This positive result follows the Plan of Development (POD) approval from the Government of Equatorial Guinea. First oil is expected in 2026.

The joint venturers expect to spud the first development well in early 2024, acquire, convert, and install oil production infrastructure over the next 3 years, and spud an additional development and a water injection well in 2025-26. Venus field activities are expected to add 23.1 MMbbl of oil of 2P gross reserves.

Based on results from the initial oil discovery well and reservoir modeling, the partners expect oil production from the field to reach about 15,000 gross b/d of oil upon completion of the two development wells and injector well.

“We are pleased that the development of the Venus discovery can now swiftly proceed, thanks to the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons being a true enabler of investment in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Vaalco’s sound technical expertise to develop and monetize the asset, as well as GEPetrol’s crucial role as stewards of the Equatoguinean hydrocarbons sector” said Prince Arthur Eze, Executive Chairman of Atlas Petroleum.

The post Atlas Petroleum, partners advance Venus oil discovery offshore Equatorial Guinea appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

Sempra Infrastructure closed its joint venture with an affiliate of ConocoPhillips, as well as announced an agreement to sell an indirect, non-controlling interest in the project to an infrastructure fund managed by KKR.

Sempra launches Port Arthur LNG project

The Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project is fully permitted and is designed to include two natural gas liquefaction trains, two liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks and associated facilities with a nameplate capacity of approximately 13 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). Total capital expenditures for the Port Arthur Phase 1 project are estimated at $13 billion.

The long-term contractable capacity of approximately 10.5 Mtpa is fully subscribed under binding long-term agreements with strong counterparties —ConocoPhillips, RWE Supply and Trading, PKN ORLEN S.A., INEOS and ENGIE S.A., all of which became effective upon reaching FID. Sempra Infrastructure is also actively marketing and developing the competitively positioned Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project, which is expected to have similar offtake capacity to Phase 1.

“Sempra’s selection of Port Arthur as the location for a new natural gas liquefication and export terminal is a strategic decision that will cement Texas’ position as the energy capital of the world,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “With a highly skilled workforce and business-friendly climate, and as a national leader in LNG exports, Texas is the prime location to expand LNG operations to unleash the United States’ full economic potential in such a critical industry.”

Sempra partners with industry leaders for Port Arthur LNG

Sempra and ConocoPhillips closed their joint venture whereby an affiliate of ConocoPhillips has acquired a 30% non-controlling interest in the project, is purchasing 5 Mtpa of LNG offtake from the project under a 20-year sale and purchase agreement and is managing the project’s overall natural gas supply requirements. ConocoPhillips will also have certain rights to participate in future expansion projects in both equity and offtake.

“Our strategic LNG partnership with Sempra will help supply growing global demand for natural gas, a lower greenhouse gas emissions-intensity fuel expected to play a critical role in the energy transition and global energy mix going forward,” said Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Sempra Infrastructure announced an agreement whereby KKR will acquire a 25% to 49% indirect, non-controlling interest in the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project. Pursuant to the agreement with KKR, Sempra Infrastructure will retain certain economic and other rights with respect to the interest being transferred while granting KKR certain minority interest protections. KKR is making the investment primarily through its Global Infrastructure Investors IV fund.

“Phase 1 will create new jobs, support American economic growth and deliver reliable and cleaner energy during the global energy transition. Consistent with KKR Infrastructure’s strategy of seeking stable and predictable returns for investors, our investment in Phase 1 is backed by robust cash flows through long-term contracts with high-quality counterparties,” said James Cunningham, Partner at KKR.

Sempra Infrastructure is targeting 20% to 30% of indirect ownership interest in the project, subject to the closing of the KKR sale. For illustrative purposes, if Sempra Infrastructure’s indirect ownership interest is at the midpoint of the referenced range, or 25%, Sempra Infrastructure would expect its share of average adjusted EBITDA after full commercial operations to be approximately $410 million annually and its equity commitment to be approximately $1.55 billion.

Sempra’s share of the above estimates would be equal to 70% of these amounts. The foregoing estimates exclude other potentially significant economic benefits associated with, among other items, the development of future phases and further optimization of the project.

