Deepwater

The No. 1 oilfield services provider in the world, Schlumberger Ltd., on Friday said growth in the deepwater, as well as activity outside of North America, provided a big lift in 3Q2012. However, competitor Baker Hughes Inc., the industry’s third-largest provider, said the slump in U.S. natural gas activity weighed heavily on its quarterly profits.

Six weeks after Mexico’s Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) reported its first deepwater discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, the producer said it has struck another big gusher nearby.

Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has launched production at the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Chinook field, connecting its second well to the first floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel platform in U.S. waters.

Warburg Pincus LLC is leading a group of investors to fund up to $1.125 billion in Venari Resources LLC, a new Gulf of Mexico (GOM) deepwater explorer helmed by former Nexen Inc. executive Brian Reinsborough. The Dallas-based explorer also would be financed by Kelso & Co., The Jordan Co., and Asian investment giant Temasek Holdings. Venari, which is Latin for “hunt,” plans to target subsalt reservoirs, which are pockets of oil and natural gas that had been obscured by salt layers until advances were made in seismic imaging technology. Initial investments of 10-25% are to be made in GOM exploration blocks, with Venari providing technological expertise to majority lease owners.

In a story published in April, BP Expanding in GOM Deepwater, the initial gas processing capacity from the Mad Dog field was incorrectly stated (see NGI, April 16). The platform initially was designed to process up to 60 MMcf/d of gas and up to 100,000 b/d of oil. NGI regrets the error.

In the story BHP Unleashes $708M for Second Mad Dog Platform in Deepwater Gulf, the initial gas processing capacity from the Mad Dog field was incorrectly stated (see Daily GPI, April 12). The platform initially was designed to process up to 60 MMcf/d of gas and up to 100,000 b/d of oil. NGI regrets the error.

Prospects for offshore drillers look promising over the next few years, especially for ultra-deepwater (UDW) rigs, which are “essentially sold out” until 2014, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), which supplies rig technology components and supply chain systems, reported Wednesday that quarterly profits surged from a year ago as producers boosted their budgets for technology to compete in more difficult-to-extract basins.

BP plc is selling its interests in the Pompano and Mica fields in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to Stone Energy Offshore LLC, a unit of Stone Energy Corp. Stone Energy is to pay BP $204 million in cash under an agreement that includes the sale of BP’s 75% operated working interest (WI) in the Pompano field and assets and 50% nonoperated WI in the Mica field, together with a 51% operated WI in Mississippi Canyon block 29 and interests in certain leases near the Pompano field. Completion of the sale is subject to the pre-emption rights of various co-working interest owners. The companies expect to complete the sale in 2012, BP said. Both the Pompano and Mica fields produce oil and natural gas through the Pompano platform, about 120 miles southeast of New Orleans. First oil was produced from the Pompano field in October 1994 after being discovered by BP and Kerr-McGee in 1985. The Mica field, tied back to the Pompano platform some 29 miles to the north west, began production in 2001.