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West Africa

The panellists discussed the advantages of riserless over rig-based well intervention and why this is not being fully utilised in SSA. (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

‘Don’t be a dinosaur’: Rig vs Riserless in SSA

  • Region: West Africa
  • Date: Mar, 2021

SSA webinar

At the subsea sub-Saharan Africa well intervention webinar, hosted by Baker Hughes, Bayo Ojulari, Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), participated in a fiery discussion on the advantages of riserless light well intervention (RLWI) compared to rig-based, riser intervention alongside host Sola Adekunle, Managing Director of Cranium Engineering; Matt Vick, Senior Subsea Engineer at BP; and Feyi Okungbowa, Executive Director of Baker Hughes.

Beginning the session, host Adekunle, explained that since its introduction in the North Sea in the 1980’s more than 1,000 wells have been intervened across the world by means of RLWI bringing tangible benefits such as higher operator efficiency, lower spread rates and increased manoeuvrability. This begs the question, is it a no brainer? And if so, why in the SSA market, where wells are in dire need of optimisation (the average age of subsea wells will be the highest in the world by 2025), has RLWI been so underutilised?

The benefits of RLWI

Vick, certainly believed there was no question that RLWI was the way forward and commented, “BP has a long history with RLWI across the world and we are pushing for this to be used more. It is high capability, especially as wireline and E-line advances; it is more efficient; and has a lower cost in general.”

“A lot depends on the scope as well. You do lose some efficiency on downhole runs due to the fact you are recovering tool strings through open water and on a wireline run by wireline run basis it is a little bit slower. But you tend to gain this efficiency back when it comes to mobilisation and then getting the vessel offsite when the job is completed. So, you gain on the back end and beginning to offset the speed you lose in the middle (and you can even optimise the sequence in the middle). So even if it does take longer on the critical path, you will still have a lower spread rate and will achieve a big gain.”

As Vick outlined however, there are still some things where you do need a high pressure intervention riser like coil tubing and cement spotting, but really there is not a huge number of operations that riserless cannot accomplish outside the current realm of copper tubing. “Right now, BP’s push is to go with riserless systems as you can structure interventions to not require coil tubing or capabilities of heavier based solutions. You can accomplish 95% of your objectives at a much lower cost and this has been our push in shallow and deep water wells.”

“There are also safety benefits as well. With riser interventions you often have a direct conduit from well to the surface, meaning employees are working in close proximity to live well hydrocarbons. However, with riserless you don’t bring tool string back to the surface through a hydrocarbon field riser, so the only hydrocarbons you should see coming back to the surface is going to be flushing lubricator out to get your well shut in. Personnel safety is therefore increased with some real improvements in HSE,” Vick concluded.

The SSA market

Ojulari, commented that around 15 years ago when the industry started to really develop deepwater wells in SSA it was more straightforward: all that was needed was a rig to drill wells that were very high producing.

Ojulari said, “Unfortunately, the 50,000 barrels per day wells are no longer very much in play now and most drilled are now producing at lower rates. Many are becoming old and natural production declines by about 10-15%. Now the challenge is that in order to sustain production we try to drill up wells and utilise rig-based intervention, but despite that the SSA region still suffers about 6-8% decline. This means we cannot drill or rig- based intervene our way to fully address our production decline. In order to fully meet this, we need to leverage the rigless and riserless intervention for us to be able to capture the low hanging fruits. We have been a bit slow going for it but for me there is significant opportunity here.”

Holding RLWI back?

Delighted with the comments from Ojulari and Vick, Okungbowa, added, “Everything said so far is music to my ears as a service provider. Baker Hughes has made a lot of investment in RLWI not only in SSA but globally, and it is an area of growth we see. But we cannot understand why we are not seeing more RLWI in SSA? In 2019 there were a couple of interventions, and obviously 2020 was disruptive but even still the opportunities were just not there. With the ageing of the assets and store base I struggle to understand why this market is not moving as quickly as it should- all the equipment is ready in the region, we have spent years training people for interventions and yet the uptake is not there.”

