New base special 23 june 2014

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NewBase 23 June 2014 Khaled Al Awadi

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Libya’s Hariga oil port reopens, talks continue with protesters Reuters

Tripoli: Libya’s eastern Hariga oil port has reopened and received a first tanker loading oil, a spokesman for state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Sunday after the government paid salaries of protesting state security guards at the terminal.

A second tanker was readying to dock but talks were continuing with protesters complaining that the Tripoli government had not met their full demands, a separate spokesman for the port operator said.

Hariga had been closed for a month by members of the state Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) who claimed they had not been paid for months, one of many disruptions in Libya, where militias, state security guards and tribesmen seize oil facilities at will to press Tripoli into their demands.

Libya’s oil output has fallen to less than 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 1.4 million bpd in July when a wave of protests started. A first tanker loaded 750,000 barrels of oil at Hariga on Saturday and a second was expected on Sunday to load 600,000 barrels of oil, NOC spokesman Mohammad Al Harari said.

But Omar Zwei, spokesman for Arabian Gulf Oil Co (AGOCO) operating the port, said the oil guards had allowed Saturday’s docking only as a goodwill gesture after receiving their delayed salaries for March and April.

“There is another tanker waiting to load but there are discussions ongoing with the PFG to allow the tanker to start loading because they have not received their May salaries yet,” he said.

Harari also said the western El Feel oilfield, operated by NOC and Italy’s ENI, was working “normally” after a protest there ended over a week ago. It had pumped 80,000 bpd before the protest.




The NOC spokesman also said there were efforts underway to reopen the 340,000-bpd southwestern El Sharara field. Protesters at the field and connecting pipeline have blocked production several times since

October.

Three years after a Nato-backed revolt toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s oil infrastructure remains vulnerable to protests as militias who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 now defy state authority.

Much of the remaining output is used to feed the Zawiya refinery which supplies the west of the country. Motorists have been queueing for more two weeks to refill in the capital Tripoli.

Last year, a group of rebels seized Hariga and three other eastern ports with the aim of exporting crude oil from there themselves. It took the government until April to reach an agreement with the rebels to relinquish Hariga and the Zueitina port and to restart exports from there, only for Hariga to be closed again last month by protesting security staff.

The rebels have kept shut the larger Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports pending further talks with the government. A fourth eastern port, Zueitina, is technically open but there is currently no crude to load.




Qataris join Maersk leadership programme Gulf-Times

A group of 44 Qatari employees at the country’s largest offshore oil producer Maersk Oil have begun an extensive career planning exercise as part of its leadership programme.

Maersk Oil’s Qatari Leadership Talent Pool met recently as a first step towards developing personalised career plans for high-performing employees. Along with schemes like the Qatari Development Programme, which assists employees early in their careers, the Qatari Leadership Talent Pool (QLTP) is a key pillar of Maersk Oil’s revitalised Qatarization Strategy. Sheikh Jassim Al-Thani, Maersk Oil’s head of Qatarization, said the nationalisation is a core business priority for Maersk Oil Qatar. "We have doubled the number of Qatari employees in the past five years and increased those with a Bachelor’s degree but we are committed to attracting, retaining and developing even more Qataris in the future. By 2017 we aim to quadruple the number of Qataris in leadership or senior specialist positions at Maersk Oil Qatar," he remarked. "The Qatari Leadership Talent Pool assists employees to fulfil their potential through coaching and mentoring and helps define a

clear, performance-driven path for those who consistently show potential for career progression," stated Sheikh Jassim.

Qatari employees are selected for the QLTP based on a track record of successful performance and an in-depth assessment of their leadership potential.

Two consultants from Percepti – a HR consultancy firm – led the two-day QLTP workshops in Doha. Anna-Elise Oosterhuis, a senior consultant at Percepti, said: "I was impressed by how the group responded during the workshops. We discussed the values of Maersk Oil Qatar as a company and its expectations of leaders." "We focused on how they can take personal responsibility for their development through skills such as giving and receiving feedback. It was pleasing to see the group’s positive response," she added.-




Oman:Bidders to prequalify for USD3.6bn Liwa Plastics EPC (OEPPA Business Development Dept)

MUSCAT -- Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company SAOC (Orpic), the

Sultanate's refining and petrochemicals flagship, has launched the process of

prequalifying contractors for the construction phase of its $3.6 billion Liwa Plastics Project

(LPP).

