UPSTREAM NEWS

Joe Biden’s move to block the $9 billion Keystone XL project is the clearest sign yet that constructing a major new pipeline in the U.S. has become an impossible task. Even before Biden’s inauguration, the oil and gas industry was on its back foot when it came to building major new infrastructure.

A few days ago, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and BP announced the start of production from the R Cluster. It is an ultra-deepwater gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India. it is located at a depth of more than 2,000 meters, making R Cluster the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. RIL and BP are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6.

A big decision comes the industry's way as Denmark decides to retire from the North Sea. On Thursday, the Danish Parliament voted in favour of ending the offshore oil and gas extraction. The nation has cancelled it's latest licensing round, saying the country is "now putting an end to the fossil fuel era". Currently, one-third of Denmark's electricity production derives from wind turbines.

OPEC+ fears the second wave of COVID-19. The cartel is particularly troubled due to the jump in Libyan output. On Thursday, the Joint Technical Committee held a virtual meeting to discuss the issues. "In particular, a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the world and prospects for partial lockdowns in the coming winter months could compound the risks to economic and oil demand recovery," said the panel.

Seabed Geosolutions has been awarded a survey contract in the Brazilian waters. The company will have to perform a baseline 4D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey and a future 4D monitor OBN survey. The operations will be performed in water depths over 2,200m. "We are delighted to be awarded another high-profile, deepwater OBN project in Brazil", said the company. Seabed is a joint venture between Fugro and CGG.

Ithaca Energy has awarded a five-year integrated services contract to oilfield services provider Petrofac. According to the contract, Petrofac will integrate operations, as well as provide maintenance, engineering and construction services for Ithaca’s North Sea assets. Petrofac will also provide onshore and offshore technical support across all of the Ithaca’s North Sea operated asset base. Ithaca Energy has working interests in 18 offshore producing fields in the UK North Sea.

Well-Safe Solutions has acquired the harsh-environment jack-up West Epsilon from deepwater drilling contractor Seadrill. Well-Safe Solutions noted that the rig will be refurbished and renamed ‘Well-Safe Protector’. Operations on the upgrade of the company’s first rig Well-Safe Guardian were paused earlier this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, operations are restarting, and the company expects to deploy both Guardian and Protector early next year.

The contractor has downplayed an incident that took place during work to dismantle what’s left of the Buchan Alpha oil rig. A video appears to show a worker attempting to run to safety when the structure he’s cutting into with a blowtorch, in waters off Shetland, becomes detached and off-balance. No one was injured and the Health and Safety Executive has not been involved.

More than one-fifth of U.S. offshore oil production and exporting ports were shut in lieu of Hurricane Sally which will make landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Sally was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane and could strengthen further before making landfall late on Tuesday. 21% of offshore crude oil production and 25% of natural gas output were shut in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Kosmos Energy has agreed to sell certain exploration assets worth $200 million in Africa and South America to Royal Dutch Shell. Kosmos plans to use up to one-third of the initial sale proceeds of $100 million to test two high-quality infrastructure-led exploration prospects in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell will acquire the company’s participating interest in blocks offshore São Tomé and Príncipe, Suriname, Namibia and South Africa.

Cairn has signed an agreement to sell its entire Senegalese stake to Woodside Energy. Cairn at first was planning to sell its 40% of the Senegalese stake to Lukoil in a deal worth up to $400m, but Woodside had exercised its right to pre-empt the transaction on the same terms and conditions. Woodside Energy will hold a 68.3% stake in the main Sangomar deepwater project and a 75% stake in the remaining areas.

UK-based Geoteric has launched two new seismic interpretation products, Collaborative AI and Geoteric Stratum. Collaborative AI complements the existing Geoteric workflows. It enhances traditional interpretation, and efficiently extracts faults from seismic data. While, Geoteric Stratum is a new cloud-based AI software that delivers simple usability and even greater detail for fault identification, reservoir compartmentalization, and well trajectory planning. Geoteric's products enable faster and more accurate results.

Ancient artefacts have been discovered on the seabed off Australia’s west coast. This discovery has opened up a new frontier for resource companies to look out for in conserving indigenous heritage. In July, archaeologists stumbled upon hundreds of stone tools submerged off the Dampier Archipelago in Western Australia, showing evidence of people living in the area when it was dry land more than 7,000 years ago.

Total has resigned from its role as operator of five exploration blocks in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, 120 kilometers offshore Brazil. The area may contain as many as 14 billion barrels of petroleum. Environmentalists, however, have tried to prevent oil exploration in the area, which is home to a sizeable reef. A new operator will be appointed for the job in a period of six months.

Saudi Aramco has discovered two new oil and gas fields in the northern regions. The new Abraq al-Toloul oil field in the northern city of Arar, flows with a daily rate of 3,189 bpd, along with 3.5 million cubic feet of natural gas. Hadabat al Hajara gas field in the al-Jof region has a daily production rate of 16 million cubic feet of natural gas, along with 1944 bpd of oil condensate

Equinor has claimed a “world-first” with the use of a drone to deliver lifeboat system parts offshore. A drone flew from the Mongstad base to the Troll A platform in the North Sea. The flight spanning around 80 kilometers to the Troll field took about one hour, at an altitude of approx. 5000 feet. The flight was a test, the world’s first of its kind.

DOF Subsea has secured multiple new contracts worth $110m from Brazilian firm Petrobras. According to the contract, DOF Subsea will provide survey and inspection services within its core service lines. These operations will be performed in the Campos, Santos, and Espírito Santos basins, as well as Marlin Field. The contract works are expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year.

Kongsberg Digital and ABB Turbocharging have signed a collaboration agreement on edge data collection and ship engine performance analysis. They plan to work towards a common data infrastructure and accelerate the development of value-added digital applications and services. The collaboration will enable ABB Turbocharging to use Kongsberg Digital’s data infrastructure solution for vessels, which runs on Kongsberg Digital’s Kognifai ecosystem.