Answering Okunbowa, Ojulari commented that perhaps RLWI was not being taken up as much as it should due to the lack of awareness of business owners and business decision makers. In his experience, the main discussions around this form of intervention were centred around limitations and risks and often the total cost saving is not immediately obvious to the core leaders. “For me, the first thing that needs to happen more is around better education, and this seminar is a good example. More engagement and connection in promoting the capabilities of promoting riserless, sharing success and putting into numbers where it can save in comparison to the other options for intervention that we have.”

Collaboration and transparency

The panellist also noted that key to ensuring more RLWI is transparency and collaboration. Building portfolios, and properly evaluating closing wells that require intervention, and then working with other operators to organise campaigns together will ultimately reduce costs and lead to more well optimisations being performed.

Okunbowa said, “What I would say to Ojulari and Vick and every operator is that we need to be strategic, we need transparency and we need to almost become partners. If you bring problems to us we can then bring solutions and help structure it in a way that unlocks value. We have heard of rig clubs but we now need to get comfortable with a vessel club situation. Being able to do a campaign across 3-4 companies back-to-back using the same assets, each operator will see significant cost savings.”

Highlighting the additional value of larger campaigns, Vick added, “You gain efficiency from crews repeating a task, and small learnings can add up. If you have many operators with different wells lined up, you gain efficiency from one well to the other whereas you lose efficiency with one-offs. With drilling operations you can see drilling times cut in half by the end of the campaign, and it is the same opportunity here. As a vessel keeps working you get gains in safety, efficiency, performance across the board. Success breeds success. I feel if we can show this being done with some big campaigns with good results we can get this success moving and more operators will see it makes commercial sense to collaborate.”

Unlocking value

Adekunle concluded the session, “Riserless intervention saves money, increases production and can be used as a production maximisation tool rather than reaction tool. With collaboration between different disciplines, different contractors and services providers you can unlock value for operators. Really it is not about which operator or which service provider, it is about looking and seeing how much value the industry can unlock by using this technology.”

In the panel it was made abundantly clear that utilising RLWI, and collaborating on these campaigns, would ultimately unlock value for industry and these opportunities should be embraced rather than feared; as Okunbowa commented, "Don't be a dinosaur." But what was made clear most of all is that this would only be achieved through conversations such as these, to make clear the benefits, the cost savings, the success stories and not just the limitations of RLWI, to key decision makers and indeed the entire industry.

To listen to the full webinar, click here. 

The partnership has already completed a multi-asset, class-approved mooring inspection campaign for Total E&P Angola. (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Ocean Atlantic Petroleum partner Ashtead Technology to secure Total E&P contract in Angola

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: Integrity
  • Date: Mar, 2021

AdobeStock 97800405

A new partnership between Ashtead Technology, an integrated subsea technology and services specialist, and inspection and asset integrity company Ocean Atlantic Petroleum SA (OAP) has, after successfully executing its first marine services project in West Africa, received awards for further work in the region.


Leveraging their joint capabilities, Ashtead Technology has completed a multi-asset, class-approved mooring inspection campaign for Total E&P Angola in the Girassol and Dalia fields, and has been awarded further work in the Pazflor and CLOV fields.


The underwater inspection scope, which will avoid the need for drydocking, combines Ashtead Technology’s visual inspection, chain cleaning, measurement and 3D modelling technologies, with OAP’s team of experienced offshore technical personnel. OAP’s operations base in the country’s capital city of Luanda will be used to store and maintain the equipment.


“Coronavirus-related travel restrictions have added an extra logistical challenge,” commented David Mair, Business Development Director of Ashtead Technology. “By teaming up with OAP we have solved the problem and can continue to deliver a high quality, reliable service on schedule and within budget,” Mair added.


“This aligns with our overarching strategic focus for West Africa, which centres on providing a broader asset integrity service to clients and supporting local content objectives,” Mair added.


A formidable partnership for the future

Headquartered in Aberdeen, the UK, Ashtead Technology has nine facilities in energy hubs around the world. It has one of the largest equipment fleets in the subsea supply chain coupled with the R&D capabilities to develop bespoke solutions.


