Rig: Blackford Dolphin

Cairn announces further delay to Spanish

Providence Resources P.l.c., (“Providence”) the Irish oil and gas exploration and appraisal company, has noted the operational update provided by Cairn Energy this morning on activities in Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/04 (“the licence”), which is located c. 175 km off the west coast of Ireland in the northern Porcupine Basin. Capricorn Ireland Limited (38%, Operator (wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC)) operates the licence on behalf of its partners, Providence Resources (58%), and Sosina Exploration (4%). In this morning’s announcement, Cairn Energy has advised that an appraisal/exploration well on (FEL) 2/04, originally planned for 2015, has been deferred, pending discussions with partners and the Government of the Republic of Ireland. The well which was originally planned to be spud in August 2014 with the Blackford Dolphin, was originally deferred as the rig incurred additional time in the shipyard and has now been deferred again.

'Blackford Dolphin' Ireland contract cancelled for 2014

Providence Resources P.l.c., (Providence) the Irish oil and gas exploration and appraisal company, whose shares are quoted in London (AIM) and Dublin (ESM), provides an operational update on activities in FEL 2/04, FEL 4/08 and FEL 1/14 (the licences), which are all located within Quadrant 35 in the northern Porcupine Basin. Capricorn Ireland Limited (38%, Operator (wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC)) operates these licences on behalf of its partners, Providence Resources (32%), Chrysaor E&P Ireland (26%) and Sosina Exploration (4%). The licences, which cover an area of c. 2,000 km2, are located c. 175 km off the west coast of Ireland in water depths of c. 400 metres. The Operator has advised that the Spanish Point appraisal well will not be drilled in 2014, as previously planned. Extensive delays in the refurbishment of the ‘Blackford Dolphin’ drilling rig which had been scheduled to drill the well, mean that drilling operations would not be able to commence until at least October, thereby putting the Spanish Point drilling operations into the winter period. Accordingly, the Operator has advised that the contract with Dolphin for the Blackford Dolphin has been terminated and tendering for another rig to carry out the planned well operations in 2015 has commenced. Separately, the Operator has confirmed that, subject to regulatory approval, a large 3D seismic acquisition programme over blocks 35/13, 35/14, 35/15, 35/18 and 35/19 in FEL 1/14 (Spanish Point South) will go ahead this summer.

'Blackford Dolphin' leaves North Ireland shipyard

The ‘Blackford Dolphin’ oil rig which dominated the Belfast skyline for the last six months has left Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries Ltd’s (H&W) shipyard. The unit is now enroute to the North Sea to begin a single well contract with MPX North Sea. Upon departure the unit left a £50,000 cash donation to be shared between two Northern Ireland charities. Dolphin Drilling Ltd (Dolphin) the owners of the departed ‘Blackford Dolphin’ oil rig, to convert the value of scrap metal from the project to make £25,000 available each to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) and CLIC Sargent, the children’s charity. David McVeigh, H&W head of sales and marketing, says the donation is a very welcome way to mark the successful completion of this very important project.

Cairn pushes back appraisal well drilling in Ireland

Cairn Energy Plc (Cairn) today announced that the company’s planned timetable for the drilling of an appraisal well at the Spanish Point gas condensate discovery is ‘under review’. In the company’s interim management statement, Cairn highlighted that due to the fact that the ‘Blackford Dolphin’ rig is not yet ready, the company has put the well under review and it will now be drilled subject to rig scheduling and regulatory approval. It’s not yet clear whether Cairn has cancelled the contract or will defer contracting the unit to a later date. The ‘Blackford Dolphin’ has been undergoing class renewal work since November 2013 at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Work on the unit has been extended by two months at an additional cost of US$70m, taking the whole project cost up to US$195m.

Chevron contracts 'Blackford Dolphin' for future UK drilling operations

Fred Olsen Energy has secured a charter contract with Chevron for its ‘Blackford Dolphin’ semisub in the UK North Sea. Chevron has contracted the ‘Blackford Dolphin’ for a 572 day period beginning in Q2 2015 with a total contract value of US$255 million and US$11 million worth of rig upgrades. The contract also contains between 300 and 700 days’ worth of option periods for Chevron to exercise to extend the contract. Chevron plans to use the rig to drill on a number of UK fields during the contract.

