Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Will ONGC be Successful in Farming Out of Espirito Santo?

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is probably seeking to farm-out 30% to 40% interest in Block BM-ES-42, Espirito Santo basin, Brazil. The block, covering an area of 725 sq km, is located in the water depths of about 1,500 metres. ONGC holds 100% interest in the block. Continue reading here..

Nearly $5 Billion worth New Packages on the Market Announced in January 2012

In January 2012, Derrick has recorded 20 new Deals In Play with the estimated value of more than $10 million each. The biggest Deals in Play of the month are ConocoPhillips’ Oilsands assets,Statoil’s stake in West Qurna-2 oilfieldTalisman’s non-core assets, and corporate sale byConnacher and Cove Energy. Continue reading here..

Ecopetrol acquires 30% interest in Peru field from Repsol

Ecopetrol SA has entered into an agreement with Repsol to acquire 30% interest in Lot 109 exploration field in Peru. Continue reading here..

Will Nabors go Private and Hive off E&P Assets?

Nabors Industries’ stock has fallen so steeply that markets are betting on the world’s largest land-drilling contractor to be a takeover candidate. Continue reading here..

New World Oil and Gas Seeks Farmin Partners for Danica Jutland and Blue Creek Projects

AIM-listed New World Oil and Gas Plc, in its recently released Funding Strategy report, has announced that the company is in the process of seeking potential farm-in partners for their exploration assets in Denmark and Belize. Continue reading..

Tenaska Resources to Sell Certain Marcellus Assets

Tenaska Resources, LLC is offering certain Marcellus Shale assets located in Tioga county, Pennsylvania. BMO Capital Markets has been retained as exclusive financial advisor for this transaction. Continue reading here..

Centricas’ Recent Acquisitions in the North Sea

Since 2007, Centrica has been an acquirer in the following notable deals: 


Continue reading here..

Has Centrica Bagged a Discount Bargain in Statfjord??

In the deal announced today, Centrica has acquired Reserves estimated at 36 MMBOE for a consideration of $223 million, which yield an effective $/2P BOE of $6.19. This metric is approximately 20% lower than the one seen in the Centrica – Shell deal of Sep-2010 at $7.85 ($225 million for 28.67 MMBOE). Continue reading here..

Monday, January 30, 2012

Cove Energy sells Tanzania assets for $38.8M

Cove Energy Plc, a ~$870 million enterprise value company, has signed an agreement to sell its assets in Tanzania to one of its partners – Wentworth Resources based in Tanzania. Pursuant to the transaction, Wentworth Resources will take control of Cove’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cove Energy Tanzania Mnazi Bay. Continue reading here..

San Leon Energy Seeks Farmin Partners for Tarfaya and Zag licences

San Leon Energy Plc is seeking farm-in partners to fund exploration drilling in Tarfaya and Zag licences onshore Morocco. Continue reading here..

Centrica acquires additional interest in Statfjord from ConocoPhillips for $223M

Centrica Plc has reached an agreement with ConocoPhillips to acquire its non-operated interests in the gas and oil producing Statfjord field and associated satellites for a total cash consideration of US$223 million, including US$103 million attributable to historic tax allowances. Continue reading here..

Total jumps on the Kurdistan bandwagon

Total is close to securing exploration rights over several oil and gas blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan. Continue reading here..

Total jumps on the Kurdistan bandwagon

Total is close to securing exploration rights over several oil and gas blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Earlier in Oct-2011, ExxonMobil signed contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government to explore in ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Providence Resources Seeks Farmin Partner for North Sea Licences

Providence Resources Plc has engaged FirstEnergy Capital LLP as its financial advisor for the potential farm out of SEL 1/07, offshore Ireland and Block 103/1, offshore UK , with up to 50% interest available. Continue reading here..

ExxonMobil, Realm Energy, BNK Petroleum and 3Legs Resources active in German Shale

US supermajor ExxonMobil is continuing to push for unconventional gas exploration in Germany alongside conventional gas production, experimenting new drilling methods. Read the whole article here..