A 'Request for

Information' has been

issued to a number of

local and international

engineering contractors

inviting them to affirm

their interest in bidding

for the multibillion dollar

Engineering-

Procurement-

Construction (EPC) package of the mammoth petrochemicals project. Interested parties have until

June 29, 2014 to respond to the 'Request for Information', it is learnt.

The Liwa Plastics Project, along with an array of equally substantial investments planned by Orpic

and Oman Oil Company in Sohar and Duqm, promise to position Oman as a world-class

petrochemicals producer of the future.

Liwa Plastics itself has the makings of a world-scale venture. The giant scheme is proposed to be

established adjacent to the ongoing Sohar Refinery Improvement Project (SRIP) under way at the

industrial port of Sohar. It features, among other things, a nominal 900,000 tonne per year

ethylene cracking plant, HDPE plant, LLDPE plant, new polypropylene plant, MTBE plant, butene-

1 plant and associated utility and offsite facilities. Also envisioned as part of this project is a

Natural Gas Liquids extraction facility, which will be set up at Fahud and linked to the Sohar plant

via a roughly 300km pipeline.

Importantly, the Liwa petrochemical plant will be integrated with Orpic's existing Sohar refinery,

aromatics complex and polypropylene plant to create a massive petrochemicals complex within

the industrial port.

According to officials, feedstock for the plant will comprise a blend of, among other things, natural

gas liquids (C2+), which will be extracted from the natural gas flowing through the government gas

grid in Central Oman.




Added to the mix will be LPG produced by the adjoining refinery and aromatics complex, as well

as dry gas produced by the refinery's RFCC unit, and new delayed coking unit planned as part of

the Sohar Refinery Improvement Project.

At the same time, some

intermediate products and

byproducts from Liwa Plastics will

be returned to the existing

integrated refinery, aromatics

complex and polypropylene plant for

assimilation and further processing.

Based on the submissions received

in response to its 'Request for Information' document, Orpic hopes to kick off the process of

prequalifying contractors for the prestigious EPC package sometime next month.

Interested bidders deemed by Orpic to be competent enough to execute and commission the giant

scheme will be invited to participate in an EPC tender planned to be floated next January.

Significantly, Orpic is weighing an EPC contracting strategy that could see the entire project either

tendered out as one package or split up into a number of smaller packages. In fact, as many as

three contracting options are currently under consideration, say officials. Option 1 envisions the

award of the entire EPC package as one single Lump Sum Turn-Key (LSTK) contract.

The second option calls for the tendering of the project as three main EPC contracts: (a) Steam

Cracker with offsite works and utilities; (b) Polyethylene and Polypropylene Units with offsite works

and utilities; and (c) Natural Gas Liquids extraction units with offsite works and utilities.

Option 3 moots a break-up of the entire project scope into six main EPC contracts, comprising (a)

Steam Cracker (b) Polyethylene Unit (c) Polypropylene Unit (d) NGL Extraction Unit (e) NGL

pipeline, and (f) Offsite works and utilities. A final decision on the EPC contracting strategy will be

taken before the EPC package is tendered out, it is learnt.

Liwa Plastics, Oman's largest petrochemical venture to date, is expected to be commissioned

before the end of 2018.




Lebanon’s faulty oil and gas framework Nicolas Sarkis, for THE DAILY STAR.

The possible development and production of oil and gas in Lebanon could be an important historic event that brings with it great hopes for the recovery of the economy and the well-being of the Lebanese people.

However, it could also have perverse effects similar to what is known in economics as “Dutch disease” – namely inflation, corruption, a decline in traditional economic activities and so on. That’s why it is urgent to avoid the lapses and correct the dangerous anomalies that are already apparent. These can be summarized in the following points.

