Cairn Energy News

Design, engineering and risk management consultancy BMT announced it has appointed Ian Tyler as chairman of BMT Group Ltd. Tyler joined the board on May 1 and will assume the role of Chairman in early June. Tyler has a wealth of experience with listed public companies, in both executive and nonexecutive director capacities. His business leadership experience spans multiple sectors including energy, infrastructure, technology, defense and engineering. He is the former CEO of Balfour Beatty plc and brings board experience across companies including Cairn Energy…

TDI-Brooks’ newest vessel R/V Miss Emma McCall has recently completed its first projects for the U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company on behalf of Total and Cairn Energy offshore Mexico. TDI-Brooks has the vessel on a long-term bare-boat charter from Cameron Offshore Boats.The 2003-built Miss Emma is a multi-use oceanographic research vessel outfitted for a wide variety of oceanographic research duties for operations in the Northern/Southern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), U.S. East Coast and elsewhere in the Americas.

BW Offshore has signed an agreement with Petrorio for a one-year extension for the lease and operation of the FPSO Polvo. The firm period has been extended to Q3 2019 (from Q3 2018), with options until Q3 2022. The company has also announced that BW Catcher FPSO received the First Oil Certificate following the successful completion of the 72-hour interim performance test subsequent to the introduction of hydrocarbons on 23rd December 2017. BW Catcher FPSO is owned and operated by BW Offshore and the First Oil Certificate confirms the commencement of a seven-year fixed term contract, with extension options of up to 18 years. The Catcher field partnership is made up of Premier Oil (50%), Cairn Energy (20%), MOL Group (20%) and Dyas (10%).

DONG Energy said it has reached a settlement with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Technip over who bears responsibility for construction errors concerning an offshore platform for the idled Hejre field. The settlement clears a major hurdle for the Danish company's plans to divest its oil and gas unit to focus on its growing business of developing offshore wind farms. DONG said in a statement that the agreement will reduce the 2.5 billion Danish crowns ($367 million) of provisions it made in relation to the Hejre field ahead of its listing, which was one of the largest in the world last year. It will also have a positive impact of around 900 million crowns on operating profit in DONG's Discontinued Operations…

Woodside completed the transaction to buy 100% of the shares in ConocoPhillips Senegal B.V. The total purchase price was US$350 million plus net customary adjustments of approximately US$90 million. Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the acquisition was an exciting addition to Woodside’s global growth portfolio. “We look forward to working with the Government of Senegal and joint venture participants Cairn Energy, FAR Limited, and Petrosen, the Senegal National Oil Company, to progress the commercial development of the SNE and FAN discoveries. “Woodside will bring to the joint venture expertise in deep water drilling, development and operation of subsea infrastructure and floating production storage and offloading vessels.

Cairn informed that the successful testing of the SNE-2 appraisal well offshore Senegal with positive results. Operations have been safely and successfully completed following drilling, coring, logging and drill-stem testing (DST). The well is now being plugged and abandoned. Following this first successful appraisal well, resource estimates for the SNE field will be fully revised and  announced after the results of the further appraisal activity. * DST over a 15m interval (~3.5m net) of relatively low quality “heterolithic” pay flowed at a maximum rate of ~1,000 bopd on a 24/64” choke, confirming that these reservoirs are able to produce at viable rates and thus make a material contribution to resource volumes.

Fugro’s dynamically positioned multi-purpose drilling, well intervention and geotechnical vessel, Fugro Synergy, will showcase her capabilities on a multi well intervention campaign which recently started in the Gulf of Mexico. The campaign involves utilization of a top tensioned 6 5/8” riser and coiled tubing, and fieldwork for the contract is being undertaken jointly by the Cross Group Inc and Fugro, to employ the MODU (mobile offshore drilling unit). The vessel was designed and built specifically for well intervention services…

Oil explorer Cairn Energy  has dropped plans to drill near Spanish holiday island Ibiza, the company said, as it wants to focus on developing potentially huge reserves offshore Senegal. Cairn was set to carry out seismic testing on four offshore blocks in the Gulf of Valencia but has now decided its money will be better spent in Senegal where it said its oilfields could hold more than a billion barrels of oil. "Cairn has informed the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce that it intends to withdraw from four exploration permits in the Gulf of Valencia," a spokesman said. The company will maintain other projects in Spain, including applications for new licences offshore the Gulf of Lion and the Bay of Biscay, he added.