Friday, January 27, 2012

Woodside to Sell Stake in Pluto and Browse LNG Projects

Woodside Petroleum Ltd is considering selling some of its interest in its Browse and Pluto liquefied natural gas ventures... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Has EnQuest paid a Premium for its North Sea Acquisition?

On Jan 24, 2011, EnQuest Plc signed an agreement with Nautical Petroleum Plc to acquire 25% interest in Blocks 9/2b and 9/2c which includes the Kraken heavy oil discovery, UK North Sea. The amount payable ranges between ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Range reports success in Trinidad


Range today announced continued drilling success as it ramps up its reserves production drilling program on the Morne Diablo concession in onshore Trinidad.

Following the successful logging and completion of the QUN118ST well, initial production testing has seen the well producing at a rate of up to 102 bopd on a 5/32" choke under natural pressure from the shallow Forrest formation and has stabilized at approx. 84 bopd.

To learn more about Range Resources check out the new Derrick Document Search Tool for the  Oil & Gas industry at

Lundin Petroleum to increase production in 2012


Lundin Petroleum’s strategy of organic exploration growth has delivered excellent results in 2011 from its operations in Norway and South East Asia.

Lundin is planning to drill 24 exploration and appraisal wells in 2012 with a budget of MUSD 460 assigned to the exploration activities. Lundin’s year-end net resources stand at 1 billion barrels. The company expects to double its production over the next four years with its various fields like Gaupe and Johan Sverdrup to come on-stream shortly.


To view all the latest presentation by Lundin, please visit Derrick’s Document Search Tool:



More than $3 Billion worth North Sea E&P Assets for Sale

There are 33 E&P assets for sale recorded in Derrick’s deals in play database as on Jan 27, 2012 in the North Sea. Most assets for sale are in the... Continue Reading  for a free and detailed analysis.

Acquisition options in Africa for Victoria Oil & Gas

In their recent investor presentation, Victoria Oil & Gas, a UK listed, oil & gas E&P Company has listed its strategic objectives as follows: ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Afren’s growth engines: Nigeria and Kurdistan

Afren’s recent operational report states that its exit production rate stood at 53,200 BOE/d at the end of 2011, while the 2011 average output reached ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Crescent Point Acquires Wild Stream Exploration

Crescent Point Energy Corp has entered into an agreement with Wild Stream Exploration Inc to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Wild Stream for ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Wild Stream Sells Saskatchewan Property


Wild Stream Exploration Inc has sold its assets in the Dodsland area of Southwest Saskatchewan to a new junior exploration company ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Quetzal Energy Divests Guatemala Assets


In May-2011, Quetzal Energy Ltd proposed a plan to spin-off its Guatemala assets. The spin-off did not go through due to the lack of shareholders support. Since then, Quetzal’s management was reviewing strategic alternatives for its Guatemala assets. Today, Quetzal entered into a definitive agreement with ... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Range Resources and Leni Gas & Oil to jointly develop Trinidad fields


Leni Gas & Oil plc (LGO) and Range Resources Ltd have signed Heads of Agreement to jointly develop their interests in the Goudron and Beach Marcelle fields, Trinidad.... Continue Reading for a free and detailed analysis.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

IGas Energy finds ‘very significant’ shale gas in Cheshire


UK independent IGas Energy has encountered what it says is a “very significant shale section” in coal-bed methane drilling operations at the Ince Marshes play onshore England.

Logs and rock samples being analysed could identify potentially prospective zones, IGas Energy said, pointing out previous independent analysis of the Bowland Shale has suggested gas initially in place of up to 4.6 trillion cubic feet in this area.

To learn more about shale gas activities in the UK please visit  Derrick Document Search Tool:



Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Europe/North Sea Historic transaction activity – 2011 all time high after strong second half

A few large value transactions announced in the third quarter last year lifted the value of upstream transactions in Europe during 2011 to $14.4 billion, which is 9% of the overall transaction value in 2011. Continue reading here...