First, a hybrid exploitation regime has been introduced, with the Lebanese state’s participating interest equal to zero. Among the main hydrocarbon exploitation regimes in use around the world, Lebanese officials have decided to opt for an unprecedented cross between the concession regime and production-sharing agreements.

However, instead of combining the best of both systems referred to in very general terms in the 132/2010 oil law, the authors of the first two implementation decrees, which have yet to be approved, largely undermined the advantages of each, emptying them of their substance in two primary ways. Regarding royalties, which are specific to the concession system, rates have been fixed at abnormally low levels compared with international norms. And regarding the state’s effective and active participation in industrial operations, which is peculiar to the production-sharing system,

the implementation decrees have simply ruled out any such participation for the moment.

Although one of the most important and positive provisions of the 2010 law is that it underlines the principle of a state participating interest in the oil and gas sector, the authors of the implementation decree concerning the exploration and production agreement model contract indicated very surprisingly in Article 5 that “there is no state participating interest in first licensing round.” There is no clear reason for this wonderful gift to the interested companies, which means the state will arrive at the negotiation table with a letter of resignation in its pocket! Second, there is a $14 billion revenue shortfall due to discounted royalty rates. If there is one norm that is generally known and applied in the oil and gas industry, it is that the operator is required to pay the host country a royalty rate equivalent to at least 12.5 percent of production. Surprising as that may seem, the authors of the Lebanese implementation decrees have curiously fixed the rate of oil royalties at 5-12 percent depending on the level of production.

What is even more astonishing is that the royalties rate for natural gas is simply the lowest in the world, having been set at a fixed rate of only 4 percent. A simulation contained in a report I prepared on the




Lebanese oil and gas sector shows that this totally unjustified discount relative to international standards will result in annual losses for Lebanon of $238 million in the case of gas and $325 million in the case of oil. This would mean a total shortfall of more than $14 billion over the period of the 25-year exploitation agreements.

These are minimum estimates of the likely losses generated solely by the low royalties tax rates. Other, very probably greater, losses would result from a new draft fiscal law imposing a 15 percent corporate tax (compared to 20-38 percent in other oil- and gas-producing countries) as well as various duty exemptions granted to the oil-right holders, including dividends, real estate, imports and reexports, stamp duty and so on.

Third, the prerogatives of Lebanon’s legislative power have been hijacked. The 2010 law, whose 27-page outline provided very general principles and no figures or percentages, cut a very pale figure alongside the tens of pages of text that comprise the first two implementation decrees. The latter set out in great detail the legal, financial and other provisions of the planned oil and gas exploitation regime. All this happened as though the 128 members of Parliament had authorized the six civil servants making up the Petroleum Administration, which comes under the control of the Energy and Water Ministry, to legislate on their behalf in an area of such vital importance for the country.

This reality represents a serious blow to the basic principle of the separation between legislative and executive powers. And yet no institution is better placed than Parliament to launch a healthy national public debate on this subject.

Fourth, there is a paramount need for a national oil and gas company. The implementation decrees ignores a major provision of the 2010 law regarding the establishment of a national oil and gas company. This firm would act as the eye and arm of the state in Lebanon’s energy policy, and its tasks would include having a direct and active involvement in the upstream and downstream activities of the operating companies.

If this does not happen, Lebanon will find itself in the position of some developing countries more than 40 years ago: as a sleeping partner and tax collector and inspector looking on powerlessly at what foreign companies are doing in their country. In this regard, the state may find itself unable to adequately gauge what determines the taxable profits of a multinational company: industrial and commercial operations, spending, depreciation, selling prices and so on.

Fifth, the movements involving the sector have been opaque and shaped by political interests. Another large anomaly is the fact that the spotlight has been trained on the billions in oil wealth that would flood into our economy, whereas there is an astonishing silence surrounding the measures that have to be taken immediately and at all costs to maximize our revenues.

