Oil Explorers Update on Thailand Assets
US-based Coastal Energy Company updates progress on Thailand rig location and pilot offshore facturing program. The Atwood Manta has arrived on location at the Bua Ban North B field and is currently rigging up. The Company plans to drill eight development and appraisal wells at Bua Ban North with the Manta. Following completion of these eight wells, the Company plans to mobilize the Manta to the KBM cluster offshore Malaysia in early Q213 to begin appraisal drilling there. The Company has recently tested hydraulic fracturing ("fraccing") with a three stage fracturing program in the Lower Oligocene in the Bua Ban South A-01 well. All three zones which were fracced have flowed back oil naturally during cleanup.
US-based Coastal Energy to Place Second Offshore Thailand Rig
Coastal Energy Company, an independent exploration and production company with assets in Thailand, issues 2013 guidance. • The Company expects operating expenses to average approximately $19.00 per bbl offshore Thailand, well below 2012 levels as the Company realizes a full year of facilities purchases for its Thailand operations. • The Company expects total company production to average 33,000 boepd (net to Coastal) for the full year. This estimate includes 27,000 bopd from offshore Thailand, 2,300 boepd onshore Thailand and net production from Malaysia averaging 3,700 bopd (Production expected to begin in early Q3). • Total capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $315MM, down from the estimated $360MM in 2012.
S. Korea Refiner Steps Up Single Hull Ban
South Korea's GS Caltex will reportedly ban crude shipments on single-hulled oil tankers from next year, according to a Reuters report, well ahead of international laws that timetable their phase out. The move is significant in Asia, particularly if others follow suit. Pending the actions of others, the move could have a ripple effect on the shipbuilding industry and the need for double hull tankers. The industry is currently in the midst of a record orderbook, with much shipbuilding capacity booked through 2011.
South Korea Protests Fishing Vessel Ban
South Korea said on Wednesday it would lodge a formal protest to Japan against its decision to ban South Korean vessels from fishing in Japanese territorial waters. On Tuesday, Japan notified South Korea that it would bar South Korean fishing boats from its Exclusive Economic Zone in northern Japan in retaliation against a fishing agreement signed between South Korea and Russia last year. Under the agreement, Russia allowed 26 South Korean vessels to fish in the waters around the Kuril Islands. The islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, were seized by Moscow at the end of World War II, and the dispute over ownership is a diplomatic sore point between Russia and Japan.