Oil Blocks in West and Central Africa on Offer

ERHC Energy Inc is seeking farm-in partners for three oil blocks in the Republic of Chad and two operated EEZ blocks in Sao Tome Principe. Continue reading

New Oil Find in Area A Gulf of Suez

Kuwait Energy Plc, one of the fastest growing independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Middle East, announced a new oil discovery in Egypt's Ahmad-1X well, located in the Gulf of Suez's Area A concession.
To learn more about E&P activities in Africa, please visit Derrick's new search tool:

Heritage awarded further acreage in Tanzania

Heritage Oil announces that it has been awarded a further Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) in Tanzania. Heritage is the operator with 100% interest. The Kyela PSA, wholly located within Tanzanian territory, has an area of 1,934 sq kms and covers the northern onshore area of the Lake Nyasa Basin. Heritage has been awarded 100% interest and is the operator.

To view more information on Heritage Oil please visit Derrick Document Search Tool:

http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/q/Heritage%20Oil/date/year/page/0/

Can multiple bidders increase the premium on Rockhopper?

Recent media reports have been speculating on a possible takeover or majority acquisition in Rockhopper Exploration Plc by Anadarko Petroleum. According to Sunday Times, several other Texan oil firms, including Noble Energy, Hess Corp and Murphy Oil are interested, as are British oil firms Cairn Energy and Premier. Continue reading here..

Obama for shale gas


President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged support for the U.S. shale gas boom, but said government must focus on safe development of the energy resource.
In his State of the Union address, Obama called for government to develop a roadmap for responsible shale gas production and said his administration would move forward with 'common-sense' new rules to make sure drillers protect the public. 'America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk,' Obama said.
To view more documents on shale gas in the US and around the world use Derrick’s free oil and gas ‘DocSearch’ search tool at the link below:

Cairn drills duster after 2 successful wells in Sri Lanka


Reporting its Q3 financial results on Tuesday, Cairn India reported that Cairn Lanka successfully completed the first phase of its exploration campaign in Sri Lanka in Block SL-2007- 01-001. The exploration programme involved the acquisition, processing and interpretation of 1,753 sq km of 3D seismic data and the drilling of three well deep water wells. This resulted in two successive gas and condensate discoveries: theCLPL-Dorado- 91H/1z well and, the CLPL-Barracuda-1G/1well. The third well, CLPL-Dorado North 1- 82K/1 was plugged and abandoned as a dry hole on 14th December, 2011.

To view more documents from Cairn Energy use the free Derrick ‘DocSearch’ search tool at the link below:

Cove Energy attracts interest from Thai and Indian NOCs

PTT Exploration and Production Pcl (PTTEP) is reported to be considering to bid for Cove Energy Plc, a British oil and gas explorer, which has put itself up for sale. Continue reading..

EnQuest increases stake in Kraken discovery

EnQuest Plc has signed an agreement with Nautical Petroleum Plc to acquire 25% interest in Blocks 9/2b and 9/2c which includes the Kraken heavy oil discovery, UK North Sea. Continue reading..

Range Resources Seeks Farmin Partners for Two Georgia Blocks

Range Resources Limited is seeking farm-in partners for Blocks VIa and VIb, Republic of Georgia. Continue reading here..

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Implied Reserves Value for Oil Continued to Recover in 2011

Globally, the implied reserves values, $/2P reserves (Entitlement*), plunged in Q4 2011 largely due to 3 gas deals** done at a very low $/2P (ENT), excluding which the average $/BOE would have been stable at $13.6 in Q4 2011. Continue reading here..


Upstream M&A Activity off to a Robust Start

The aggregate deal value during Jan-2012 (as of 24-Jan-2012) is off to a robust start with $7.54 billion, greater than $5.82 billion during Jan-2011, but less than Jan-2010 at $13 billion and Jan-2008 at $10.73 billion. Continue reading here..


ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil lead Asian Deals In Play


 ConocoPhillips with an estimated $1.5 billion package covering three oil and natural gas assets offshore Vietnam and ExxonMobil with an estimated $450 million package covering North Sumatra Offshore block, the Arun, and the South Lhoksukon satellite fields, and the associated LNG plant, lead Asian Deals In Play. Continue reading here..
 



