAlister added.

He added: “Sureclean is about offering intelligent and environmentally-sensitive proven solutions. We are committed to investing in innovative technology and have established an unrivalled fleet of specialist equipment.”

To spearhead expansion in the region, Sureclean appointed Richard McDonald as Business Development Manager North Africa - a role that has also expanded to encompass the Middle East.

Mr McDonald said: “Following an intensive market due diligence process, on evaluation of the business and market challenges, Egypt was identified as the location for Sureclean to service the North Africa and Middle East territories, Establishing the regional base means we now have a multi-skilled team and innovative, high-specification equipment close to a range of existing and new customers. Most importantly we are winning orders and have a significant portfolio of pipeline business under negotiation.’’

In addition, Sureclean has formed a strategic alliance agreement with TIPCO who has operations in both North Africa and the Middle East.

Sureclean specialises in High Pressure (HP) and Ultra High Pressure (UHP) water jetting and its associated applications, tank and vessel cleaning, vacuum transfer and pumping, coating application, asbestos management, and waste handling and treatment solutions. Sureclean’s jetting technology can be used for a range of diverse applications including NORM decontamination, de-scaling, surface preparation, cold cutting and high pressure pumping operations both on and offshore.

Sea Dragon provides an operational update on Egypt‎

Sea Dragon Energy Inc. provided the following update on its operations in Egypt in both NW Gemsa and Kom Ombo concessions.

NW Gemsa Concession

The Al Ola X-1 well spud on July 15th has now reached its total depth at 14,323 feet in the Nukhul Formation. The newly drilled section in the Rudeis Formation was logged and the well will now be cased to total depth. The Lower Rudeis Formation, where strong gas shows were encountered, is now being analyzed with the view of being tested prior to completing the well in the Kareem Formation. The Shagar and Rahmi members of the Kareem Formation were successfully encountered with 6 ft and 19 ft of oil pay respectively. No oil water contact was seen in this well and once tested and placed on production, it will result in extending the Al Amir SE development lease to the south of the existing boundary with the potential of significantly increasing the field reserves.

Production from the Al Amir, Al Amir SE and Geyad fields in the NW Gemsa Concession is holding steady at 9000-9500 bopd. Water flooding operations are now planned for the Al Amir SE and Geyad fields to provide pressure support and significant production increases. Cumulative production from the concession has now reached 3.3 million barrels of 41 degree API oil.

Sea Dragon has a 10% working interest in the NW Gemsa Concession with Vegas Oil at 50% as operator and Circle Oil Plc. with 40%.

Kom Ombo Concession

The Al Baraka SE step out well was spud on September 15th. The well is located some 4 km southwest of the Al Baraka No. 9 well and is intended to delineate the edge of the Al Baraka field. The well is scheduled to reach a total depth of approximately 8500 ft and will test all sands including the Kom Ombo Formation. Additional development wells and possibly an exploration well will be drilled following the completion of this step out well.

The completion/work-over rig, ECDC Rig 5 will soon commence completion operations on the Al Barak No. 9 well following its inspection and acceptance by the operator.

The Al Baraka field is now producing some 600-700 bopd gross. With the imminent arrival of the completion/work-over rig, production rates should soon begin to rise towards an expected year end exit target of some 2000 bopd.

Sea Dragon has a 50% working interest in Jointly Operated Kom Ombo Block with Dana Gas Egypt owning the remaining 50%.

Sea Dragon also announces the resignation of Mr. David Thompson as Director and Officer of the corporation for personal reasons. The company and staff wish to thank David for his significant contributions to our success over the past few years.

Commenting on these latest developments on our operations in Egypt, Company Chairman and CEO Mr. Said Arrata stated "We are quite encouraged by the continued success of the development drilling campaign in NW Gemsa and the anticipated rise in production and reserves from the planned waterflooding operations. The commencement of our completion and work over program in Al Baraka field should also result in a gradual increase in field oil production towards year end. I would also like to thank David on behalf of the Board of Directors for his guidance and wise counsel and wish him the best in his future endeavors".