Tullow Oil had a good week exploration in Africa last week with its deepwater Tweneboa 2 well confirming a major find and onshore Uganda the Kasamene 2 well firmed a discovery also.
Offshore Norway rigs, Aker Barents and Transocean Leader received new drilling consents, while the Bredford Dolphin has been hired for two new UK West of Shetlands wells by Hurricane Exploration.  And a new tender was issued for the Wave Hub renewable energy test bed off the UK coast in Cornwall.

EXPLORATION

Tweneboa 2 confirms big oil
Operator Tullow Oil appears to be sitting on a major new oil find with the results of the Tweneboa 2 well offshore Ghana which has hit a huge 153 metres (501  ft) payzone.
Tullow said today after drilling the Tweneboa 2 exploration and appraisal well, that results have  indicated a major oil, gas and condensate field.
Tweneboa 2 hit gross pay of 153 m (501 ft)  with 32 metres (104 ft) of net hydrocarbon in a stacked reservoir sand, with a 17 m (55 ft) oil-bearing zone below a 15 m (49/2 ft) gas and condensate  zone.
“A combined hydrocarbon column of at least 350 metres ((1,140 ft) has been established between the lowest known oil in Tweneboa-2 and the top of the gas-condensate at Tweneboa-1,” British-based Tullow Oil stated.

Exxon and Statoil get drilling consent
Exxon and Statoil got consent to start exploration drilling in the North Sea with the rigs Aker Barents and Transocean Leader.
Aker Barents will drill exploration well 25/10-10 for Exxon, two nautical miles west of the Balder field.
And the Transocean Leader is start drilling exploration well 15/3-9, in the Southern North Sea, about  12 km (7.5 miles) north of Glitne.

More African oil for Tullow
There was more good news from Tullow Oil today on its Kasamene 2 exploration well which has helped to firm up an early development plan for Uganda's block 2 are after hitting 132 metes (432 ft) of gross pay.
After reporting the success with the Tweneboa 2 deepwater well offshore Ghana which confirmed a big oil find, Tullow said Kasamena 2 hit 39 metres (128 ft) of net oil and 8 m (26 ft) of net gas in block 2 in the Butiaba region of Uganda, after the well was drilled to a depth of 866 m (2,840 ft).
“Results of wireline logging, pressure surveys and fluid sampling have confirmed the presence of oil and gas,” Tulllow stated today. “Reservoir quality is excellent and the net pay thickness is the largest encountered in the Butiaba area to date.”

Premier spells out drilling plans for 2010
British-based Premier indicated the wells it intends to drill in the North Sea this year in both the UK and Norwegian sectors where it intends to prove up previous discoveries or search for new resources.
After drilling 12 wells in 2009, at a cost of US $110 million – of which eight were successful, Premier indicated it intends to drill another 12 wells this year, with a planned spend of $150 m.
Five exploration wells are destined for the Norwegian sector of the North Sea and three for the UK sector, with other wells planned for Indonesia and Pakistan.
Norway wells will target Gardofa, Gnatcatcher, Blabaer, Greater Luno – for which results were recently published by Lundin Petroleum - and there will also be a Grosbeak appraisal well.
Blabaer and Greater Luno are scheduled for first quarter, Gardofa and Gnatcatcher in the third quarter, and the Grosbeak appraisal is due in the fourth quarter.
Offshore the UK, Premier's wells include an appraisal of the Bugle prospect, plus others on Catcher and Oates – for which a licence deal was recently done. The Bugle well is due in the first quarter, while Catcher is scheduled for the second quarter, and Oates is due in either the second or third quarter.

New Uganda well next month
London-listed Global Petroleum signalled that a new exploration well will kick off in Uganda next month.
Global says the Aviva 1 exploration well in Exploration Area 5 in Uganda is due expected to start in early February once approval for an environmental impact study has been received and a land rig is delivered to the well site.

FIELD DEVELOPMENT

Sevan secures new Frøy-deal
Sevan Marine will consider using one of its FPSOs at the Frøy field in the North Sea after Det norske oljeseselskap awarded a pre-FEED/FEED study contract to the company.
The study will be carried out during first half of 2010 and is focused on maturing the concept to the level required for a potential contract and to provide necessary input to the development plan to be submitted by Det norske to the Norwegian authorities.