Sempra Infrastructure has contracted with global engineering, construction and project management firm Bechtel Energy Inc. and has issued a final notice to proceed for the project. The expected commercial operation dates for Train 1 and Train 2 are 2027 and 2028, respectively.

“Building from mature, scalable energy technologies helps safeguard our energy supplies and promote the transition to lower-carbon energy,” said Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO of Bechtel. “Bechtel has a record of delivering LNG infrastructure on the U.S. Gulf Coast and bringing quality jobs and training opportunities to local communities. The 5,000 construction jobs this project creates will provide outstanding opportunities for craft professionals — growing a skilled workforce that will benefit the region for years to come.”

Port Arthur LNG to create 5,000 jobs, invest millions into Jefferson County

Since 2015, Port Arthur LNG has invested more than $40 million to support Jefferson County communities, including working with local vendors to procure materials and services for the relocation of a 3.5-mile portion of Highway 87 and on grants to more than 60 local non-profits, schools and business development groups.

The Phase 1 project is another significant opportunity to expand Sempra Infrastructure’s economic impact. The project is expected to create an estimated 5,000 highly skilled jobs during construction and boost the economies in Port Arthur and Jefferson County.

“Sempra has long been an economic driver for Jefferson County here in Southeast Texas, and this new Port Arthur LNG facility will continue that trend by bringing thousands of jobs, new markets for natural gas and more energy security for our nation,” Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan said.

The post Sempra, ConocoPhillips partner to launch Port Arthur LNG Project in South Texas appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

“We have an ambitious vision to return Libya to the ranks of the world’s foremost energy-producing countries,” noted NOC Chairman Farhat Ben Gdara. “This requires major changes in the oil and gas sector in Libya and the development of appropriate strategic plans to equip us for the future,” he added.

The company has also announced the creation of the Strategic Programs Office, which will be responsible for implementing this plan and other initiatives, projects and programs, which NOC said will “contribute to the transformation of the oil and gas sector in Libya and ensure it keeps pace with developments in this sector worldwide.”

Libya previously announced the launch of its plan to raise production to 2 million barrels within three to five years, which is one of my core priorities for the NOC.

The post Libya announces transformational plan for oil and gas sector appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The talks come as European and U.S. companies step up efforts to extract oil and gas from the region and help make up for sanctions-related supply losses from Russia.

“We are in discussions on the choice of the perimeters,” Toufik Hakkar, CEO of state energy firm Sonatrach, said to Bloomberg. “The contractual aspects remain. Our objective is to conclude a contract during this year.”

Algeria, an OPEC member, has some of Africa’s biggest oil and gas reserves and already exports significant volumes to Europe. However, years of mismanagement and a lack of investment have hindered efforts to pump more.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a renewed push by Western energy companies. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Algiers last month along with the CEO of Eni SpA, which is looking to boost gas purchases from the country.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Chevron’s talks with Algeria.

They come as the Biden administration, keen to ensure oil and gas prices don’t rise on global markets, encourages U.S. firms to boost exploration.

The post Algeria to finalize oil and gas exploration deal with Chevron in 2023 appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The oil and gas exploration company’s return-to-production program on these properties will consist of cleaning out existing wellbores, facility maintenance, electrical work and flowline repair work, which is expected to deliver collective production rates of 20-25 bopd for all wells.

Return-to-production operations are scheduled to begin immediately, and each well is expected to return to production systematically, with new production projected to begin coming online sometime during the week of Feb. 20th.

Based on baseline projections and $75 oil prices, the Foothills expects to generate approximate revenues of $432,000 from these properties over the next 12 months. WHZ Oil & Gas, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of the company, will operate the properties.

Foothills Exploration is currently evaluating several additional oil-weighted properties in the area for potential bolt-on acquisitions. The company also executed two additional agreements for certain asset acquisitions in Kansas and Oklahoma, which will significantly add to the Company’s total well inventory and reserves.

The post Foothills Exploration acquires 21 oil and gas wells in Oklahoma appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

TechnipFMC will provide life-of-field subsea services to support its installed base offshore Brazil. The contract covers equipment and tooling installation, intervention, and maintenance. The agreement also includes technical support for subsea umblicals, risers and flowlines.

The agreement succeeds a previous MSA and supports Petrobras’s increased volume of operations. TechnipFMC will supply the subsea services for its base in Macaé, Brazil.

