EnQuest, Premier Oil and Eni – Possible Acquirers for Ithaca

Calgary-based Ithaca Energy Inc said that it has received a non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company. The Ithaca board says talks are at a preliminary stage and there is no certainty that the non-binding proposal will lead to an offer. As a result, shareholders are not required to take any action and Ithaca does not intend to comment further unless a definitive agreement is reached. The possible buyers could be Apache Corp, Premier Oil Plc, Total SA, Dana Petroleum Plc, EnQuest Plc and ENI. Continue reading here..

Petroceltic sells 18.375% interest in Isarene block to Enel for $81M

Petroceltic International Plc has farmed out 18.375% interest in the Isarene Production Sharing Contract (Blocks 228 and 229a), onshore Algeria, to Enel Trade. Post transaction ownership structure in the block: Petroceltic (56.625%, operator), Enel (18.375%) and Sonatrach (25%).

This news should brood well for companies such as Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd who has also offered to exit from its operations in Algeria.

Mozambique: Oil & Gas Exploration in 2011 – 2012

Mozambique is a country in East Africa present between Tanzania on the north and South Africa in the south. A string of significant gas discoveries in the off shore north-east has substantially increased the prospectivity in the country and exploration activity looks set to pick up.

The country has two main sedimentary basins; the Rovuma Basin in the north east, where most of the discoveries have occurred, and the Mozambique basin further south. The Rovuma Basin is located close to the border between Tanzania and Mozambique, at the Rovuma delta, and measures 400 km in length and about 160 km in breadth. The area towards the south follows the Ibo horst trend and towards the north, it is featured as a tertiary Rovuma delta.

The Pande gas field, discovered by Gulf Oil, was the first field to be discovered in Mozambique, in 1961. This was followed by the Búzi (1962) and Temane (1967) gas fields. Exploration activity on the Pande/ Temane block by Sasol later led to the discovery of the Inhassoro gas field.

The consortium exploring the Offshore Area 1, led by Anadarko, has been the most successful so far with 4 significant gas discoveries. These are listed below:

Discovery Name	Net Pay (ft)	Gross Pay (ft)	Oil/ Gas	Total Depth	Date	Reservoir rock	Future Work
Windjammer	555	> 1200	Gas	16,930	Mar-2010	Oligocene + Paleocene	Coring program completed (part of appraisal work)
Collier		-	-	10,500	Apr-2010	-	Plugged and suspended following pore pressure issues. Did not evaluate the desired section.
Ironclad	124		Oil	17,402	Aug-2010	Cretaceous	Plugged and abandoned as sands had low porosity and permeability
Barquentine	416		Gas	16,880	Oct-2010	Oligocene + Paleocene	Appraisal
Lagosta	550		Gas	16,307	Nov-2010	Oligocene + Eocene	Coring program completed (part of appraisal work)
Tubarao	110		Gas	13,900	Feb-2011	Eocene	Appraisal

Table 1: Windjammer, Barquentine, Lagosta and Tubarao encountered substantial gas. The Ironclad well is significant because it encountered an oil column (although non-commercial), which was the first time oil was discovered in offshore Mozambique or in the deep offshore off East Africa.Source, Derrick Petroleum Services.

Source: Wentworth Resources

An overview of exploration activity planned in the country is provided in the table below, along with an account of recent exploration from Derrick Petroleum’s “Exploration Database” is provided below.

Block/ License Name	Operator	Onshore/Offshore	Hydrocarbon	Wells planned in 2011	Wells planned in 2012+
Offshore Area 1	Anadarko	Deep Offshore	Gas	1	6
Onshore Rovuma Block	Anadarko	Onshore	Not mentioned		1
Buzi Block	Energi Mega Persada	Onshore	Gas	1
Inhaminga	DNO International ASA (DNO)	Onshore	Not mentioned	1
Blocks 2 & 5	StatoilHydro	Deep Offshore	Not mentioned
Area 4	ENI	Deep Offshore		1

Table 1: Operators planning to drill exploration wells in Mozambique in 2011 and 2012+. Source, Derrick Petroleum ‘Planned Wells Exploration Database’

Offshore Area 1:
Anadarko is the operator of the 2.6-million-acre Offshore Area 1 with a 36.5% working interest. Co-owners in the area are Mitsui E&P (20 %), BPRL (10 %), Videocon Mozambique Rovuma 1 (10 %) and Cove Energy Mozambique Rovuma Offshore (8.5 %). Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, E.P.'s 15- interest is carried through the exploration phase. An overview of the recent exploration activity in this area is given in Table 1, and the 4 discoveries can be seen in Map 1.