An impressive media campaign has induced a section of the Lebanese population to believe that it would be enough for the two implementation decrees to be approved for the promised billions to gush from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. But, surprising as it may seem, only a few civil servants or influential figures have been able to see the texts of these two decrees that the Lebanese have been talking about for months.

It is not surprising that this situation has raised a number of question marks and rightly or wrongly prompted serious suspicions – suspicions that only a frank and transparent debate in Parliament can allay. In the absence of such a debate and such transparency, the dreams aroused by the oil and gas sector could finally end in nightmares involving corruption, the squandering of an important national asset, the exacerbation of social and political tensions and more.




ExxonMobil honours Dewhurst Award winner al-Attiyah Gulf-Times

ExxonMobil honoured HE the President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who is the 2014 recipient of the Dewhurst Award at a dinner during the 21st World Petroleum Congress in Moscow recently.

The Dewhurst Award was presented to al-Attiyah by the World Petroleum Council (WPC) for his role as the main architect of Qatar’s energy transformation. The prestigious award is the highest honour bestowed by the WPC and recognises the outstanding contributions of recipients who are well known throughout the industry and have demonstrated extraordinary achievements over “HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah is one of the great men responsible for creating modern day many years.

Qatar,” said Mark Albers, senior vice president, Exxon Mobil Corp. “He joins an exclusive and distinguished list of past Dewhurst Award winners that make up a pantheon of pioneers who have shaped the global oil and gas industry. We are honoured to pay tribute to an extraordinary career and to celebrate ExxonMobil’s extraordinary friendship with His Excellency and the government and the people of Qatar.”

HE al-Attiyah with Albers at the award dinner during the 21st World Petroleum Congress in Moscow recently.

The event was attended by senior executives from Qatar Petroleum, RasGas, Qatargas, the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority and ExxonMobil.




Alstom board backs General Electric bid AFP/Paris

French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg arrives to attend a news conference at the Bercy Ministry in Paris on Friday. Montebourg said neither the General Electric offer or the joint Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries offer for Alstom power assets had met the government’s demands, but that France would work with GE on a new proposal.

The board of directors of French power-to-rail group Alstom unanimously approved US conglomerate General Electric’s €12.35bn ($16.8bn) bid to acquire its energy business. “The

board of directors unanimously decided to issue a favourable opinion of GE’s offer” and will begin consultations with personnel, a statement said.

The statement came a day after the French government stepped firmly into the battle over its industrial jewel Alstom, saying it favoured General Electric’s bid over a rival joint offer from Germany’s Siemens

and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

GE boss Jeff Immelt hailed the deal, saying it was “good for France, GE and Alstom” while adding that it would not be finalised before next year. His counterpart at Alstom, Patrick Kron called it a win-win-win situation, good for Alstom employees as well as GE and the French state.

The plan “seems to respond fully to the government’s preoccupations of the government on energy and transport,” he said in comments published yesterday in the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

Kron added that he would see the GE transition was successfully “on the rails” before bowing out and letting a new team take charge at Alstom.

The French government announced a surprise caveat on Friday that it would take a 20% controlling stake to preserve French strategic interests in its industrial jewel, which it plans to do by purchasing two-thirds of the shares owned by another French group, Bouygues.

Discussions on the price were ongoing between the government and Bouygues on Saturday night after a long day of negotiations. David Azema, who is leading the government negotiations, told AFP the two sides were close to finalising a price on Saturday night.

The French government had wanted to buy the shares at the current price, which stood at 28 euros per share on Friday, according to the latest listing of Alstom on the Paris Bourse. But Bouygues was asking for €35 per share.

Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg sought to reassure the French public on Saturday, saying the deal would cost taxpayers “zero euros”. Montebourg said the money for the purchase would be raised from the sale of government-owned shares in other companies such as Safran and Airbus.




Even if the deal between the government and Bouygues is finalised, Alstom said it would still need to put the GE bid to employee representatives, and gain regulatory approval related to foreign investment rules. Montebourg said on Friday he had sent a letter of intent to Immelt laying out the terms of the alliance.