The company has been providing subsea services for four decades, according to Jonathan Landes, President of Subsea at TechnipFMC. “This new MSA continues our enduring partnership with Petrobras,” he said.

The post TechnipFMC awarded $250 million subsea service contract offshore Brazil appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The PSCs were signed by PETRONAS Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), Mohamed Firouz Asnan, and witnessed by PETRONAS Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Upstream, Datuk Adif Zulkifli.

Mohamed Firouz said, “As MPM is entrusted to maximize the long-term value of Malaysia’s oil and gas resources, we are pleased to see that DRO, which are perceived to be challenging, taken up by investors following the introduction of the SFA PSC terms.

We take this opportunity to welcome Ping Petroleum to Malaysia’s upstream industry and look forward to the company replicating its successes abroad in monetizing small-field assets, here in our shallow water. Also, congratulations to Dialog Resources on its debut as an operator while PSEP and Duta Marine continue to expand their portfolio in Malaysia. The signing of the 3 PSCs validates the attraction of Malaysia as a preferred choice for potential investors looking for advantaged energy as we act positively on their feedback.”  he added.

In the coming weeks, PETRONAS will be signing new PSCs with the MBR 2022 winning bidders for the exploration opportunities.

The MBR is an annual licensing round offering diverse upstream opportunities to potential investors and includes exploration acreages, DRO and late-life producing assets across Malaysia.

The post PETRONAS awards three production sharing contracts offshore Malaysia appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

Libyan flag with natural gas drilling rigs
The Rome-based company will sign a deal with Libya’s National Oil Corp. in Tripoli this weekend, NOC Chairman Farhat Bengdara told a local television channel. The fields, located offshore in the Mediterranean, will probably be able to pump 850 Mmcfgd, he said.

Libya already sends gas to Italy via the Green Stream pipeline, though it’s not at full capacity.

Eni is also looking to invest more in gas in Algeria and Egypt. Its chief executive officer, Claudio Descalzi, traveled to Algiers this week along with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Libya has some of Africa’s biggest oil and gas reserves and its close proximity to Europe could make it one of the continent’s biggest energy suppliers. Yet Libya’s exports have long been hindered by conflict.

Political Strife

The country was thrown into chaos and civil war after Moammar Qaddafi was deposed in 2011. Petroleum production was highly volatile — at time plunging almost to zero — until a ceasefire in mid-2020 led to more stability at oil and gas fields and ports.

The political situation remains tense and two rival governments claim power. One is based in Tripoli, while the other is located in Sirte.

Eni’s investment would be the largest in Libya for years. The company, which has operated in Libya since the 1950s, has said it wants to push ahead with oil, gas and solar investments there.

Libya’s extracting 1.5 Bcfg and plans to increase that to 4 billion, Bengdara said in the TV interview. It aims to boost oil output to 2 MMbpd from 1.26 million within three to five years, he said.

The post Eni to invest $8 billion in two Libyan natural gas fields appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The agreement, which begins Dec. 23, 2022, succeeds the development and production sharing agreement signed in December 1997, QatarEnergy said in a release Dec. 22.

Al-Karkara and A-Structures are offshore fields which lie about 90 km to the east of Doha and consist of three small fields: Al-Karkara, which was discovered in 1988, and the A-Structures (A-North and A-South), which were discovered in 1971. The fields were initially considered non-commercial until QPD proved commercial viability in the late 1990s. The fields started production in March 2006, and since then have produced a total of 33.5 million bbl of crude oil.

Al-Karkara and A-Structures are the first fields in the State of Qatar to achieve zero gas flaring by re-injecting the excess sour gas underground, QatarEnergy said.

The post QPD, QatarEnergy sign new agreement for Al-Karkara, A-Structures development appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The Ramform Victory will most likely be rigged to acquire the Barracuda-Caratinga 4D survey, supported by PGS Apollo as a source vessel.

“Our visibility for 2023 is improving with increasing rates. To optimize our vessel resources during the summer season next year we will most likely use the Ramform Victory to acquire the Barracuda-Caratinga 4D survey,” says President & CEO of PGS, Rune Olav Pedersen.

The post PGS awarded Petrobras 4D production contract offshore Brazil appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.