The consortium is planning to acquire 3D seismic over the Black Pearl prospect in Q1-Q2 2011, following which exploratory drilling would occur. In 2012, the consortium plans to drill the Atum-1, Golfinho-1, Linguado, Badejo-1, Camarao and Black Pearl prospects.

Onshore Rovuma Block:
Anadarko (37.5%) operates this block and the partners are Maurel & Prom (24%), Wentworth Resources Ltd (15.3%), Cove Energy Plc (10%) and ENH (15%). On October 11, 2009 the first exploration well on the block, Mecupa-1,was spudded. It had minor gas shows and was plugged and abandoned.

At present (July 2011), the partners have agreed to enter a 2nd exploration phase beginning in 2011. The work programme is expected to include additional seismic acquisition and at least one exploration well.

Buzi Block:
This onshore block is operated by Energi Mega Persada (75% WI) and partner is ENH (25%). The Buzi block is located onshore within the central part of the Mozambique Basin and covers approximately 10,300 km2 and lies immediately to the North of the Pande, Temane and Inhassoro Gas fields. The undeveloped Buzi gas discovery within the block, is only 27 km to the southwest of Beira. Initial plans included two exploration wells and possibly two appraisal probes, should gas be discovered. This is yet to be done.

The consortium was planning to spud its first well on the block in 2011 as announced in 2009. However, as on 30 June, 2011, no information about drilling has been released by either of the partners.

Inhaminga Block:
The Inhaminga Block lies onshore Mozambique. DNO International (34% WI) operates the block and partners are New Age Ltd (41%), Harmattan Uruguay S.A., and the Mozambique government (20%). DNO International has planned to carry out 2D seismic program on the block in H2 2009. The first prospect Chite was drilled on 19 November, 2010. However, the well was dry and was plugged and abandoned. The second well Inhaminga High-1 well was spudded in Feb 2011, and was also dry.

DNO says in its 2010 annual report that it plans to drill a well here in 2011. However, media reports mention that DNO will close down its operations in Mozambique after drilling unsuccessful wells.

Blocks 2&5:
Blocks 2 & 5 are located in the Rovuma basin offshore northern Mozambique, and operated by Statoil (90% WI) with partner ENH (10%). A 1,300 sq km 3D seismic survey was carried out between March & June 2010 and interpretation is ongoing as of March 2011. The decision to extend the license and commit to drilling an exploration well was supposed to have been made by 1 June 2011, but as on 1 July, this decision is still forthcoming. 

Area 4:
ENI operates the block with a 70% WI. Other partners are Galp Energia (10%), ENH (10%) and KOGAS (10%). Area 4 is located in deep water up to a depth of 2,600 metres in the Rovuma Basin and covers an area of 17,646 sq kms in a previously unexplored geological basin, and this operation is part of Eni's strategy to identify new areas with a high exploration potential.

The consortium is planning to drill a well in September 2011. 

BG and ENI eyeing for stake in ONGC’s KG – DWN - 98/2; Plans to spend around INR 36,000 crore (US$ 7,898 million) along with its partners on developing the block

In 2010, India’s state run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made significant finds in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, which is right next to the KG-D6 block of RIL in the K-G basin, off the east coast. ONGC is aiming to develop the KG basin assets through four different projects. The G-1 and GS-15 integrated development followed by the S-1 and Vasistha deep-water development, exploitation of discoveries in the KG-DWN-98/2 block and Project Manik, involving the oil finds.

The blocks are divided into two discovery areas - the Northern Discovery Area (NDA) consisting of the Padmawati, Kanakadurga, Annapurna, N-1, D/KT, U, A, W and E gas finds in water depths ranging from 594m to 1,283m and the Southern Discovery Area (SDA) consisting of the UD-1 discovery falls in ultra-deepwater with a depth of 2,841m.

KG-DWN-98/2, which has 10 gas discoveries, was awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, which allows ONGC to farm out a participating interest to foreign firms. In 2010, ONGC had asked foreign firms to submit proposals to buy a stake in the block. Cairn India is already a 10 per cent partner in the block.

“Giving away more will result in losing control and, in turn, our decision-making ability. We want an international partner who can get us the technology for deep-sea exploration. Both BG and ENI have it. These players are experts in deep water and know exactly how to go about the routine of the block,” said, one of the board members, ONGC. He added the discoveries in KG-DWN-98/2 and three in adjacent blocks together hold 6.37 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of in-place reserves. RIL’s KG block holds in place reserves of 11.3 tcf.

In February 2011, BP agreed to buy a 30-percent stake in 23 oil and gas blocks owned by Reliance Industries for $7.2 billion, as part of a long-term deal that involves a total investment of $20 billion. Nearly four months after RIL signed a deal with BP for getting BP’s technology for deep-sea exploration.