Cairn has made a discovery of high quality oil in the second well in the Senegal exploration programme. The SNE-1 well is located in 1,100 metres (m) water depth and approximately 100 kilometres (km) offshore in the Sangomar Offshore block with a target depth of ~3,000 m and targeting the Shelf Edge Prospect. Intermediate logging of the SNE-1 well has confirmed hydrocarbons in the Cretaceous clastics objective which is of similar age to oil bearing sands found approximately 24 km away in FAN-1. As operator, Cairn has now issued Notices of Discovery for the SNE-1 well and FAN-1 well to the Government of Senegal on behalf of the Joint Venture. Further evaluation of this zone is continuing. The deeper target of karstified and fractured Lower Cretaceous shelf carbonates is yet to be reached.

Cairn together with its joint venture partners have announced that the FAN-1 exploration well, offshore Senegal, has discovered oil. The well, located in 1,427 metres (m) water depth and approximately 100 kilometres offshore in the Sangomar Deep block, has reached a Target Depth (TD) of 4,927 m and was targeting multiple stacked deepwater fans. As stated prior to the commencement of operations there are no plans for immediate well testing. Further evaluation will now be required to calibrate the well with the existing 3D seismic in order to determine future plans and optimal follow up locations to determine the extent of the discovered resource.

Cairn is pleased to announce that it has entered into a farm out agreement for the sale of a 10% interest in the Catcher development and adjacent acreage in the UK North Sea. With effect from 1 January 2014 Dyas UK Limited (Dyas) shall acquire 10% in each of the following UK Continental Shelf licences P1430, P2040, P2070, P2077 and P2086 by funding Cairn’s exploration and development costs in respect of the licences up to a cap of $182million (m). Following this transaction Cairn will retain a 20% interest in the Catcher licence and a reduced interest in each of the remaining licences as detailed below. As a result of this transaction…

Kongsberg Maritime Engineering (KME), the wholly owned Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) subsidiary of global maritime technology developer Kongsberg Maritime, will deliver an Integrated Control and Safety System for the new BW Offshore Catcher FPSO. The contract follows BW Offshore’s signing of a lease and operate contract with Premier Oil and its joint venture partners at the end of April 2014 for a FPSO to operate on the Catcher oil field in the U.K. North Sea. The field is owned by Premier Oil (50%, operator), Cairn Energy (30%) and MOL (20%). BW Offshore's scope includes the delivery of the FPSO, mooring system, installation and operation of the unit throughout the charter period.

GAC Sri Lanka has completed the movement of offshore drilling rig Hercules Triumph from the port of Trincomalee to India. The rig, owned by Hercules Offshore, Inc., is now safely anchored at Kakinada, ready to start drilling operations for CAIRN Energy at the RAVVA offshore oil field. GAC Sri Lanka, part of global shipping, logistics and marine services provider GAC Group, chartered three anchor-handling tug boats - SCI URJA, SCI Ahimsa and Mahaweli - to off-land the Hercules Triumph from heavy-lift vessel Target at Trincomalee Anchorage and worked in close liaison with the Harbor Master and port officials throughout the complex operation.

Logistics and marine services provider, GAC Sri Lanka, chartered three anchor-handling tug boats to off-land the 'Hercules Triumph' from heavy-lift vessel 'Target' at Trincomalee Anchorage, Sri Lanka, then  arranged further towage over 700 NM miles to Kakinada, Indai arriving 8 days later. The rig is ready to start drilling operations for CAIRN Energy at the RAVVA offshore oil field. As part of its task to oversee the entire project, GAC Sri Lanka was also responsible for domestic air transfers of Hercules Offshore officials to and from the site.