The future of Alstom has been at the centre of a transatlantic tug of war for several months after President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government objected to the US giant buying the jewel of French engineering, and encouraged the rival offer by Siemens and Mitsubishi.

The German and Japanese firms improved and simplified their linked offer on Friday, increasing their valuation of Alstom’s energy division to €14.6bn ($19.9bn), less than a day after GE had made several changes to make its bid more attractive.

GE sweetened its proposal by offering a government veto over sensitive nuclear energy technology and promising to strengthen Alstom’s transportation business, which makes the French TGV trains. Montebourg said the Siemens offer would have hit opposition from Brussels.

“The Siemens offer ... came up against the competition rules that are overseen by the European Commission,” he told journalists. “This is an obstacle to the creation of new European and multinational industrial champions. This is a lesson to ponder for the new European Commission,” Montebourg said.

Siemens chief Joe Kaeser said in a statement on Friday that the company “understands the national interests of the French government regarding the reorganisation of Alstom”. The beleaguered Alstom, which feels that its energy businesses — which range from wind power to turbines for nuclear reactors — are not large enough to compete globally, originally approached GE.

When Hollande’s government learned of the advanced talks to sell the power business, it objected on the grounds that jobs and decision-making could be lost. It instead encouraged Siemens to make a counter offer, hoping that a Siemens-Alstom tie-up would create a global-scale European group. Siemens then linked up with MHI to present a rival offer.

The fate of Alstom, which employs 18,000 people in France out of a total 90,000 worldwide, is an important issue for the French president, who is battling to reduce a huge trade deficit and record unemployment as his approval ratings have dropped to record lows.




South Stream project must meet EU rules’ Written by Oman Observer

Bulgaria must push ahead with the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline project only if it complies with all European Union laws, opposition leader Boiko Borisov, the front-runner to be the




next prime minister said. Borisov said that should he form the next government after early elections, he will also exclude any company from bidding to build the project if it is subject to sanctions imposed by the United States or EU over the Ukraine conflict.

The proposed pipeline to bring Russian gas under the Black Sea to Europe will make landfall in Bulgaria. It has put Bulgaria, which relies almost entirely on Russia for its energy supplies, at the centre of the row between Moscow and the West.

Bulgaria’s Socialist government — which is expected to step down within weeks — strongly backed the pipeline but reluctantly suspended construction amid threats of punishment from Brussels, which is concerned the project does not comply with EU rules.

Borisov said in an interview that if he is elected South Stream’s Bulgarian leg would still go ahead, but he signalled he would pay more heed to Brussels than the outgoing government. “The concrete steps and action will depend on many ifs… if we win the election, if we form a government,” Borisov, 55, said in his office in parliament. “But the principle is clear: together with the European Commission and in compliance with EU rules — we build. (If) these rules are not respected, we do not build.”

The Commission suspended negotiations on bringing South Stream into line with EU law after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region earlier this year.

Borisov, who leads the centre-right GERB party, has already promised to scrap a tender awarded to a consortium led by Russian construction company Stroytransgaz for the Bulgarian leg. The firm’s owner is on a list of Western sanctions targets imposed after the annexation. On Wednesday, Borisov said that in power he would exclude any company from bidding for the project if it was subject to US or EU sanctions.

Bulgaria would share all tender documents with its EU partners, answering concerns from Brussels that the awarding of the contract to Stroytransgaz lacked transparency. South Stream is designed to pipe 63 billion cubic metres of gas per year from Russia into central and southern Europe, bypassing Ukraine and making it all but irrelevant as a transit nation.




Moscow has cut gas supplies to Ukraine in a long-standing price row and while transit flows to the EU have not been affected so far, Bulgaria was hit by a previous energy dispute between Moscow and Kiev in 2009.

Borisov was Bulgarian prime minister from 2009 until he was toppled by street protests in February last year. In office he scrapped a proposed oil pipeline and plans for a new nuclear plant — both Russian-backed projects — and in 2012 negotiated a 20 per cent cut in the price of gas imported from Russia. Borisov said this track record showed he had the confidence to deal sensibly with President Vladimir Putin, adding that Bulgaria should shift its diplomatic focus further to Washington and Brussels while keeping Russia onside.

