EGAS: To issue new oil & gas exploration tenders in 2018

 

 

 

EGAS: To issue new oil & gas exploration tenders in 2018

EGAS plans to issue new oil and gas exploration tenders in 2018, an unnamed company official tells Al Shorouk.

It was reported last month that EGAS was planning to issue global tenders for the West Mediterranean concession once Norwegian firm PGS releases the results of its seismic survey for the area before the end of FY2017-18.

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Magseis: Financial Calendar

 

 

 

Magseis: Financial Calendar FY2017

  • 02.11.2017 – Quarterly Report – Q3 
  • 23.02.2018 – Quarterly Report – Q4

Magseis will report third quarter 2017 financial result 2 November 2017

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Jamaica: Search For Oil In Jamaican Waters Intensifies

 

 

 

Jamaica: Search For Oil In Jamaican Waters Intensifies

The search for oil in Jamaican territorial waters has intensified with the British exploration firm, , announcing that it is moving to three-dimensional (3D) seismic surveys.

Energy Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley says Tullow has been encouraged by the findings from 18 months of 2D surveys and have decided to move to 3d surveys.

Addressing the official opening of the inaugural yesterday in , Wheatley said this is the first time since the search for oil and gas began in Jamaican waters that a company has decided to carry-out a detailed survey of the offshore.

He says the development will send a signal to other prospective explorers to consider Jamaica.

The Energy Minister says this will also enhance efforts by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica to enlist other explorers to take up the remaining 20 offshore blocks.

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Statoil: Latest North Sea find “signal of confidence” for North Sea

 

 

 

Statoil: Latest North Sea find “signal of confidence” for North Sea

The struggling North Sea has been given a long awaited “signal of confidence” needed to bring back investment following the oil and gas downturn.

The industry was left reeling following the crude price plunge that started in 2014 and continues to hamper spending in the sector.

Trade body Oil and Gas UK warned in its latest economic report, published last month, that fresh capital investment was needed “urgently” in order to squeeze every last drop out of the North Sea.

Capital expenditure on the UK continental shelf was £8.3bilion in 2016, down from a high of £15billion in 2014.

But a raft of new developments coming onstream this year, coupled with Statoil’s latest multi-million barrel North Sea oil announced yesterday, could be the confidence boost needed to bring back investors, according to industry leaders.

The Verbier prospect is the result of five years of hard work in the UK North Sea for the state run oil firm.

The Norwegian operator announced yesterday it had discovered up to 25 million barrels of reserves after drilling a sidetrack on the well in the outer Moray Firth.

Analysis of the data is still to be carried out but the reservoir has the potential for up to 130 million barrels, the firm claims.

Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, said: “This is good news from Statoil and partners and we now really hope that the find proves to be commercially appealing and proceeds to development.

“It’s also another signal of confidence in the future of the UK Continental Shelf and the kind of development that should further persuade investors of the benefit of putting their money into this basin which still holds billions of barrels of oil and gas.”

North Sea regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority also welcomed Statoil’s announcement yesterday.

An OGA spokesperson said: “This successful appraisal is great news for the North Sea and demonstrates once again there is considerable exploration potential remaining on the UK Continental Shelf, with a number of plays and prospects yet to be exploited.”

Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse welcomed the announcement, which he said “highlights the significant potential for oil and gas which still exists under Scotland’s waters”.

He said: “With the right fiscal and regulatory environment, Scotland’s offshore oil and gas industry has a bright future, with up to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent remaining under the North Sea and in the wider basin.

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Schlumberger: Borr raises $650 mln in share issue, proceeds with Sembcorp rig deal

 

 

 

Schlumberger: Borr raises $650 mln in share issue, proceeds with Sembcorp rig deal

* Successful completion of equity offering through subscription and allocation of 162,500,000 new shares at a subscription price of usd 4.00 per share, raising gross proceeds of usd 650 million

* ‍equity offering was substantially oversubscribed. Borr drilling and Sembcorp unit PPL will proceed with sale and purchase of nine jack-up rigs

* ABG Sundal Collier ASA, Clarksons Platou Securities AS, DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, Fearnley Securities AS, Pareto Securities AS, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB and Sparebank 1 Markets AS acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners for the Equity Offering

* Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Limited and companies associated with Mr Tor Olav Troeim have, based on pre- subscription agreements, been allocated a participation in the Equity Offering in the amount of USD 50 million and USD 25 million, respectively.