Established in 2014, OAP provides a variety of technical services to the Angolan energy sector, including subsea inspection and asset integrity. OAP’s knowledge of the Angola market and in-country technical expertise makes them the ideal partner to support the partnership’s growth ambitions in Angola.


Benoit Peyrichout, Managing Director of OAP SA, said, “Our partnership with Ashtead Technology has created the perfect marriage and a very compelling business proposition for clients in Angola.”


"With our local facilities and strong technical expertise forged with Ashtead’s engineering capabilities and fleet of technologies, we are ideally placed to win further awards and expand both businesses in the future.”


Winning the campaign for Total E&P Angola straight off the bat underlines the strength of the combined offering to operators in the region and indicates there could be much more to come from this partnership in the future.

Shearwater have the world’s largest fleet of high-end seismic vessels. (Image Credit: Shearwater GeoServices)

Trio of contracts for Shearwater GeoServices

  • Region: West Africa
  • Date: Mar, 2021

Shearwater

Following a strong performance in February in which the company received four survey contracts, Shearwater GeoServices (Shearwater) have made an impressive start to March with the award of three contracts to conduct surveys in Australia, West Africa and the North Sea.

Australia:

Employing the Geo Coral vessel using a multi-sensory streamer system with a variable streamer spacing configuration, Shearwater have been commissioned to conduct a 3D multi-sensory marine seismic survey in the Otway Basin offshore Australia. The survey, which will take two months to complete, will cover an approximate 2700 sq km and is estimated to commence in Q3 2021.

Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater, commented, “We see a solid, consistent level of activity in Australia where we have multiple projects booked in 2021. We observe increasing regional demand for our vessels equipped with high-end technology, which is reflected in backlog and utilisation.”

West Africa:

Following the Australian contact, Shearwater have also been employed by Total E&P Angola (Total) to conduct a 4D monitor marine seismic acquisition survey of the GJDR Development area of Block 17. The survey comprises a two-month long project and is expected to commence in Q1 2021. To complete the contract, one of Shearwater’s industry leading multi-sensory equipped vessels will be used in conjunction with source vessels from Shearwater’s fleet.

“As the established global market leader in 4D monitor surveys, Shearwater is pleased to announce the award of this advanced multi-sensory project by Total in Angola. We have seen a notable increase in interest for 4D technology for our clients’ planned projects in 2021, which is demonstrated by the award of this project in West Africa.” said Basili.

North Sea:

Capping off the trio, Shearwater will also conduct a five-month long survey of the Northern Viking Graben area offshore Norway. The 3D multi-sensor survey was awarded by CGG and is expected to commence in Q1 2021.

“This award confirms the strong relationship we have with our strategic partner CGG and we look forward to executing this survey with the highest level of quality and HSE commitment as part of our client’s multi-year project," commented Basili. “With the addition of this award to our backlog, we are now experiencing increasing demand for Shearwater’s multi-sensory vessels for the upcoming 2021 season.”

Subsea 7 completed 20 projects in 2020 for 15 clients in 10 countries. (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Subsea 7 resilient after challenging 2020

  • Region: All
  • Date: Mar, 2021

AdobeStock 131105637

In their 2020 review Subsea 7 reported a net cost of US$70mn through dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and additional restructuring charges of US$86mn. Yet, despite this, the company suffered no contract cancellations and increased their backlog of work by 20% to US$6.2bn prompting calls of encouragement for the future, especially with the continuing market stabilisation of oil and gas and growth of the offshore renewables market.

In January, to cope with the Covid-induced difficulties and align with their strategic focus area ‘subsea field of the future – systems and delivery’, Subsea 7 streamlined their business by combining their SURF and conventional Life of Field units. The new Subsea and Conventional unit encompasses the full portfolio of services and products dedicated to the oil and gas industry that Subsea 7 has to offer including the integration of IRM and well intervention into the integrated field development solutions created by Subsea Integration Alliance to provide a holistic offering across the life cycle of client’s fields.

John Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Subsea 7, said, “In a challenging twelve months Subsea 7 responded well. The Covid-19 pandemic required radical changes to operations and had an adverse effect on the market for our oil and gas businesses. In response, we booked incremental operating costs, restructured our cost base, and recognised material impairments to goodwill and asset values. Yet, we continued to deliver projects to our clients, generated positive cash flow, reduced debt and increased our backlog. As a result of the efforts and dedication of our employees, we completed 20 projects in the year for 15 clients in 10 countries.”

These notable projects included continued work on BP’s Mad Dog 2 involving Seven Oceans and Seven Pacific; the completion of the Lape NE scope by Seven Seas in Brazil; several operations in the North Sea such as the completion of pipelay operations at Blythe; and the continued progress on the engineering and procurement phases of Sangomar in Senegal as well as Anchor, King’s Quay and Jack St Malo in the Gulf of Mexico.

Heading into 2021, with the pandemic in decline, Subsea 7 intends to continue progress on operations already underway and make up for the lost time suffered in 2020. In addition the company has been selected as the preferred supplier for several projects including Bacalhau, Scarborough, Pecan and Rovuma and was awarded a substantial contract by Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC) to construct and install the Lean Gas Platform (LGP) in Block-0 offshore Angola.

With the acquisitions Panoro will hold assets in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Nigeria and South Africa. (Image Credit: Pixabay/2427999)

Panoro Energy acquires offshore Equatorial Guinea and Gabon assets

  • Region: West Africa
  • Date: Feb, 2021

netherlands 1707393 1920.jpg pixabay

Panoro Energy ASA has announced that it has entered into agreements with Tullow Oil plc and its subsidiaries to acquire high-quality oil producing assets offshore Equatorial Guinea and Gabon for an initial aggregate cash consideration of up to US$140mn and aggregate contingent consideration of up to US$40mn, based on an effective date of 1 July 2020.

The assets in detail

The acquisitions represents a 14.25% working interest in Block G offshore Equatorial Guinea and a 10% working interest in Dussafu Marin Permit offshore Gabon. Panoro will therefore increase its net interest in its core asset Dussafu from 7.5% to 17.5% and achieves significant diversification through the entry into Block G, offshore Equatorial Guinea, which comprises six producing offshore fields through the Ceiba and Okume Complex assets.

The assets have excellent operators, low operating costs and have a reserve life of an estimated 13 years. They will add an estimated 6,900bpd net production, 25mnbbl net 2P reserves and hold a significant upside potential with 2C resources of 29mnbbl. The acquisitions will be financed through a contemplated US$70mn equity private placement and an up to US$90mn underwritten debt facility by a company within the Trafigura group.

John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro, commented, “These truly transformational acquisitions will establish Panoro as one of the world’s leading independent E&P companies focussed on Africa. We are purchasing high-quality, low operating cost assets, substantial production and material reserves in West Africa. These are highly accretive assets that deliver a major change in our operational and financial profile, and position the company well to generate sustainable long-term value for our shareholders.”

“We welcome the opportunity to increase our exposure in Dussafu, offshore Gabon, where Panoro has been an integral part of its success since 2007. In Equatorial Guinea we are new entrants and look forward to excellent cooperation and working with the field partners and the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons to grow further in the country. We look forward to realising the significant upside potential that we see in these assets through an active and fully funded work programme,” Hamilton added.

Panoro's increasing presence in West Africa

With these acquisitions Panoro will hold assets in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Nigeria (prior to completion of the sale of its interests in Aje to PetroNor) and South Africa and will quadruple its 2021e production and triple its 2P reserves. This marks another step for Panoro as it seeks to establish itself as one of the leading independent E&P companies focussed on Africa.

Julien Balkany, Chairman of Panoro said, "These two very attractive and highly value accretive acquisitions perfectly complement our existing upstream E&P portfolio in West Africa and represent a major step in the execution of Panoro’s ambitious growth strategy to continue building a balanced full-cycle E&P company focused on Africa. We are proud and excited to strengthen our position in Gabon and to enter Equatorial Guinea and intend to deliver strong returns for all the stakeholders involved."

