Cursor International executes projects and collaboration activities across several industries.
By John Lee.
Italy’s Saipem has been awarded a contract by ExxonMobil Iraq Limited for the DS6 project for the debottlenecking of the West Qurna field, in the south east of Iraq.
Debottlenecking is a process that optimises a plant in order to increase its overall capacity.
The works will have a duration of 23 months and will mainly be executed in the Rumaila fabrication yard, owned by Saipem.
(Source: Saipem)
(Picture: Saipem chief executive, Stefano Cao)
By John Lee.
Talks between ExxonMobil and Iraq on the multi-billion-dollar Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) have reportedly broken down.
According to Reuters, the director general of the Basra Oil Company (BOC) told reporters that the BOC will award the contract through a tender process, which it expects to complete at the end of July.
It adds that the BOC has already shortlisted three companies from an initial list of seven for the contract.
(Source: Reuters)
By John Lee.
According to a report from Platts, Iraq has reached “key preliminary terms” with ExxonMobil and PetroChina on the South Integrated Project.
The project involves the development of the Nahr Bin Umar and Ratawi oil fields in southern Iraq, with gas plants at the two fields, a multi-field water injection project, storage, pipelines and export infrastructure.
Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi, director general of the Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), told S&P Global Platts that the scope of work, the schedule, and the cost have been agreed to.
(Source: Platts)
By John Lee.
Iraq’s Ministy of Oil has awarded all four development projects, and two of the seven exploration blocks, that it offered in its fifth auction of oil licences.
Only nine of the 26 companies originally pre-qualified took part in the auction, with majors such as Lukoil (Russia), ExxonMobil (US) and Total (France) not bidding.
Development blocks:
Exploration blocks:
Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi, director general of the Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), told Reuters that the failure of five blocks to attract bids was due to a combination of factors, including the fact that some of them cover former battlefields, some are hard to access, and the one offshore plot needs more data.
He said another round could be held for those five blocks.
More details here from Iraq Oil Report (subscription required)
(Sources: Iraq Oil Report, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP)
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced expansion and acceleration of operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq while building up its North Sea exposure.
First quarter revenues, the highest in nearly four years, stood at USD 142 million and net profit at USD 18 million. The Company exited the quarter with cash balances of USD 518 million plus USD 76 million in treasury shares and marketable securities.
The Company added a third license in Kurdistan following government and partner approvals of the previously announced transaction with ExxonMobil. Effective 10 April 2018, DNO assumed operatorship of the Baeshiqa license with a 40 percent (32 percent participating) interest alongside ExxonMobil, Turkish Energy Company and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
At the Tawke license, the Company fast tracked development of the Peshkabir field with three new wells. The recently completed Peshkabir-4 well will shortly undergo production testing and the Peshkabir-5 well is drilling ahead at 2,250 meters. The Peshkabir-6 well was spudded as a development well last week and will also explore the field’s deeper Triassic formation.
“We have the wind on our back,” said DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, “with higher oil prices, timely export payments in Kurdistan, a growing portfolio of quality assets, efficient drilling and bold strategy execution.“
On the DNO-operated Tawke license containing the Peshkabir and Tawke fields, 15,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) of production from two Peshkabir wells are comingled with 90,000 bopd from the flagship Tawke field for export through Turkey.
A new Tawke Cretaceous well was brought onstream earlier this month at more than 5,000 bopd. The Company will drill additional Tawke development wells in 2018 following mobilization of a fourth rig.
Elsewhere, the Company acquired 28.71 percent of North Sea-focused Faroe Petroleum plc at a price of GBP 1.25 per share through four separate transactions in April, complementing DNO’s existing portfolio of 19 exploration licenses offshore Norway and the United Kingdom.
DNO’s current cash balance stands at USD 356 million plus USD 280 million in treasury shares and marketable securities. The Company’s outstanding bond debt remains at USD 400 million and the equity ratio at 61 percent.
(Source: DNO)
By John Lee.
Talks between ExxonMobil and Iraq on the multi-billion-dollar Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) have reportedly reached an impasse.
According to Reuters, two sides differ on contract terms and costs.
Ian Thom, principal analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, told the news agency:
“The CSSP would be expensive and challenging but there’s opportunity here (for Exxon) … to get access to resources on a very large scale and to achieve something and really make a difference to its own business.”
(Source: Reuters)
By John Lee.
The Basra Oil Company (BOC) is reportedly preparing to tender for a water injection project in Iraq if talks with ExxonMobil and PetroChina fail.
Reuters quotes the head of the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi, as telling reporters at the CWC Iraq Petroleum Conference in Berlin, “we cannot wait for a longer time unless Exxon Mobil accepts the deal for the benefit of the two parties.”
He added that the delay in negotiations was partly related to initial production rates from the Nahr Bin Umar and Artawi oilfields.
(Source: Reuters )
By John Lee.
Japan’s Itochu has reportedly bought Shell‘s 20 percent stake in the West Qurna 1 oilfield.
Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, the head of state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC), told Reuters that the oil ministry discussed the required financial investments and operations at the field with Itochu, and approved the deal.
West Qurna 1, operated by ExxonMobil, currently produces around 405,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The deal comes as Shell is also preparing to exit the Majnoon oilfield, handing it over to the BOC by the end of June 2018.
(Source: Reuters)
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced an agreement with ExxonMobil to join the Baeshiqa [Bashiqa, Bashika] license in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
DNO will assume operatorship of the license with a 40 percent paying (32 percent net) interest, acquiring one-half of ExxonMobil’s position.
ExxonMobil retains a 40 percent paying (32 percent net) interest, the Turkish Energy Company (TEC) its 20 percent paying (16 percent net) interest and the Kurdistan Regional Government its 20 percent carried interest.
Pending Government approval, DNO will drill an exploration well in the first half of 2018 with a second exploration well to follow on a separate structure.
The 324 square kilometer license is situated 60 kilometers west of Erbil and 20 kilometers east of Mosul. ExxonMobil had previously conducted extensive geological and geophysical studies and constructed a drilling pad before work was interrupted due to security conditions in the region.
The Baeshiqa license contains two large, undrilled structures which are expected to have multiple independent stacked target reservoir systems, including in the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic.
DNO currently operates two other licenses in Kurdistan: one contains the Tawke and Peshkabir fields which together produce over 110,000 barrels of oil per day and the other the Benenan and Bastora heavy oil fields which are undergoing further appraisal and development. With three rigs currently deployed, the Company is the most active driller among the international operators in Kurdistan.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani (pictured), DNO’s Executive Chairman, said:
“We are pleased to partner with ExxonMobil, TEC and the Government on this exciting exploration opportunity.
“We bring to the project a 10-year record of successful and fast-track operations in Kurdistan, culminating in more than 200 million barrels produced to date.
“Following regularization of export payments and a landmark agreement with the Government to close out our historical receivables, our foot is back firmly on the accelerator.”
(Source: DNO)