Nexen Petroleum News

Saipem has been awarded contracts for the second phase of the ExxonMobil led Liza development offshore Guyana.These contracts, assigned by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), an affiliate of ExxonMobil, as the project operator, are in addition to those awarded to Saipem in 2017 for Liza Phase 1.Following engineering and subject to requisite government approvals, project sanction from the joint venture and an authorization to proceed with the next phase, Saipem will then perform detailed engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of the risers, flowlines, and associated structures and jumpers. Saipem will also transport and install umbilicals…

ExxonMobil and the Hess Corporation announced an eighth oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Longtail-1 well, creating the potential for additional resource development in the southeast area of the Stabroek Block. The companies said approximately 78 meters of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir was encountered. The well was drilled to 5,504 meters depth in 1,940 meters of water by the Stena Carron drillship on May 25, 2018. The Longtail-1 well is located approximately 5 miles west of the Turbot-1 well and follows previous discoveries on the Stabroek Block at Liza…

Exxon Mobil Corp said it has commenced development drilling in the first of three offshore Guyana projects, which could produce more than 500,000 barrels of oil per day. Development drilling began in May for the first of 17 wells planned for Liza Phase 1, the company said.So far, Exxon Mobil and its co-venturers have discovered more than 3.2 billion oil-equivalent barrels estimated recoverable resources on the 6.6 million acre Stabroek Block.Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Development Company…

As Shell finishes construction on its Appomattox Semi-Submersible Platform hull, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement engineers and inspectors signed off on several topsides components during a pre-production inspection March 27, 2018. Royal Dutch Shell plc, 79 percent owner and its partner, Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S. A. Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC ltd, will operate the platform about 80 miles off Louisiana’s coast in the Mississippi Canyon. “The Appomattox will be Shell’s largest floating platform in the Gulf of Mexico…

Offshore driller Stena Drilling has signed a contract with Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited for the Stena Spey drilling rig.    Stena said  in a press release that the drilling campaign will last around 110 days with a potential additional option well on the Golden Eagle field, UK Central North Sea.   The drilling campaign will commence on completion of the current well with Repsol-Sinopec.   "Stena Drilling is very pleased to be working with Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited and this workscope presents another exciting new opportunity for the Stena Spey and the crews," said a statement.   The Stena Spey is a Friede & Goldman L907 (enhanced Pacesetter) twin pontoon, column stabilised self propelled, semi submersible offshore drilling unit.

Exxon Mobil Corporation announced its sixth oil discovery offshore Guyana since 2015, following positive results from its Ranger-1 exploration well. The Ranger-1 well discovery adds to previous discoveries at Liza, Payara, Snoek, Liza Deep and Turbot, which are estimated to total more than 3.2 billion recoverable oil-equivalent barrels. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. began drilling the Ranger-1 well on November 5, 2017 and encountered approximately 70 meters of high-quality, oil-bearing carbonate reservoir.

SBM Offshore said it has secured the $720 million project financing for FPSO Liza through a consortium of 12 international banks, completed on December 19, 2017. SBM Offshore said it expects to draw the loan in full, phased over the construction period of the FPSO. The financing will become non-recourse once the FPSO is completed and the pre-completion guarantees have been released. The post completion project loan has a tenor of 10 years, with a variable interest cost of LIBOR plus 1.65 percent.

Sentinel Marine said it has secured two new contracts bringing the Aberdeen-headquartered firm’s contract wins to a total of £26.4 million ($34.4 million) since January this year. The latest contract wins will provide continued employment for 72 seafarers in the North Sea. Sentinel Marine’s contract with Statoil UK Limited will see the provision of an emergency response and rescue vessel (ERRV) Portland Sentinel in the energy producer’s Mariner field from the beginning of August. The Portland Sentinel will join Mariner Sentinel, the latest vessel to join the Sentinel Marine fleet.

SBM Offshore said it has secured contracts from ExxonMobil to construct, install, lease and operate a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) for the next phase of the Liza project in Guyana. The contracts follow completion of front-end engineering studies and the final investment decision on the project by ExxonMobil. The Liza field is located in the Stabroek block, which covers almost 27,000 square kilometers, circa 200 kilometers offshore Guyana. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds a 45 percent interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a 30 percent interest, and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds a 25 percent interest.

Finalists for the 2017 Offshore Achievement Awards, sponsored by TAQA, have been announced today {Friday 13 January}. Hosted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section, the annual awards recognise some of the industry’s most innovative technology developments as well as talented individuals and exceptional large and small company performance. This year’s shortlist comprises a wide cross-section of the offshore sector, with companies large and small, spanning a variety of sub-sectors, represented. Categories including Innovator, Emerging Technology and Young Professional have proven popular with entrants this year. For the first time in 2017…

ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited has awarded contracts to SBM Offshore for a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for the Liza development and production in Guyana. Under the FPSO contracts, SBM Offshore will perform Front End Engineering and Design for the FPSO, and, subject to a final investment decision on the project in 2017, will construct, install and operate the FPSO. The Liza field has a potential resource estimate in excess of 1 billion oil-equivalent barrels and is located in the Stabroek block, which covers almost 27,000 square kilometers, approximately 193 kilometers offshore Guyana. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and holds a 45 percent interest in the Stabroek block.