Mechanical engineering specialist, EnerMech, is to open its first office in India as a first step in developing a presence in the country’s fast expanding oil and gas sector. The Mumbai office, headed up by newly appointed Country Manager Steve Watson, will be followed with the opening of a workshop and storage facility in Kakindada, Andrah Pradesh region, by the end of 2012. EnerMech believes its Process, Pipeline and Umbilicals, Cranes and Lifting, Engineering and Valves Divisions can add value to exploration and contractor companies operating in the region.

Greenpeace maintains that what happens in the Arctic affects us all. Besides acting as a planetary air-conditioner, the region is a bellwether for the health of our climate and the global ecosystem. As the ice melts and is replaced by large patches of dark, open water, even more of the sun’s heat is absorbed and the melting increases. The Arctic is warming faster than any other place on Earth. Ice is disappearing at unprecedented levels and with it the habitat of species like the polar bear, while the way of life of the four million people who live above the Arctic Circle is changing forever. But rather than seeing this as a clear warning and spur to positive action…

Calecore’s Geophysical Site Investigation Division CALESURVEY completes 5 month Greenlandic Cruise. Kommandor Stuart, Calesurvey’s multi-role Site Investigation Survey Vessel, is now back in the North Sea after successfully completing an extensive programme of works offshore Greenland for Cairn Energy. The vessel mobilised in March in Calecore’s home port of Sunderland and has successfully completed a series of Geohazard, Bathymetric, Geochemical and Environmental Surveys. Operations…

Gulfstream Services International (Gulfstream), provider of cutting edge equipment to the international oil and gas industry, is launching a world-first fully-automated wireless cement head to the UK market at Offshore Europe today. Gulfstream Services International UK (Gulfstream UK) was set up in January 2010 in Aberdeen to serve the international oil and gas industry and growing demand from customers in UK, Norway, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Gulfstream UK’s turnover has grown to £2million due to its three product lines: Remote Actuated Cement Heads…

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), or the Company, a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk and petroleum cargoes, and through its majority owned subsidiary, Ocean Rig UDW Inc., of off-shore contract drilling oil services, today announced its unaudited financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. * On May 12, 2011, the Company was awarded contracts for the Ocean Rig Corcovado and the Ocean Rig Mykonos by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A (“Petrobras”) for drilling offshore Brazil.

According to a report from PennEnergy, on April 21, a group of 11 Greenpeace protesters climbed the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling rig  to stop its mobilization. The Leiv Eiriksson was slated to depart Turkish waters for a drilling campaign in the Baffin Bay offshore Greenland. Cairn Energy contracted the rig to perform exploration drilling in the Arctic waters offshore Greenland in an ongoing effort to establish the region as a new oil and gas province.   (Source: PennEnergy)

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) announced that its subsidiary Ocean Rig UDW Inc. has entered into firm contracts with Cairn Energy PLC for the Leiv Eiriksson and the Ocean Rig Corcovado for a period of approximately 6 months each. The total contract value including mobilization for the Leiv Eiriksson is approximately $95m. The mobilization period will start in direct continuation from the agreed release date from Petrobras. The total contract value including mobilization and winterization of the Ocean Rig Corcovado is approximately $142m. George Economou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DryShips commented:  " Following the signing of these contracts we are only left with one open drillship, the Ocean Rig Mykonos, that delivers in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Oil and gas firm Cairn Energy announced plans for further exploration and development drilling in Bangladesh's offshore gas field. Cairn Energy is currently operating Bangladesh's only offshore gas field at Sangu in the Bay of Bengal, off Chittagong port. In addition, Cairn is actively exploring in blocks 5 and 10, where new seismic data has been acquired, and is participating with Chevron in block 7, where a seismic campaign commenced recently. It has identified a new possible gas field at Char Jabbar under Noakhali district in block 10 with an indication of 2.8 tcf of gas reserves. Cairn also conducted seismic surveys at Meghnama and at Hatiya under the block 16. The possible gas reserve would be 3.5 tcf at Meghnama and 1.8 tcf at Hatiya, Reuters reported.