“For these four years, my work with President Putin, who was then a prime minister, showed that when you say a well-argued ‘no’, you do not have a problem,” he said. “Our 100 per cent unwavering commitment to a European-Atlantic orientation does not mean we have to cut links with Russia,” he said.

Bulgaria’s energy dependence on Russia could shrink if a consortium that includes France’s Total SA, Austria’s OMV AG and Spain’s Repsol succeed in extracting gas from Bulgarian waters in the Black Sea, Borisov said.

Bulgaria chose oil major Total to carry out exploration work at a deepwater gas field in 2012 to diversify its supplies when Borisov was still in power, and he said the companies could start extracting gas as early as 2016 or 2017.

Borisov has been one of the loudest critics of how the present Bulgarian government handled South Stream, saying it lacked transparency. Even the details of the deal made between a company — jointly owned by Gazprom and a Bulgarian state company — and Stroytransgaz have not been made public, he said.

The Socialist-led government headed by technocrat Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski is expected to resign shortly following a poor showing in May’s European Parliament elections. The recent turmoil prompted global agency Standard and Poor’s to downgrade Bulgaria’s credit rating by one notch on Friday to one level above junk. An early election is to take place in September or October. Opinion polls give Borisov’s party the strongest support.

In a sign that instability could drag on after the election, Borisov told Reuters for the first time that he would not enter any coalition government if he failed to win an outright majority.




Kitsault Energy Project: The shortest LNG connection from B.C. to Asia The independent Canadian company Kitsault Energy (Kitsault) is proposing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project offering the shortest way from the shale gas fields in the north of British Columbia in Canada to Asia. With a lot of natural resources and no unemployment issues, Canada is pushing all opportunities to lead the gas race to Asia. Among the dozen of LNG export terminal project flourishing on the west coast of Canada, Kitsault Energy Project has been investigating the shortest route from the shale gas fields in the north of British Columbia, Alberta and Asia.

Located at the end of the Alice Arm, 800 kilometers north of Vancouver and 115 kilometers north of Prince

Rupert, Kitsault LNG project presents many advantages to investors.

In the 1980s, Kitsault was busy with molybdenum mining activities leaving all the infrastructures for the revival of a local industry at minimum impact on the environment.

Alice Arm deep water guaranties easy access for LNG carriers all along the year from Pacific Ocean.

Kitsault is fully distributed in electricity by BC Hydro Power utility.

Compared with other LNG export terminal projects planned along Canada west coast, Kitsault inland position explains its shortest distance from shale gas fields in B.C. and Alberta, saving up to 200 kilometers on inlet gas pipeline.




Kitsault LNG project ticked electrical drives technology

In this context, Kitsault Energy is willing to propose a Kitsault LNG project minimizing capital expenditure in respect with the submitted export license of 20 million tonnes per year (t/y) of LNG during 25 years.

To do so, Kitsault Energy Project should include:

- Dedicated Energy Corridor pipeline to supply Kitsault in gas

- Export LNG terminal

For the pipeline, Kitsault is considering with Spectra Energy two pipelines to connect with its existing Natural Gas Pipeline System, in the north at Fort Nelson and in the east at Chetwynd.

Because of its size, Kitsault Energy Project will be developed in phases.

Therefore Kitsault LNG project phase one should include:

- First inlet gas pipeline

- Floating LNG (FLNG) vessel

- Onshore storage

- Port facilities

Kitsault Energy selected the FLNG concept as it provides the shortest track for environmental approval, design and construction.

With 5 million t/y LNG trains, Kitsault Energy is planning to expand its project by same size additional LNG trains in second phase together with the construction of the second pipeline.

These additional LNG trains should be built onshore.

Because of the available power supply, Kitsault made also the decision to use electrical drives technology to run its LNG trains.

Even if this solution may increase the capital expenditure, compared with conventional gas turbines, it reduce significantly the operating costs by much higher efficiency and longer operating periods.

