Big Oil Readies Brazil Offshore Bets
Exxon Mobil Corp , Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other companies will gather on Friday in possibly their last crack at Brazil's coveted offshore oil for another four years, as a wide-open election spurs fears about barriers to foreign investment.The auction in Rio de Janeiro for four blocks in the Santos and Campos basins comes just a week before the most unpredictable presidential election in a generation, which features candidates that may seek to slow the pace of oil auctions…
Aker BP buys Hess' Norway unit for $2 bln
Output from Hess Norway field stakes 24,000 boepd. Aker BP will add the Norwegian operations of U.S. oil company Hess to its expanding exploration and production portfolio under a $2 billion deal announced on Tuesday. Under billionaire investor Kjell Inge Roekke, who controls a 40 percent stake, the Norwegian company has made eight acquisitions since 2014 including a merger with BP's Norway operations in mid-2016. The Hess operations will bolster Aker's production by about 17 percent…
Aker/DNV GL Ink Frame Agreement
Aker BP has awarded a new frame agreement to DNV GL, covering a wide range of safety, verification, inspection and classification services across its installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The five-year contract, which includes options for extension, will see DNV GL experts integrated into Aker BP’s organization to provide decision-making support and stand-alone assessments. “This contract represents an important step forward in DNV GL’s long relationship with BP Norway and Det norske oljeselskap…
Det norske Lifts Output Guidance Ahead of BP Merger
Det norske oljeselskap, which plans to merge with BP Norway later this month to become Aker BP, raised its output guidance for 2016 based on stronger than expected production from the Alvheim area. Det norske's production (excluding effects of the planned BP merger) is expected to average between 62,000-65,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day in 2016, up from a previous guidance of 55,000-60,000 mboepd. * Hersvik: "We still see that there is a possibility to reduce cost by 20 percent in some of our projects.
Azeri Shah Deniz Gas Project Awards Subsea Contracts
Norway's FMC Kongsberg Subsea AS and Britain's OneSubsea (UK) Ltd have won contracts for subsea infrastructure totalling $363 million for Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field. A consortium led by BP said it awarded the construction contracts to help develop the Shah Deniz II project under the Caspian Sea, which offers Europe a chance to reduce reliance on Russian gas. Shah Deniz, Azerbaijan's biggest gas field, is being developed by partners including Britain's BP…
BP Norway, Maersk Extend Drilling Rig Contract
BP Norway has extended the contract for the jackup Maersk Reacher by two years from September 2014 to September 2016, for an estimated value of $222 million. BP Norway has additional options to prolong the contract by up to four more years until September 2020. Kosmos Energy has arranged a rig-share with BP and Maersk Drilling for the semisubmersible Maersk Discoverer. The rig is expected to start drilling the FA-1 exploration well on the Foum Assaka block offshore Morocco during the first half of this year.
Maersk Drilling Order Ultra-harsh Jack-up Rig
The new ultra harsh environment jack-up rig, 'XL Enhanced 4', is to be built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea with delivery scheduled for mid-2016. The total project cost for the rig is USD 650m including a turnkey contract with the yard, owner furnished equipment, project management and capitalised interest. The contract with DSME includes priced options for delivery of up to two additional units with delivery in 2016/2017.
Major BP Upstream North Sea Project Starts Production
BP and partners start production of oil/gas from the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea, one of a series of new major upstream projects. “The start-up of Skarv is a key operational milestone for BP, adding new production from one of our core higher-margin areas,” said Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive. The Skarv field is approximately 210 kilometres west of the Norwegian coast in water depths of approximately 350-450 metres.
