Cobalt International Energy News

As the severity of the offshore energy downturn has increased and the likelihood of older vessels returning to work begins to diminish, owners have slowly come round to the importance of scrapping these vessels. According to VesselsValue, U.S. owners might be leading the way.According to VesselsValue, an online valuation and market intelligence service for the maritime and offshore sectors, in this current period of downturn, critics of offshore shipowners will say that owners have been guilty of not scrapping older tonnage in order to maintain a young and advanced fleet.

The Chief Executive of offshore oil and gas driller Fieldwood Energy LLC, Matt McCarroll, says he is not scared of the hurricanes, geological risks and costs that keep some oil companies out of the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, he is doubling down. The private equity-backed company - already the largest operator on the U.S. outer continental shelf - announced on Thursday it is closing a $480 million acquisition of Noble Energy’s assets in the Gulf of Mexico that will add 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its current net production of 72,000 bpd of oil equivalent.

Angolan state oil company Sonangol said it would buy oil and gas producer Cobalt International Energy Inc's 40 percent stake in two oil blocks offshore Angola for $1.75 billion.   Cobalt operates three blocks covering 3.4 million acres off the Angolan coast.     (Reporting by Anannya Pramanick; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Chevron Corporation announced an oil discovery at the Anchor prospect in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Anchor is Chevron’s second discovery in the deepwater Gulf in less than a year. “The Anchor discovery, along with the previously announced Guadalupe discovery, are significant finds for us in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. We had one of our best years with the drill bit in 2014, reporting more than 30 discoveries worldwide and adding an estimated one billion barrels of new resources to our holdings,” said Jay Johnson, senior vice president, Upstream, Chevron Corporation.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced that public comment is invited with respect to four Environmental Assessments (EA) for Exploration Plans (EP). The EPs involve deepwater activity in the Gulf of Mexico and were completed in accordance with new safety and environmental standards implemented since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Consistent with federal regulations, an EP is deemed “submitted” once all supporting materials and documentation has been provided. Once a plan is deemed submitted, BOEMRE has 30 calendar days to analyze and evaluate it. The 30-day time frame…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) notified 13 companies whose deepwater drilling activities were suspended by last year’s deepwater drilling moratorium that they may be able to resume those previously-approved activities without the need to submit revised exploration or development plans for supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. Before resuming those activities without additional NEPA review, however, the companies must comply with BOEMRE’s new policies and regulations. “Going forward, we are substantially enhancing our environmental reviews and analysis under NEPA,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver ENSCO 8503, the fourth of seven ENSCO 8500 Series semisubmersible drilling rigs being built exclusively for Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV). ENSCO 8503 is scheduled to commence a two-year primary term with Cobalt International Energy, L.P. in the Gulf of Mexico in early 2011. The rig was named at Keppel FELS by Lady Sponsor, Cynthia Bryant, spouse of Joseph H. Bryant, Chairman & CEO of Cobalt International Energy, L.P., in the presence of Guest of Honor, Ho Ching, Executive Director & CEO of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. Daniel W.

According to a May 13 report from Bloomberg, a regulatory crackdown on offshore oil drilling after the fatal rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico will delay development of U.S. deposits with billions of barrels of crude and may spawn industry job cuts. BP Plc, ConocoPhillips, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Cobalt International Energy Inc. and Plains Exploration & Production Co. are among explorers with projects on hold in the Gulf or coastal California after the April 20 explosion prompted federal and state officials to halt new drilling. An estimated 7,500 jobs on offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico may be lost if the ban on new well permits continues through July 1, Lee Hunt, President of the International Association of Drilling Contractors in Houston, told Bloomberg.

Cobalt International Energy, L.P. named Rodney Gray as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, effective June 1, 2009.  Prior to joining Cobalt, Gray held the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Colonial Pipeline in Atlanta, where he has been since 2003. Prior to Colonial, Gray had a career with Transco Energy Company and its successor company Enron Corporation. Gray held numerous senior executive positions at Enron, including Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer, Chairman and CEO of Enron International, and Chairman and CEO of Enron Global Power and Pipelines. He was also Vice Chairman of Azurix. (www.cobaltintl.com)

StatoilHydro, operator Anadarko and partners have made a discovery in the Heidelberg prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The Heidelberg well is located in Green Canyon block 859 about 16 kilometers south of the Caesar discovery. The well was drilled to a total depth of about 9,000 meters and encountered some 60 meters of oil pay. The operator has announced plans for an appraisal well at Heidelberg scheduled for the second half of 2009. "Heidelberg is a promising discovery located close to several other finds and the current Tahiti development in which StatoilHydro has a working interest," said Helen Butcher, StatoilHydro's general manager for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. "Heidelberg is a part of the Miocene play known for high quality sands," Ms Butcher said.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service recent central Gulf of Mexico lease sale received 1,428 bids on 723 tracts, attracting $2.9 billion in high bids – the second highest total in U.S. leasing history. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who officially opened the sale, said the bids made a statement concerning the future of the Gulf of Mexico. “This historic sale emphasizes the Gulf’s strategic value for America’s energy security and the significant economic benefits of environmentally safe oil and gas production for the nation and the Gulf states,” Kempthorne said. The Gulf accounts for about a quarter of domestically produced oil and 15 percent of domestically produced natural gas in the nation.