WEATHERFORECAST

Icelandic Low
A strong Low is located just west of Iceland and is headed northeast towards Svalbard
This Low is expected to influence the weather in the Norwegian Sea and northern parts of the North Sea already Monday evening and Tuesday. The wind will increase in strength from a southwesterly direction and are expected to reach 30-40 knots at times on Tuesday.
As the Low is closing in on Svalbard on Tuesday, winds will also start to strengthen in the Barents Sea. These winds will most likely reach severe Gale Force with 45-50 knots Tuesday forenoon and afternoon for the southwestern parts of the Barents Sea and give waves (Hs) reaching up to 9-10 meters.
Prognoses indicate that the Low will move further east in the Barnets Sea on Wednesday and Thursday, giving a northwesterly flow across both the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. Still quite strong winds and the associated waves are expected to reach about 7-8 meters in the Norwegian Sea. This northwesterly flow is creating a relatively long fetch in the North Sea, with waves gradually increasing also further south in this ocean area.
The above mentioned Low brings milder weather in the start of this week, but as the wind veer northwest on Wednesday we expect gradually colder temperatures towards the weekend.

FINANCE

Norway has cash flow under control
A new report on the cash control in the Norwegian petroleum industry confirms Norway has a good control with the cash flow in the oil- and gas industry.
“Control with cash streams in the petroleum industry is important because these resources are crucial to Norwegian welfare and employment. I am content that the report confirms that we have a satisfactory audit system and control in place and transparency about the cash streams", says the Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Terje Riis Johansen, says in a press release from the Department.

COMPANY NEWS

Riverstone reels in Seajacks
Investment group Riverstone Holdings in the US completed a previously disclosed purchase of North Sea renewable installation contractor Seajacks International and plans a big investment to increase the number of offshore wind farm construction vessels.
Seajacks is being bought for a total of US $207 m which will be paid by US equity group Riverstone in cash and with the completion of the deal Seajacks becomes wholly owned by Riverstone.
With the purchase Riverstone acquires two major offshore installation vessels owned by Seajacks which are operated out of the UK port of Great Yarmouth on the UK east coast - the self-propelled jack up boats which Seajacks Kracken and the newer Seajacks Leviathan, which were both purpose-built for installation of offshore wind farm turbines.

Soco seeks new cash
London-based Soco International signalled its intention for a place of up to 7.23 million new shares to raise funds for its development of block 16-1 offshore Vietnam.
Soco was planning to issue up to 7,234,347 new shares to raise the cash which is for development and appraisal of block 16-1 where it is targeting production of 100,000 b/d - 50,000 b/d initially – which is scheduled to be brought onstream by mid 2011.
Funds raised from the new issue will also be used to fund up to five or six exploration “high-impact” wells in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Congo Brazzaville, targeting potential reserves of 700 m bbls.

Rising to a new structural challenge
Offshore service group Acteon launched a new business unit targeted at structural monitoring of offshore installations which will compete in the energy maintenance market.
Pulse structural monitoring is being spun-off from 2H Offshore as a separate unit aimed at provision of structural monitoring of existing oil and gas installations and wind turbine support structures, with aim of expanding and growing the existing number of customers

Settlement over cable case
Norway's Oceanteam reached a final settlement with a client in a legal dispute over a cable installation project it carried out for a Dutch company.
Oceanteam said it had agreed a “full and final amicable settlement” on all outstanding claims 
related to the cable installation project for the Near Shore Wind Park in The Netherlands, carried out on behalf of VOF BouwCombinatie Egmond.
Last September a court in Utrecht in The Netherlands ordered Oceanteam to pay €3.2 to BCE plus interest from May 2009, in relation to the case, but at the time, Oceanteam indicated it would appeal. Details of this final settlement have been kept confidential,

Bergen Group ensures Fosen activity
Bergen Group is to move most of the work related to advanced offshore construction vessels from its yard in Bergen to Fosen.
The relocation starts early March and secures activity in Bergen Group Fosen until the third quarter this year, the company stated.
CEO Pål Engebretsen says the relocation provides the company with optimal use of resources in a period with the highest level of activity in the company's shipbuilding division.