The DNV GL-led WIN WIN Joint Industry Project (JIP), which melds offshore wind with offshore oil and gas, shows that for suitable fields,finds that  wind-powered water injection is technically feasible, capable of meeting performance targets and offers a cost-competitive alternative to conventional water injection solutions. For the past year, participants from both the renewable and oil and gas industries have worked together in the DNV GL-led WIN WIN (wind powered water injection)…

DOF Group subsidiary DOF Rederi AS has signed an agreement with Nexen Petroleum UK for Skandi Marstein, MT 6000 design Platform Supply Vessel (PSV). The contract will start in May and is firm until end 2017. DOF Rederi has further signed a three months contract, plus options with Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd. for Skandi Gamma with start up in April.

Royal Dutch Shell has given the green light for the development of its largest platform in the Gulf of Mexico after making steep cost cuts which made the deep water project economical despite low oil prices. The decision to pour billions of dollars into the Appomattox project comes as companies have scrapped around $200 billion of mega-projects in the wake of the sharp decline in oil prices over the past year. Shell has operated in the Gulf of Mexico for over 60 years. The region contributes about 17 percent of total U.S. crude oil production according to the Energy Information Administration and was the location in 2010 of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, involving BP's Deepwater Horizon well.

Denmark's Maersk Oil, a unit of conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk , said on Monday oil production from the Golden Eagle field in Britain's North Sea had started. There are two Golden Eagle wells with potential to produce about 18,000 barrels of oil per day. Nexen Petroleum, a subsidiary of Chinese state-run CNOOC , has a 36.54 percent interest in the development and is the operator. Maersk Oil holds a 31.56 percent interest, Suncor Energy has 26.69 percent and Edinburgh Oil and Gas has 5.21 percent. Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen

Aberdeen-based standby vessel operator Atlantic Offshore Rescue has secured a five-year charter with five, one year options to extend with Shell UK to support operations in the Gannet, Annasuria and the Dana Petroleum Triton Asset in the central North Sea. Ocean Osprey, a brand new Class A tanker assist, rescue and standby ship will be used to provide emergency recovery, rescue cover, tanker assistance and general field support in offshore operations. The vessel is the first of a new H820 design from Havyard Ship Design and was developed in close collaboration with Atlantic Offshore.

Liverpool (Birkenhead) UK-based maritime sector contractor MPE Interiors says it has completed an outfitting contract for North East shipyard operator UK Docks, aboard the offshore support vessel 'Ocean Tay'. MPE carried out the refurbishment works at  Wear Dock & Engineering in Sunderland as part of a conversion to the Ocean Tay, a 63-m (207-ft) Class A Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV), operated by Atlantic Offshore Rescue Ltd. MPE director Cliff Grainger said it delivered a broad range of services on the conversion: "We were delighted to assist UK docks on this conversion. The scope of work included outfitting of a new survivor area…

The Golden Eagle Living Quarters [LQ] module designed and built by Sembmarine SLP in Lowestoft at its Hamilton Dock, successfully sailed away yesterday passing through the port pier heads at 12:05 BST. The 2000 tonne module, which will provide living accommodation for 140 people, had been loaded onto sea-going barges earlier this month, as had the 550 tonne, 70 metre long bridge and a 220 tonne flare boom for the same project. On Sunday 18th May, the Bridge & Flare modules set sail…

Aberdeen-based standby vessel operator Atlantic Offshore Rescue has commissioned a £6 million vessel for a long-term charter with Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd. (Nexen). Thirty new jobs have been created as a result of the new vessel, Ocean Tay, a Class A Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV), which will provide emergency vessel cover for Nexen’s flagship Golden Eagle Area Development in the North Sea. The charter will last a minimum of two years. Atlantic Offshore Rescue is part of the Atlantic Offshore Group, which is based in Norway. Atlantic Offshore Rescue Ltd.

Tideland Signal supplied a package of Syncrolan LED light stations and fog signals for the Golden Eagle Area development in the U.K. sector of the North Sea, about 43 miles (69 kilometers) from Aberdeen. Tideland's warning systems will protect both Golden Eagle's wellhead platform and the combined production, utilities and accommodation platform, which is bridge-linked to the wellhead. Tideland's latest LED warning system installed on the two Golden Eagle platforms comprises a main Syncrolan light station with a range of 15 NM…

Global leaders in the oil and gas industry will descend on the U.K. for an annual technical day organized by Reservoir Group member company Kirk Petrophysics. Experts from across the field will lead the discussions at the event, which is being held at the firm’s newly expanded Core Center in Guildford next month. Specialists from leading international firms including Schlumberger, Dhahran Carbonate Research Center, SGS and Empirica will be among those attending the event. The technical day on May 30 will provide insight into the latest techniques being used in the coring industry.

Dron & Dickson, a specialist in design, supply and maintenance of hazardous area electrical equipment, has secured £55million (over $89.7 million) in UK North Sea contract wins for the first half of 2011. During the last 6 months, the company has landed both new and extended contracts with oil majors such as Nexen Petroleum U.K Ltd, BP, Talisman Energy (UK) Limited and ConocoPhillips. Work has included the provision of electrical good to support maintenance of offshore assets and hazardous area inspection services to meet operational requirements in the North Sea.

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…