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TGS: An Oil Data Service Provider Geared And Ready For A Cyclical Upswing

 

 

 

TGS: An Oil Data Service Provider Geared And Ready For A Cyclical Upswing

  • TGS is an asset light company with a strong balance sheet, which has protected it during the bust of the investment cycle in the oil exploration industry.
  • Counter-cyclical capital expenditures means that the company’s data library is fresh and up-to-date for the potential recovery.
  • Many competitors are either in default or near default, which could lead to market share gains for TGS Nopec.
  • Investment activity will pick up at oil prices in the range of $50-$60 and above.
  • The normalized P/E of TGS Nopec is ~11x.

TGS Nopec Geophysical ASA  is a Norwegian oil data provider that is the result of a merger with U.S.-based TGS and Norwegian Nopec in the year 1998. The company’s main product is refined data covering land or sea-based oil reserves (the latter being the main focus), which it sells to customers involved in oil exploration. Oil companies have two alternatives for obtaining data from TGS. Customers can either directly contract TGS, which in turn acquires the data, performs the post-processing and then transfers the right of ownership to the client.

This model is more expensive for the customer, as they pay the full price for the job performed by TGS and in addition they have to store and maintain a database. Alternatively, they can opt for a multi-client solution, in which the company finances a fraction of the total project costs upfront. The total investment is thus smaller, but the customers do not get full ownership of the acquired data. Ownership is retained at TGS, which then sells this same data to other interested parties.

TGS Nopec is specialized in the second alternative, the so-called multi-client business model, as it allows the company to generate more return on investment by selling the same data to multiple customers. Only 3% of the total revenue is derived from the proprietary model; the rest is multi-client data. The company employs a strict ROI discipline in its multi-client investment projects, by following the stated goal to only undertake projects that are able to earn a sales return of 2 to 2.5 times’ investment.

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OGA: Chair of the Oil and Gas Authority

 

 

OGA: Chair of the Oil and Gas Authority

 

The Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) role is to regulate, influence and promote the UK oil and gas industry in order to maximise the economic recovery of the country’s oil and gas resources. The OGA is a progressive and highly effective authority which, by attracting investment and jobs, helps to anchor valuable skills and expertise in the UK.

As a Government Owned Company, the OGA works closely with, but has operational independence from the sponsor department – BEIS (the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy).

The OGA Board is accountable for decisions and approving work related to the UK’s oil and gas production licensing regime, and ensures the appropriate governance and controls are in place for the organisation to achieve its goals.

The OGA is largely funded by an industry levy and it is based in Aberdeen with a further office in London. It is expected that the OGA will remain a lean organisation with no more than 179 staff.

The OGA has set out its 5 year plan and annual priorities, including how the body will work with governments in Westminster and Holyrood, industry, and other stakeholders to achieve the overall goal of maximising economic recovery.

The responsibilities of the Chair of the Oil and Gas Authority

The Chair of the OGA will have the following responsibilities:

  • Effective, cooperative and inclusive leadership of the Board that will provide sound strategic direction. This includes enabling a high standard of discussion, helping to steer the OGA by collaborative working across Government and industry, ensuring that systems are in place to provide Board members and Executive with the support they need to carry out their roles;
  • Working with the Board and Nominations Committee to ensure that the Board and Executive have an appropriate and diverse range of skills, experience, and outlook;
  • Offer support and counsel to the Executive team while providing constructive challenge on the delivery of the OGA Plan;
  • Maintaining clear and effective channels of communication with internal and external stakeholders, engaging in stakeholder networking to ensure the success of the OGA’s objectives; and
  • Acting as an Ambassador for the OGA, promoting its reputation across government and in industry.

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Bangladesh: Uncertainty over exploration in Bay

 

 

 

Bangladesh: Uncertainty over exploration in Bay

The prospect of oil and gas exploration in the deep sea of Bay of Bengal is now uncertain, as the Energy Division has failed to take a final decision on the issue for several years. Sources said the Energy Division has cancelled the previous decision to conduct a two-dimensional non-exclusive multi-client survey in the Bay of Bengal. The division took three years, but made no final decision. Policymakers have been thinking about buying an expensive survey vessel over the last few months. But the Energy Division has been divided into two groups on whether it will be new or old.