Range Resources' proved reserves increase to 5.1 Tcfe

Range Resources has announced today that its proved reserves as of December 31, 2011 increased to a record high of 5.1 Tcfe.  This represents a 14% increase over 2010.  Adjusting for the sale of its Barnett Shale properties in April 2011, the increase would have been 43%.  From drilling, Range replaced 850% of production in 2011.



Source: Range Resources


Year-end 2011 proved reserves by volume were 79% natural gas, 17% natural gas liquids and 4% crude oil.  The percentage of crude oil volumes increased 1%, while the percentage of natural gas volumes declined 1%.  The percentage of reserves in the proved undeveloped category was 52% at year-end 2011, as compared to 51% year-end 2010 and 52% adjusting for the Barnett sale.  


At year-end 2011, Range recorded, on average, a modest 1.7 offset Marcellus drilling locations to its proved undeveloped reserves for each of its proved developed wells in the play.  As of year-end 2011, 10% of Range's Marcellus acreage was classified as proved reserves and approximately 50% was held by production.  As additional Marcellus wells are drilled in 2012 and beyond, it is expected that more of Range's acreage will move into the proved category.


To learn more about Range Resources please visit our new search tool:
http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/q/Range/date/month/document/4/page/0/

Shell, Chevron and other large oil companies Arctic-ing towards Pole position

Major companies such as Shell, Chevron, Total, Repsol, Statoil, Novatek and Cairn, amongst others have been expanding their exploration activities in and around the Arctic Sea. Continue reading here..

Essar Oil doubles gas reserves at Raniganj block; Share price increases by 13%


Essar Oil, the largest acreage holder of CBM blocks in India, has reported that the proven and probable reserves and best estimate 2C contingent gas resources at its Raniganj CBM block in West Bengal have been significantly increased. The total proven and probable reserves at Raniganj, evaluated as at 1 September 2011, are 113 bcf gross, while best estimate contingent resources are 445 bcf gross.
Consequently, Essar’s share price on Jan 23 was GBX 135.6, up by 13.1%.
Also, gas is in short supply in India but will be an increasingly important fuel and through this revised estimation of reserves Essar is well placed to capitalise on that.
Click this to browse through Essar’s reports and presentations-

Monday, January 23, 2012

Apache – Select Acquisitions and Divestitures 2009-2011

Apache has pursued an opportunistic acquisition strategy lapping up distressed assets from BP and with no significant divestitures. Continue reading..

Apache – The Opportunistic Acquirer


In 2009, Apache stayed away from the acquisition market and instead, built its cash position from operations and waited for the right opportunities to surface. During 2010, Apache spent more than $11 billion on acquisitions including $8.1 billion in the US, securing the second position globally after Sinopec and first position in the US. Continue reading..

Cairn Energy ropes in Statoil for exploration off Greenland

Cairn Energy, who has been unsuccessful in its hunt for hydrocarbons off Greenland, has roped in Statoil for exploration in the region. Continue reading here..

Oil & Gas Discoveries in West Africa in 2011

A study using the ‘docsearch tool’ by Derrick Petroleum Services reveals that there were 40 successful wells drilled in West Africa.

Out of these, 2 were in the Cote d’Ivoire, 2 in Sierra Leone, 7 in Mauritania, 17 in Ghana, and 1 in Guinea Bissau. 14 were exploration wells and the remaining were appraisals.

13 were operated by Kosmos, while 10 were drilled by Tullow.

A few of these discoveries are listed below
Operator
Name
Country
Anadarko Petroleum
Mercury
Sierra Leone
Anadarko Petroleum
Venus B-1
Sierra Leone
Dana Petroleum
Cormoran
Mauritania
Dana Petroleum
Aigrette
Mauritania
Dana Petroleum
Pelican
Mauritania
Eni
Gye Nyame-1
Ghana
Eni
Sankofa-1A
Ghana
Eni
Sankofa-2
Ghana
Hess
Paradise-1
Ghana
Kosmos Energy
Makore 
Ghana
Kosmos Energy
Banda West
Ghana
Kosmos Energy
Teak-1
Ghana
Kosmos Energy
Akasa-1 
Ghana
Kosmos Energy
Teak-2
Ghana
Kosmos Energy
Mahogany-5
Ghana


Source: Derrick Petroleum 'DocSearch'

To get more information on exploration in West Africa use the new Derrick OIl & Gas search tool. A sample search for West Africa is provided in the link below. 