Executive shake-up for Endeavour
North Sea explorer Endeavour named a new head of its UK operations as part of a shake-up of its executive team.
With the appointment of an ex-Anadarko executive, Jame Emme, as executive vice president for North America to lead the company's operations there, Endeavour said John Williams will continue as executive vice president responsible for exploration, appraisal and sub-surface geoscience in the North Sea.
Carl Grenz, executive vice president of operations will maintain oversight of North Sea drilling, development and producition operations.

CONTRACTS

Cape captures more BP assets
Industrial service group Cape Plc won a £150 million deal to provide fabric maintenance support and deck operations services for BP in the North Sea covering all nine of its UK offshore assets.
Cape is already providing the same services to BP across six North Sea assets including the UK east coast  Dimlington terminal but the new deal extends Cape's coverage to include ETAP fields, Clair and the Andrew platforms.

Alliance selected for Statoil deep Gulf deal
Statoil signed up a subsidiary of Aberdeen-headquartered John Wood Group to support its exploration operations I the US Gulf of Mexico region.
Wood Group's Alliance Engineering in the US was selected by Statoil to provide engineering and designs services under a frame agreement for forthcoming developments which will encompass topsides engineering, design and project management.

Technip takes on Aseng award
Technip landed a deal to support Noble Energy's in block I offshore Equatorial Guinea with the award of a contract related to the deepwater Aseng deepwater field development.
Engineering, supply installation and commissioning of 30 km (18.75 miles) of flexible pipelines is to be provided by Technip under the deal.

Cosalt gets Subsea7 deal
Stavanger-based Cosalt Offshore Norge signed a two year agreement with Subsea 7, covering maintenance, storage and logistics of Subsea 7's equipment, incuding mobilisation.

Statoil deal to Goodtech
Goodtech received a deal with Statoil at the Vega field, covering definition and implemention of an integrated operation solution for the field, operated by GDF Suez, worth NKr 6.5 million.

HSE

Congratulations to Norway energy industry
Norwegian oil companies have  been congratulated for their transparency and ethical working practices by a US-based non-profit agency which monitors and promotes responsible management in the oil and gas sector.
According to the US-based Revenue Watch Institute, Norway has become the first European and OECD country to publish a report which details taxes and fees paid by oil companies to the government, for the year 2008, under the Extractive  Industries Transparency Initiative.
“The report makes Norway the first European and OECD country to issue payment figures in an EITI report, and marks the country's first disaggregated and reconciled tallying of tax revenues,” says the US group.

Improvements needed on Oseberg
The Norwegian Petroleum Safety identified three non-conformities and several potential for improvement related to emergency preparedness on Oseberg Field Centre.
The main focus of the audit of health-related preparedness was whether the company had management systems in place to ensure access to resources, the ability to handle situations and competence sufficient to meet the need for first aid, as well as treatment and transport in an emergency situation involving personal injury.

Island Offshore can improve
Island Offshore did not satisfy all the requirements of its maintenance management regulations according to the Petroleum Safety Norway (PSA).
During a recent audit of the management of maintenance in Island Offshore, the PSA noted that the company had implemented processes related to improvement and optimisation of maintenance management but did not fulfil all the requirements. The PSA discovered several non-conformities and one potential improvement.

LICENSING

Dunquin deal offered
ExxonMobil is seeking another farm-in partner for participation in planned drilling of the Dunquin gas and condensate prospect off the west coast of Ireland which is due to see an exploration well later this year.
Planning for a well on the Dunquin North prospect is underway and the target is estimated to contain 4 Tcf of gas and 156 m bbl of condensate.
ExxonMobil  signalled its desire to secure another farm-in partner to participate in the Dunquin North well and it is looking for another partner willing to take up to 10% equity in the prospect in exchange for paying some of the well costs.
Providence and Sosina were originally awarded the area licence in 2004 and Exxon acquired 80% equity in May 2006 and became operator in April 2008. In August last year Exxon divested 40% of the licence to Eni.

Agora secures work in the UK
Norwegian exploration company Agora Oil and Gas signed a farm-in agreement with Serica Energy (UK), covering East Irish Sea UK blocks 113/26b and 113/27c, which includes the Conan and Doyle prospects.
The Stavanger-based company will earn a 35% Interest in these blocks, in exchange for funding 70% of wells costs, and a well on Conan is due to be drilled in the second quarter. Serica will retain 65% equity and remain operator.
Conan is a high-potential Triassic Sherwood sand gas prospect, covering about 28 square km, Serica has indicated.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

New Deep Sea CFO
Deep Sea Supply appointed Espen Skadal as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Skadal, 40 was previously investment director in Agder Energi AS, where he headed the corporate finance business and was managing director of Agder Energi Venture AS. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH) and he will start in his new position in mid-March.
 