Kitsault Energy is currently completing the costs estimates for the Kitsault LNG project phase-1 to be built on fast track for commercial operations to start in 2018.




Gabon: Pura Vida Energy announces significant resource upgrade and new play in Nkembe Block, offshore Gabon

Source: Pura Vida Energy

Highlights

• Significant upgrade of net mean prospective resource (unrisked) on Nkembe block to 1,344 mmbo

• Identification of several areas containing stacked targets providing potential for testing of multiple

prospects with a single well

• Positive implications for ongoing Nkembe farm-out process

• Identification of new pre-salt carbonate play analogous to significant discoveries offshore Brazil and

Angola .

Pura Vida Energy has announced an upgrade to its prospective resource assessment of the Nkembe PSC, offshore Gabon. Further technical work undertaken by the Company has revealed a significant new play in

the pre-salt within the Syn-rift interval where carbonate Coquinas reservoirs are anticipated to be present. The inclusion of newly identified prospects increases the total gross mean unrisked prospective resources

on block to 1,680 mmbo, 1,344 mmbo net to Pura Vida. The carbonate play is analogous to similar plays

that have resulted in the discovery of several billion barrels of discovered oil offshore Angola and offshore Brazil. Pura Vida’s technical work has also identified several areas which contain multiple stacked prospects that have the potential to be attractive drill candidates that could be tested with a single vertical well. Commenting on the positive results of this technical work, the Company’s Managing Director, Mr

Damon Neaves said:




'Our recent technical work on the Nkembe block has yielded an exciting new play resulting in a significant increase in the resource potential. As our understanding of the geology of the Nkembe block has developed we have come to recognise the block has the potential to unlock value through a number of alternative pathways. At this time, industry interest in Gabon is running high with significant drilling activity ongoing and a very competitive deep-water bid round recently completed. We are therefore focused on securing

funding from the industry to undertake the exploration activities required to unlock the potential value of the block.'




Mozambique: Anadarko spuds Tembo-1 well in the Rovuma Concession, onshore Source: Wentworth Resources

Wentworth Resources, the Oslo Stock Exchange and AIM listed independent, East Africa-focused oil & gas company, on Friday announced that drilling operations have commenced on the Tembo-1 well in the

Rovuma Onshore Concession in northern Mozambique. Wentworth has an 11.59 percent net interest in this well which is being operated by Anadarko and drilled with the Helmerich & Payne rig #243.

The Tembo-1 well is targeting mid-Cretaceous sands with secondary targets in the upper Jurassic. Tembo-1 has a planned total depth of 4,250 meters True Vertical Depth Sub Sea and is expected to take between 60 and 90 days to complete. An update on drilling operations will be provided after drilling operations have been fully completed.

To date there have been two wells drilled in the Rovuma

Onshore Concession including the Mocimboa-1 well, which encountered oil and natural gas shows in the Cretaceous and is located approx. 17 kms to the northeast of the Tembo-1 well.

Geoff Bury, Managing Director, commented:

'The Tembo-1 well is designed to test Cretaceous and Jurassic sands in the onshore area of the Rovuma Basin in northern Mozambique, and is the first of two wells that Wentworth will be participating in over the next six months at the concession. The Tembo Prospect is one of the larger prospects (on pre-drill estimates) to be drilled to date in the onshore Rovuma Basin region of East Africa. It is a high impact frontier well and, if successful, could add significant new oil or natural gas resources for Wentworth and open up an entirely new play fairway.'




Mubadala Spuds Rojana-A Well in Block G11/48 in Gulf of Thailand by KrisEnergy Ltd. Press Release |

KrisEnergy Ltd. (KrisEnergy or the Company), an independent upstream oil and gas company, announced Monday that the jackup Atwood Orca (400' ILC) has commenced the drilling of the Rojana-A exploration commitment well in block G11/48 in the Gulf of Thailand, where the joint-venture partners are developing

the Nong Yao oil field.