Apache doubles acreage in Anadarko Basin through $2.85B acquisition of Cordillera Energy Partners

Apache Corp has agreed to acquire Cordillera Energy Partners for $2.85 billion.  Cordillera is largely owned by private equity firm EnCap Investments LP and other institutional investors. Continue reading here..

Over a Billion Dollar worth E&P Opportunities in Middle East

As on 23-Jan-2012, there are 10 opportunities recorded in Derrick’s ‘Deals in Play’ database for the region of Middle East. Most opportunities are in Kurdistan region, Iraq (6), followed by Oman (3) and Israel (1). Continue reading here..

Shell to spend $1 billion in Nova Scotia

Shell has planned to spend around C$1 billion on deepwater oil exploration off the coast of Nova Scotia. Shell bid C$970 million for four offshore parcels more than 125 miles from Nova Scotia's coast. It's the largest amount ever spent on offshore drilling rights on Canada's east coast, and represents a gamble on an underexplored deepwater frontier for Shell.

"This particular area where the four licenses have been awarded is an underexplored area ... there hasn't been any drilling on those four parcels and there's limited data available," said Stuart Pinks, chief executive of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, which awarded the licenses.

The Nova Scotia government recently estimated that its offshore region potentially contains 120 trillion cubic feet of gas and 8 billion barrels of oil.

Find out more presentations on Shell:
http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/q/shell/document/4/page/0/


Woodside provides production outlook for 2012

Woodside has provided with a combined production target of 73 to 81 mmboe for 2012 which will be higher that its 2011 production of 65 mmboe. The major ramp up is about to come from the Pluto project which will start in Apr 2012 and as per the company will contribute roughly 18 mmbbls during the year in addition to 58 mmboe expected to come from its currently producing projects.


For information on Woodside, use the new Oil and gas search tool:
http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/q/woodside/document/4/page/0/

Ophir Energy to begin 3 well drilling program in West Africa in April 2012


Ophir Energy today (23 Jan 2012) announced it has contracted the Eirik Raude Ocean rig to begin a three well drilling campaign in Equatorial Guinea. 
Ophir plans a 60 day programme beginning in April 2012 of three firm wells, plus one contingent well in its operated Block R. The wells are designed to delineate sufficient additional gas reserves and facilitate a fast-track gas development. To date, Ophir has drilled two gas discoveries in Block R. 


For more information on Ophir Energy or exploration in West Africa, use the Derrick Petroleum ‘DocSearch’ tool, an easier and faster method to view company documents. Click on the link below for a sample search on ‘West Africa’


Apache increases liquids-rich assets in Anadarko Basin with the acquisition of Cordillera Energy


Apache is back with the big acquisition of privately owned Cordillera Energy Partners for $2.85 billion. In the last two years, Apache strengthened its US position through the acquisition of Devon’s GoM Shelf assets for $1.1B, Mariner Energy for $3.9B and BP’s Permian Basin for $3.1B.

Cordillera Energy has assembled assets across Granite Wash,Tonkawa, Cleveland and Marmaton plays. Apache doubles its acreage in a highly liquids-rich fairway in the Anadarko Basin though this acquisition.

Click here for more presentations on Apache: http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/company/31/document/4/

Statoil to partner Cairn in Greenland exploration

Cairn Energy has agreed to sell 30.6% working interest in the Pitu oil and gas exploration block off the west coast of Greenland to StatoilCairn will retain exploration operatorship, with 56.875% interest in the block, while Statoil will operate any future development. Nunaoil has an ongoing 12.5% interest in the block.


Two drilling campaigns by Cairn worth $1.2 billion in 2010 and 2011, have so far failed to yield commercial quantities of oil and gas, although the company says it has been encouraged by some hydrocarbon finds and would look to bring in partner firms to conduct further searches.



Source: Cairn Energy


To learn more about Cairn Energy's future strategies around the globe, please view its latest presentations using our new search tool:


http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/q/Cairn/document/4/page/0/