To know more about Reliance-BP's $7.2 billion deal, CLICK HERE 

Block 1G was given to ONGC on nomination basis. It cannot sell stake to any firm and can at best involve a foreign firm as a service contractor. ONGC has partnership with BG India in three blocks in KG offshore, two operated by ONGC and one operated by BG. Petrobras and ENI have also partnership in one block each.

For more presentations on "KG Basin", use our oil and gas document library:

Powered by Derrick Petroleum Services

ONGC has entered into a period of exploration for appraisal after completing the exploration MWP commitments in block KG-DWN-98/2. The company plans to start producing 25-30 mscmpd of gas from the block in 2016-17.

Source Documents:

ONGC to sell 30 percent stake in KG block

View more documents from derrick_anitha

EUROPE O&G Major's Presentations - 2011

Statoil:
Morgan Stanley Gas Conference 2011

Field development on the Norwegian continental shelf
Market Outlook for Natural Gas

ExxonMobil:
Business Model & Fundamental Strategies 2011
Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference 2011

Shell:

CREDIT SUISSE EUROPEAN OIL & GAS CONFERENCE
CreditSuisse Brazil Oil Trip 2011

ENI:
2011-2014 Strategy

ConocoPhillips:
Investor Update June 2011
UBS Energy Conference May 2011

2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
Investor Update May 2011

BP:
China's Energy Future
BP Energy Outlook 2030

UK O&G Majors' Presentations - 2011

BP:
China’s energy future
2011 Statistical 60 Years Review


Shell:
March 2011 Investor Presentation
Goldman Sachs London 2011
Credit Suisse Energy Summit 2011

ExxonMobil:
2011 Analyst Meeting
2011 Business Model & Fundamental Strategies

ConocoPhillips:
Investor Presentation - June 2011
Investor Update - May 2011
2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
UBS Energy Conference 2011


TOTAL:
2010 Results and Outlook

Centrica Plc:
Annual General Meeting 2011

BG:
2011 Strategy Presentation

Nexen:
UBS Oil & Gas Conference
Investor Roadshow - May 2011
2011 Annual General Meeting

Chevron:
Tengiz Field Trip 2011
Eurasia Business Unit Overview
2011 Tengiz Field Trip - Europe, Eurasia and Middle East

ENI:
2011-2014 Strategy Presentation

Oil companies to invest $1.38 billion in Ecuador

Oil companies and consortiums operating in Ecuador under service provider contracts will invest $1.38 billion in the Andean country during the 2011 to 2025 period.

As per UK Trade & Investment Report of May 2010, Ecuador is the fifth-largest producer of oil in South America and the smallest oil producer in OPEC., with an assigned production quota of 520,000 bbl/d from which 368,000 bbl/d exported and 152,000 bbl/d consumed locally.

Companies investing in the oil sector include China's Andes Petroleum and PetroOriental, Italy's Eni, Spain's Repsol YPF, and Chilean state oil and gas company ENAP.

Andes Petroleum Ltd operates in Tarapoa Block and the Lago Agrio Storage and Transfer Station (Sucumbios).

PetroOriental S.A. operates in blocks 14 and 17 (Orellana).

Eni has been operating in the Campo Villano oilfield (Pastaza province).

• The investments will be made in 14 oil fields, with about $1.1 billion going into production while the rest will be invested in exploration
• 87% of the investment  will be invested up to 2014
• For this year oil companies are seen investing $468 million, of which $409 million will be invested in production activities and $59 million in exploration.

In January Ecuador's government concluded almost three years of negotiations aimed at gaining more control over its natural resources and increasing its oil revenue by replacing production-sharing deals with services contracts. The services contracts turn the companies into service providers for the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons. Companies will receive a fee rather than sharing profits.

Please try our new document search tool: www.derrickpetroleum.com

Sonatrach to develop the Algerian unconventional resources.......ENI likely to partner

Sonatrach will launch a pilot project for developing unconventional gas resources in 2012 in Algeria.

According to company sources, Sonatrach is ready to go in to it alone if they don’t find a partner. Algeria supplies about 20 per cent of Europe's natural gas , but Algeria has under-invested in new oil and gas projects. It normally takes between five and eight years for shale gas projects to come on line. Sonatrach plans to invest US$46 billion in upstream activity in the medium term.

Try our free document search tool

ENI to partner

ENI is looking into Algeria's shale gas opportunities, an executive at the Italian company said Wednesday, making it one of the first international companies to signal its interest for North Africa's unconventional resources.

The interest is also part of a broader strategic diversification within ENI. In December, it entered the European shale gas market with an acquisition in Poland.

ENI has entered shale gas development projects in Poland and the United States. The company has agreed to develop shale gas opportunities with China's PetroChina. It has said it is looking into unconventional resource development in North Africa.