POLITICS

Embassy to improve energy trade
Norway is to open a new embassy in Kazakhstan which is expected to increase trade and improve the political ties between the two countries.
Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon will open the embassy in Astana next Friday. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and State Secretary Robin Martin Kåss in the Ministry for Petroleum and Energy will also attend the opening.

RIG NEWS

Borgsten Dolphin selected for Hurricane deal
Dolphin Drilling entered into a Letter of Intent with Hurricane Exploration PLC for the semi-submersible rig Borgsten Dolphin.
The rig has been hired for two wells in the UK sector, West of Shetland, and the contract is scheduled to start 1 May, taking 75 days, with a value of approximately US $19.6 million.

SEISMIC

Sicily Channel survey
Work commenced on a new seismic survey in the Sicily Channel region between the island and mainland Italy operated by Northern Petroleum over four licence blocks, in partnernship with Shell.
Northern said the new 3D programme - over the West Sicily Thrust belt - involves acquiring up to 1,520 sq. km of data across four licence blocks, as part of a work programme funded by Shell Italia with the aim of obtaining better quality data to define structures identified during two previous 2D campaigns and to finalise prospects for exploration drilling. Norway's PGS is carrying out the survey, operating with the M/V Atlantic Explorer.

UK survey to RXT
Reservoir Exploration Technology has bagged a survey contract in the UK valued at US $25 million. The multi-component seismic company is scheduled to start with the Ocean Pearl in the second quarter.

SHIPPING

New construction ship ordered
A new construction ship is due to enter the international offshore market after being ordered by a Singapore-based shipping group from an Asian shipyard.
Scottish Highlands International, a subsidiary Coastline Maritime Pte Limited in Singapore, which owns many of the vessels operating in the North Sea, placed an order with Drydocks World SouthEast Asia to build the new ultra-large offshore construction vessel.
Designed by Coastline Maritime, the new ship will be 210 m (688 ft long) and will have a 36 m (118 ft) beam, and will be capable of transiting the Panama Canal and will feature full DP3 capability.

RENEWABLES

Wave Hub tender re-issued
Britain's South West Regional Development Agency issued a new tender notice for the installation of the cables related to the Wave Hub project off the north coast of Cornwall which will provide a  test bed for renewable energy devices.
The tender is for the provision of offshore surveys, installation of a subsea cable and hub and associated works, which is to be completed in shallow water 16 km (10 miles) offshore from  Hayle in Cornwall.
Pre-installation and post-installation surveys are required as part of the deal on offer from the SWRDA , based in Exeter, in the UK.
Tender documents seen by Offshore247 show that the tender process is being managed by JP Kenny – with the project scope involving the collection of the 26 km (16.25 mile) subsea cable.
from Hartlepool in the UK,  load out and installation of the cable, along with installation of a subsea hub structure, in a water depth of up to 50 metres, plus near shore trenching operations and shore cable pull-in at Hoyle.
The estimated contract value is put at between £3.5 m and £5.5 m and the deadline for submission of tenders or requests for information on the contract have to be submitted to the South West Regional Development Agency by 1 February.

Britain and Denmark lead offshore wind
Together Britain and Denmark were at the top of a league table of offshore wind farm installers during 2009.
Last year Britain installed 84 turbines with generating capacity of 284.4 Megawatts and Denmark installed 98 turbines with 230 MW of generating capacity, putting the two countries way out in front compared with other leading European nations including Germany, Sweden and Norway.
The figures come from the European Wind Energy Association which monitored wind farms installation across Europe last year.

Research grant for renewables
Britain's Department for Energy and Climate Change issued a £1 m new research grant for work on renewable energy policy in the UK and the United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi's Masdar Institute and the DECC agreed to jointly-fund the renewable energy policy research, supporting the  International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) which advises countries seeking to enact renewable energy legislation, by examining domestic energy policy which promotes the deployment of renewable energy technology.