VAALCO completes 3-D seismic survey over the entire Etame Marin Block

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Dec, 2020

Pixabay oil rig

Credit: Pixabays/catmoz


VAALCO Energy has announced the acquisition of nearly 1000 sq km of new dual-azimuth proprietary 3-D seismic data over the entire Etame Marine block offshore Gabon.

In November 2020, VAALCO Energy expanded its interests at the Etame Marine Block by signing a sale and purchase agreement with Sasol Gabon for the company’s 27.8% working interest in the site. This nearly doubled VAALO’s production and reserves from the block, providing the company with a total working interest of 58.8%, increasing net revenue interest production from 4,850 barrels of oil per day to 9.150.

The new 3-D seismic data, which is due to be processed and analysed by the end of Q4 2021, will be used to potentially identify new drilling locations and optimise and de-risk future drilling sites.

The total cost estimate of both the acquisition and processing of the seismic data is approximately US$14mn to US$16mn gross over the period from Q4 2020 through to Q4 2021 and VAALCO expects to fully fund its portion with cash on hand and cash from operations.

 “We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of our new proprietary 3-D seismic survey over our entire Etame Marin Block. We will now proceed with the processing and analysis of the data that has been collected. Over the past 20 years, we have capitalized on the significant resource potential at Etame by increasing the ultimate recovery from the initial estimate of 30 million gross barrels of oil to 147 million gross barrels of oil on a 2P basis,” commented Cary Bounds, Chief Executive Officer of VAALCO Energy.

“Looking ahead, our new 3-D seismic survey is a vital tool in helping us unlock the remaining 116mn gross barrels of oil reserves and resources identified on the license. The new seismic data will help us to optimise every location that we plan to drill and potentially identify new locations to add to our drillable inventory. Additionally, our recent announcement of the acquisition of Sasol’s interest at Etame, combined with the new 3-D seismic survey, underscore our confidence in the long-term potential at Etame.”

The Etame Marin Block has been a strong operational and economic performer for VAALCO in recent years, and these investments are set to further increase returns for the company, strengthening their position as one of the leading independent exploration and production companies in West Africa.

Nigeria: A Well Intervention Forecast

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Jun, 2019

23

Hear Amadasu Enorense, the Head, Upstream Monitoring and Regulations Division Department of Petroleum Resources, share the Nigerian forecast for well intervention activity in their offshore waters of the Gulf of Guinea.

 

 

Download Attachments: Download PDF

West Africa’s Well Intervention Opportunities

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Apr, 2019

23

This report is in three parts: an introduction to the West African well intervention industry, case- studies in the region to highlight and notable service companies that work in the region.

The aim of this report is to give you an introduction to the market or an update if you’re already in the know.

Download Attachments: Download PDF

 

 

Increasing Subsea Well Intervention Efficiency in West Africa

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Mar, 2019

23

In West Africa’s deepwater oil and gas patch, Riserless Light Well Intervention (RLWI) conducted from drilling or other support vessels is proving to be an important resource – providing a much faster and cheaper alternative to using rigs. A rising well intervention backlog and tight budgets means this effective solution needs to be quickly and widely deployed if legacy production declines are to be addressed.

Download Attachments: Download PDF

 

 

West Africa Project Report

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Mar, 2019

23

This publication is a Special Report focused on Deepwater Solutions For West Africa’s Oil and Gas Industry, featuring the region’s major industry event, West African Offshore Well Intervention Conference (OWI WA). The event is focused on Subsea Well Intervention in the West Africa offshore market. It also covers latest trends and innovation in the industry.

Download Attachments: Download PDF

 

West Africa Well Intervention Market (Part 1)

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Jul, 2018

23

This paper is designed to outline well intervention and P&A opportunities available to contractors in the West Coast of Africa by analysing regional levels of activity, operator well stock and major projects (part 1).

Download Attachments: Download PDF

 

West Africa Well Intervention Market (Part 2)

  • Region: West Africa
  • Topics: All Topics
  • Date: Jul, 2018

23

This paper is designed to outline well intervention and P&A opportunities available to contractors in the West Coast of Africa by analysing regional levels of activity, operator well stock and major projects (part 2).

Download Attachments: Download PDF

 

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