Atwater Valley News

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company (TGS) and Schlumberger today announced a new multi- and wide-azimuth (M-WAZ) multiclient reimaging program in the highly prospective Central U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Final results are expected in early 2018, ahead of a period when substantial block turnover in the area is anticipated. The new Fusion M-WAZ reimaging program comprises data covering more than 1,000 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) blocks (~23,000 km2) from 3D WAZ programs previously acquired by TGS and Schlumberger with the WesternGeco Q-Marine* point-receiver marine seismic system between 2008 and 2012. This large reimaging program will process data from the Mississippi Canyon…

TGS and Schlumberger today announce commencement of the Dual Coil Shooting* multi-vessel full-azimuth acquisition Revolution XII and XIII surveys in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The surveys will cover approximately 7,150 km2 (306 blocks) in the Green Canyon, Atwater Valley and Ewing Bank protraction areas of the Central Gulf of Mexico. The Revolution XIl and XIII surveys will be acquired using the Schlumberger WesternGeco Q-Marine* point-receiver marine seismic system combined with the proprietary multivessel, Dual Coil Shooting acquisition technique, which will provide broadband, long-offset, full-azimuth data. This combination of leading-edge technology and technique will improve illumination and imaging of the sub-salt and other complex geologic features in this highly active region.

The Neptune TLP, which is located approximately 120 miles off the Louisiana coastline, was scheduled to start up first oil and natural gas production by the end of March and the company is currently assessing all the options in order to re-commence start up activities. The schedule for first production will be updated. BHP Billiton is designated operator of the field with a 35 per cent interest. Partners include Marathon Oil Company (30 per cent), Woodside Energy (USA) Inc. (20 per cent), a subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum Ltd., and Maxus (U.S.) Exploration Company (15 per cent). Neptune is a single-column TLP and was installed in 4,250 feet (1,300 meters) of water on Green Canyon Block 613.

The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) has disbursed $65 million to six coastal states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. This is the fourteenth installment in a series of annual payments based on 1985 settlement legislation regarding the allocation of royalties, rents and bonuses from certain federal offshore oil and gas leases. The 1978 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act Amendments provided for certain coastal states and the federal government to share revenues earned from OCS leases, generally, three to six miles beyond a state's coastal boundary. This area, known as the 8(g) zone, is named after the enabling paragraph of that legislation.

Technip has been awarded by Mariner Energy, Inc. a contract for an electrohydraulic control umbilical for the Bass Lite field development in the Gulf of Mexico. This contract follows the pipeline contract awarded to Technip in 2006 for the same field. This new contract includes engineering and installation of three steel umbilical sections, approximately 19 miles long each, and installation of the hydraulic, electrical and optical connecting lines for the control of the subsea system. The umbilical and the associated connecting lines will tie-back the two Bass Lite subsea wells, at a water depth of 6,750 feet in Atwater Valley 426, to the Devils Tower Spar moored in 5,600 ft. of water. Technip’s operations and engineering center in Houston (Texas) will execute the contract.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), deepwater drilling (1,000 ft. and deeper) shows the greatest potential of development, and certainly has garnered the attention (as well as the E&P dollars) of offshore oil production industry leaders. By yearend 2003, the MMS estimates as much as 63 percent of the oil production and 29 percent of the daily gas production will come from deepwater reserves. In August of 1998 there were 30 (temporary and permanent) deepwater rigs drilling simultaneously in the Gulf of Mexico's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), at depths greater than this. The proliferation of deepwater development projects will likely continue to grow…