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----BP Sanctions Quick Development of Atoll Offshore Egypt
BP and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) have sanctioned development of the Atoll Phase One project in the North Damietta Offshore concession in the East Nile Delta.
Atoll Phase One is an early production scheme (EPS) involving the recompletion of the existing exploration well as a producing well, the drilling of two additional wells, and the installation of the necessary tie-ins and facilities required to produce from the field.
The Atoll wells will be drilled by Ensco’s DS-6 ultra-deepwater drillship, which arrived in Egypt last month and is expected to start drilling in August for roughly the next 24 months. The EPS is expected to bring up to 300 MMcf/d gross of gas to the Egyptian domestic gas market starting in the first half of 2018. BP has a 100% interest in the concession.
According to BP, success of the Atoll Phase One EPS could lead to further investment in the Atoll Phase Two full field development.
The Atoll field contains an estimated 1.5 tcf of gas and 31 MMbbl of condensates. Onshore processing will be handled by the existing West Harbour gas processing facilities.
Hesham Mekawi, regional president, BP North Africa, commented: “BP is proud to progress the acceleration of the Atoll project which will bring critical gas to the Egyptian market and establish a new material hub offshore East Nile Delta.
“Our confidence in the prospectivity of the area along with our ongoing commitment to Egypt and our successful history of partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum, EGPC and EGAS is allowing us to fasttrack Atoll from discovery to production in less than three years which is a significant achievement.”
BP announced the Atoll discovery in March 2015. The Atoll-1 deepwater exploration discovery well was drilled using the sixth-generation semisubmersible rig Maersk Discoverer. The exploration well reached a depth of 6,400 m (20,997 ft), and penetrated approximately 50 m (164 ft) of gas pay in high quality sandstones.
----Saudi Energy Minister Says Oil Glut Is Over
Saudi Arabia may return to its traditional role of balancing supply and demand.
Multiple news reports, including Reuters and the Houston Chronicle, cite the kingdom’s oil minister Khalid al-Falih as saying the global oil glut that has led to a steep fall in the price of the commodity over the past two years may be nearing an end.
“We are out of it. The oversupply has disappeared. We just have to carry the overhang of inventory for a while until the system works it out,” Falih said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. “The question now is how fast you will work off the global inventory overhang. That will remain to put a cap on the rate at which oil prices recover. We just have to wait for the second half of the year and next year to see how that works out.”
Saudi Arabia abandoned its role as a “swing producer” in late 2014, when it refused to unilaterally reduce oil production despite signs of an impending glut. This was a primary factor in the 70% drop in crude prices between September 2014 and the start of 2016, when they dropped to a 13-year low of less than $30/bbl.
“Despite the surplus in global oil production and lower prices, the focus of attention remains on countries such as Saudi Arabia which, due to its strategic importance, will be expected to balance supply and demand once market conditions recover,” Falih reportedly said following a meeting with officials of the US Department of Energy in Washington, D.C
----Aramco Discovers New Offshore Field
Saudi Aramco discovered three new oil fields last year, the company disclosed in its annual review, including the offshore Faskar accumulation, close to the Berri field.
The company continued exploration in the shallow waters of the Red Sea, and also completed its largest single survey of the seabed encompassing Saudi Arabian territorial water.
In addition, the company continued its “Maintain Potential” program. Last year, for example, the largest offshore tie-in platform to date, weighing more than 6,000 metric tons (6,614 tons), was installed on the Safaniyah field via the floatover method.
The platform serves as the main crude oil gathering and power supply hub for North Safaniyah. Power is supplied through a new 46-km (28.6-mi), 230-kV submarine cable – the longest of its kind in the world installed as a single piece without a field splice, the company claimed.
Aramco increased the computing capability of its Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center by 177% for reservoir simulations and by 76% in terms of seismic capacity.
These improvements have enabled significantly larger reservoir simulations and have reduced data processing times by a factor of 10, improving the company’s ability to model and characterize the performance of reservoirs over time to optimize field development and increase recovery.
The company dispensed with drilling rigs to replace downhole gauges by for the first time deploying gauges retrievable by wirelines at its offshore Marjan, Safaniyah, and Zuluf fields. The rigless approach is said to be safer and delivers cost savings by freeing up drilling rigs for other work.
Aramco is evaluating this method for possible deployment in other fields.
It also plans to commercialize its inflatable contingency ease scraper technology, which helps prevent production loss in offshore facilities, following a licensing agreement signed with a new company created by IK International in Norway and the Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures corporate capital venture subsidiary.
Finally, Wasit Gas Plant, one of Aramco’s largest non-associated gas plants, came onstream in October with supplies sourced entirely from the company’s offshore fields.
-----SSGC Asked to Utilize Idle Capacity of LNG Terminal
Pakistan’s federal government is pressing Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to enter into an agreement with Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL) to utilise the remaining capacity for handling imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), an official said.
At present, the terminal operated by ETPL at Port Qasim has the capacity to re-gasify 600 million cubic feet of LNG per day (mmcfd). It is processing 400 mmcfd according to an agreement with the government and could utilise the remaining volume for the private sector.
On behalf of the government, state marketing company Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is importing 300 mmcfd from Qatar and 100 mmcfd from Gunvor.
“ETPL has an unutilised capacity of 200 mmcfd since the start of operation in March 2015, which has put an extra burden on gas consumers,” an official said, adding the levellised tariff of the company was 66 cents per million British thermal units (mmbtu) but it could go down to 45 cents if the entire 600mmcfd capacity was utilised.
So, the consumers are paying around 20 cents per mmbtu in additional charges.