“The total scenario is frustrating as the government has failed to start any exploration in the Bay of Bengal. Yet, Myanmar hit gas reserves more than 10 years ago along the Bangladesh sea border in Rakhine,” said an Energy Division official.

Bangladesh has 11 blocks for oil and gas exploration in the deep sea along the Myanmar and India border. Among these, six prospective blocks are on the border with Myanmar. Of the six blocks, only one was awarded to the Korean company Daewoo Corporation. This international oil company (IOC) was also involved at the Shwe gas field in Rakhine state.

“The government is preparing to import LNG (liquefied natural gas) from Qatar and other countries next April. Yet, they haven’t made any concrete decision to explore oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal,” said Dr M Tamim, an energy expert and professor at Bangladesh Engineering University.

“A lack of decision will bring nothing but economic loss for Bangladesh, as Myanmar and India got gas reserves in the Bay of Bengal a few years ago. But we’re still sleeping and not taking any proper decision,” he fumed. The Petrobangla

official said that though Bangladesh won the legal battle with Myanmar over the maritime boundary dispute in the Bay of Bengal—the international tribunal verdict went in favour of the country in March, 2012—the country failed to get proper data to obtain the hydrocarbon reserve. But Myanmar hit a big gas reserve in 2004 in Rakhine state, which is very close to the Bangladesh sea border.

Sources said the cabinet committee headed by the law minister failed to select a qualified company to conduct a two-dimensional non-exclusive multi-client survey in the Bay of Bengal.

An Energy Division official said they did not get any report from the committee with a comment on choosing the company.

Officials alleged that vested interests are pushing a bid by Spec Partners, a survey company that was deemed unfit for the job. So strong is this lobby that the government was pushed to form a cabinet committee, even though the selection committee had chosen TGS-Schlumberger JV.

Sarwar Jahan, the director (PSC) of Petrobangla, refused to comment on the issue. “But I can tell you that the government is serious about exploring the Bay of Bengal,” he claimed.

In 2014, the state-owned energy company Petrobangla started the process of appointing an international surveyor. It received all bid documents by February 8, 2015. After verification, Petrobangla recommended awarding the survey to TGS-Schlumberger JV. But the Prime Minister’s Office did not approve the file and it returned to the same desk. In this round, Spec Partners was not recommended, as it failed to fulfil the criteria for the survey.

On December 10, 2015, Petrobangla again floated an international tender for the survey. This time, the government got proposals from five bidders—TGS-Schlumberger JV, Marine Arctic Geological Expedition Joint Stock Company, BGP Inc.–China National Petroleum Corp., DMNG Company, and Spec Partners.

After evaluation by the Petrobangla committee, on the basis of the survey volume, acquisition and processing parameters, specifications of vessels, profit share to Petrobangla, and training to Petrobangla, the TGS-Schlumberger JV again emerged as the frontrunner with a score of 94.04 out of 100.

Again, Petrobangla recommended TGS-Schlumberger JV for the survey work, quashing Spec Partners’ bid, as the firm had failed to furnish valid documents.

The evaluation committee, in its summary report prepared for the cabinet committee, noted that from 2009 to 2014, Spec Partners had carried out 30,212 line km (LKM) 2D multi-client seismic surveys in only three countries. The other bidders had much more experience.

In this long process, the Petrobangla did not get any response from the law ministry over procurement of survey vessel. Meanwhile, the Energy Division took 23 proposals from different companies to supply a survey vessel, which could cost Tk. 800 crore, on August 16, 2017.

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SPE: ATCE, San Antonio 9-11 Oct 17

 

 

ATCE is SPE’s annual meeting of members and features groundbreaking papers and special technical events designed to accelerate the application of innovations in every technical discipline. Attendees come from around the world to ATCE to keep up with the latest technologies, industry best practices, and new product launches.

Whether your goal is to cultivate relationships or spotlight your brand on the industry’s grandest stage, stake your presence where the industry’s present and future torchbearers will come together – at ATCE 2017.

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