'Blackford Dolphin' signed up for second contract in three days

The semisubmersible ‘Blackford Dolphin’ has been awarded its second drilling contract in three days after it was awarded a nine month future contract for drilling activity in the UK. The contract is for a firm period of nine months and is valued at US$115 million with the commencement of the contract expected to come in direct continuation of the previous contract signed on the 9th July 2013 with MPX and Capricorn. The operator for this contract has yet to be released, but it means the unit is now fully contracted out through 2014 and for the first quarter of 2015 also.

'Blackford Dolphin' contracted for two well drilling campaign in UK and Ireland

Dolphin Drilling a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Energy has announced that the company’s semisubmersible drilling unit the ‘Blackford Dolphin’, has been awarded a two well contract for drilling operations in the UK and Ireland. The unit which is currently coming to the end of a four year stay in Brazil will be mobilised back to the UK for its five year class survey, after which it will drill for MPX North Sea before moving onto drilling for Capricorn Ireland (Cairn Energy). The contract is for a firm five month period beginning in Q1 2014 with an estimated value of US$67 million.

Oil find near Peregrino

A new oil find has been made by Statoil immediately adjacent the Peregrino field in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil. An exploration well drilled in the Peregrino South structure a few kilometres south of Peregrino has encountered oil in sandstones of the Carapebus geological formation. A significant gross oil column of 130 metres has been proven in the well and further work will be performed to confirm the volumes. The drilling operation is still ongoing to penetrate deeper reservoir units and explore additional upside potential below the main reservoir unit. Significant upside “The results confirm the significant potential in the Peregrino area and underline the beliefs we have had in the upside,” says Tim Dodson, executive vice president for Exploration in Statoil. “The well verifies the upside potential and will together with the Peregrino Southwest discovery from 2007 play an important role in further development of the Peregrino area.” “The results will indeed be implemented into our plans for further development of the field,” says Kjetil Hove, head of Statoil’s Brazil activities and vice president in the company’s Development and Production International business area. Following the completion of the Peregrino South well, one additional appraisal well in the Peregrino Southwest structure will be drilled to conclude the overall size of the new development. Oil production from the Peregrino field started last week and will gradually ramp up to a plateau of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, making Statoil an important long-term operator and partner in Brazil’s growing oil and gas industry. The initial development of the field is estimated to contain 300 to 600 recoverable million barrels of oil equivalents, and the new discovery will add additional volumes going forward. Drilling of the well is being carried out by the Blackford Dolphin rig at a water depth of 120 metres. Operated by Statoil, the Peregrino field is 85 kilometres off the Brazilian coast from Rio de Janeiro. In May 2010 Statoil sold a 40% stake of the Peregrino field to the Sinochem Group. Statoil holds 60% ownership and the operatorship of the field and Sinochem the remaining 40%. The closing of the transaction is pending governmental approvals.

Hyedua-2 appraisal well flows at 16,750 barrels of oil per day (bopd)

Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) announces that the Hyedua-2 well, which has been drilled to appraise the Jubilee field offshore Ghana, flowed at a stable rate of 16,750 bopd. This result confirms good reservoir connectivity and very high productivity and also indicates that future production well deliverability will be in excess of 20,000 bopd. The Hyedua-2 appraisal well, which lies in the Deepwater Tano licence, has been drilled to a total depth of 3,663 metres by the Blackford Dolphin rig in a water depth of 1,246 metres. The well intersected 55 metres of high quality oil bearing reservoir sandstones of which a 41 metre section has been production tested. Three flow tests were conducted and a maximum rate of 16,750 bopd of 37 degree API gravity crude oil and 21 million cubic feet per day of associated natural gas was achieved through a 88/64” choke with a tubing head pressure of 1,380 pounds per square inch. This confirms that Jubilee is a highly productive reservoir and that once the wells have been configured for long-term production they will be capable of producing at rates in excess of 20,000 bopd. Hyedua-2 is located on the north-west flank of the field and the excellent reservoir properties measured during this flow test are expected to be even better in the core area of the field. Stable oil and gas flow rates were maintained throughout the tests and the pressure data indicates that it is connected to a large pore volume. This excellent reservoir continuity enhances our expectation of connectivity between the planned production and injection wells and we are currently assessing the positive impact on Phase 1 reserves. The combination of outstanding reservoir productivity and continuity is very encouraging for Phase 1 of the Jubilee development which remains on schedule for first oil in the second half of 2010. The Hyedua-2 well will now be suspended, as planned, for later completion as a production well. Tullow (49.95%) operates the Deepwater Tano licence. Other partners include Kosmos Energy (18%), Anadarko Petroleum (18%), Sabre Oil & Gas (4.05%) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) (10% carried interest). Tullow is also the Unit Operator of the Jubilee field.