Kosmos dry well at Lamantin

Lamantin-1 on Block C-12 offshore Mauritaniawas was drilled to a TD of 5,150m and designed to evaluate a previously untested structure. The logs and samples collected suggests the reservoir objective was water bearing with small amounts of hydrocarbons. The well will now be plugged and abandoned.

Kosmos will drill the Requin Tigre prospect next and is targeting 60tcf. The well is epected to take around 60 days.

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In AWE

China Energy Reserve and Chemical Group (“CERCG”) has returned with a second bid for AWE at A$0.73/share, valuing the company at A$463 million. This follows the withdrawal of the earlier offer at A$0.71/share on 4^th December.

On 30^th November, CERCG put out a takeover offer for AWE at A$0.71/share contingent on due diligence, approval by the regulatory authorities and the CERBG board. The offer was at a 30% premium to the share price was deemed insufficient by AWE to grant access for due diligence. The bid was subsequently withdrawn on 4^th December.

CERCG remains fiercely private with limited information in the public domain. It is reported to have deep pockets with material property investments in Hong Kong to the tune of billions. It is also understood that some of the directors are also on the board of China New Energy Mining Limited, which is the JV partner to Sino Gas on upstream gas developments in China.

On 8^th December, CERCG re-launched an offer at A$0.73/share – marginally better but places limited value on the vast contingent resource base of the company with potential upgrade at Waitsia. The approach from CERCG is the third bid in four years. The Lone Star bid at A$0.80/share (A$421 million) in 2016 and Senex scrip/cash bid in 2013 (at A$672 million) were both rejected.

This bid demonstrates continued Chinese interest in pursuing overseas acquisitions, and follows GeoJade’s venture into the international E&P arena with the acquisition of Bankers Petroleum in 2016. However the Chinese state oil companies remain on the sidelines having been burned by poorly timed acquisitions in the past decade, and it is the smaller private Chinese E&Ps and investors that are coming to the foreground.

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Canacol: Sabanas export flowline comes online

Canacol has announced that the Sabanas gas flowline is now connected. It is in the final stage of testing and gas transportation is scheduled to commence on 5^th December. The flowline has a capacity of 40mmcf/d which is expected to be reached in mid-January following completion of a second compression station - initial gas throughout is expected to be 20mmcfd. Gas will be routed from the Jobo processing facility to the Promigas export line at Bremen with the gas to be sold to consumers at Cartagena. Upon reaching the full 40mmcf/d capacity, Canacol's total gas offtake capacity will increase to 130mmcf/d.

Canacol also added that gas sales for October and November averaged 84.1mmcf/d and oil sales (including Ecuador) of 3,025 bbl/d. In December 2018, the company expects gas production capacity to increase to 230mmcf/d following the completion of the second expansion of the Promigas pipeline from Jobo to Cartagena and Barranquilla.

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Breathing new life into Tyra

The Danish Underground Consortium ("DUC") has approved an investment of DKK21 billion (USD3.4 billion) for the full redevelopment of the Tyra field.

DUC members are Total/Mærsk (31.2 %), Shell (36.8 %), Chevron (12 %) and Nordsøfonden (20 %). The development will ensure continued production from Denmark's largest field for years to come and will also rejuvenate important Danish offshore infrastructure. About 80% of the investment will be for modification of existing and construction of new facilities, with the remainder for decommissioning and removal.

The Mærsk press release noted:
"Tyra is the centre of Denmark’s national energy infrastructure, processing 90% of the nation’s gas production.

Through new development projects and third party tie-ins, the redevelopment of Tyra can be a catalyst for extending the life of the Danish North Sea – not just for Maersk Oil and the DUC, but also for Denmark."

"The new infrastructure can enable operators to pursue new gas projects in the northern part of the North Sea, where the most recent development, Tyra Southeast, delivered first gas in 2015 and is producing above expectations."

"The redeveloped Tyra is expected to deliver approximately 60.000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at peak, and it is estimated that the redevelopment can enable the production of more than 200 million barrels of oil equivalent. Approximately 2/3 of the production is expected to be gas and 1/3 to be oil."

The redevelopment has received government approval and will commence in 2019 with the field being shut-in between November 2019 and Summer 2022 for the works to take place.

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Kraken emerges

In mythology, the Kraken was a giant sea monster that dwelled in the present day North Sea. Today, the Kraken field is emerging with production growing day-by-day and a target to reach 50mbopd in H1 2018.

Gross production reached 23mbopd in November (month average) and the second processing train was brought online at the end of the month. The final DC2 production well is now onstream and the DC3 wells are near completion and expected to be brought onstream ahead of schedule. DC4 drilling will commence in 2018 and once online, will bring the field production to 50mbbl/d.
Kraken breathes some new life in the UK North Sea, being one of the small number of sizeable developments in the basin for a number of years. Its start-up has been relatively smooth, with first oil achieved at the end of June 2017 and a steady ramp-up since. Despite some above surface teething issues, these appear largely resolved with the crews getting more familiar with the FPSO operation and continued tuning of equipment.

Source: OGInsights analysis

The field is important for both EnQuest (70.5% operator) and Cairn (29.5%). With the achievement of plateau production, it is expected that one or both partners will farm-down their stake, not least having inherited additional interests from former partner First Oil when it went into administration. The long-life nature of the field, albeit heavy oil, should attract interest from major North Sea players.

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