Water depth at the Rojana-A location is 232 feet (70.6 meters). The well is planned to be drilled to a total depth of 4,828 feet measured depth (minus 4,068 feet total vertical depth subsea) and will evaluate a series of stacked sandstone reservoirs of Miocene age.

Chris Gibson-Robinson, KrisEnergy’s director Exploration & Production, commented: “Rojana-A is the first exploration well to be drilled in G11/48 since the successful exploration and ensuing appraisal programs in 2009 and 2010, respectively.”

G11/48 covers 1,302.7 square miles (3,374 square kilometers) over the southern margin of the Pattani Basin and the northwest margin of the Malay Basin in water depths of up to 246 feet (75 meters). The contract area contains the Nong Yao oil discovery, which is currently under development and is expected to produce first oil in the first half of 2015.

KrisEnergy holds 22.5 percent working interest in G11/48. Mubadala Petroleum G11 (Thailand) Limited is the operator of the licence with a 67.5 percent working interest and Palang Sophon Limited holds 10




percent. The Atwood Orca jackup is owned by Atwood Oceanics.

Brent near 9-month top above $115 on Iraq tensions Reuters

Brent crude rose above $115 a barrel on Monday, holding near a nine-month high amid concerns of possible disruptions to supply from Iraq where Sunni insurgents seized control of more towns over the weekend. Data from top energy consumer China showing an expansion in the country's factory sector for the first time in six months also underpinned oil prices.

Brent crude rose 30 cents to $115.11 by 0331 GMT, just shy of $115.71 hit on Thursday, the highest since Sept. 9.

U.S. crude for August delivery gained 32 cents to $107.15. The July contract expired on Friday.

Brent is likely to be close to $114.50 a barrel next Friday, Spooner forecast. He expects U.S. crude to climb to about $108 per barrel this week.

But there was a lull in fighting at Iraq's largest refinery, the 300,000 barrel per day Baiji complex, on Sunday although militants surrounded the compound.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to discuss possible Iraq oil supply disruptions with Gulf countries during a visit to the region this week, a senior State Department official said on Sunday.

Oil prices also drew support from the release of China's factory data that showed new orders surged, according to a preliminary HSBC survey, indicating the economy is stabilizing thanks to Beijing's measures to shore up growth.

The HSBC/Markit Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.8 in June, the first time since December PMI was in growth territory.

The oil market is also keeping eye on Libya's oil production after a series of stoppages there.

The western El Feel oilfield is producing 95,000 barrels a day, boosting the country's oil production to around 270,000 bpd, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Sunday. Output at the field resumed after a protest there ended more than a week ago.

Two tankers were docking at Libya's eastern Hariga oil port to load a total of 1.35 million barrels, the first shipments since the port reopened after a protest by security guards, a spokesman for NOC said on Sunday.




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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi, MSc. & BSc. Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA ASME member since 1995 Emarat member since 1990

Energy Services & Consultants Mobile : +97150-4822502

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Khaled Khaled Khaled Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a Al Awadi is a UAE National with a Al Awadi is a UAE National with a Al Awadi is a UAE National with a

total of 24 yearstotal of 24 yearstotal of 24 yearstotal of 24 years of experience in theof experience in theof experience in theof experience in the

Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as

Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General

Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary

Energy consultation for the GCC area via Energy consultation for the GCC area via Energy consultation for the GCC area via Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Hawk Energy Hawk Energy Hawk Energy

Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the

experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in

Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network

Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years , Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years , Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years , Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years ,

he has developed great exhe has developed great exhe has developed great exhe has developed great experiences in the designing & periences in the designing & periences in the designing & periences in the designing &

constructingconstructingconstructingconstructing of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating

stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation , operation stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation , operation stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation , operation stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation , operation & maintenance & maintenance & maintenance & maintenance

agreements along with many MOUagreements along with many MOUagreements along with many MOUagreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the s for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the s for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the s for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the

UAE andUAE andUAE andUAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satelliteEnergy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satelliteEnergy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satelliteEnergy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satellite ChannelsChannelsChannelsChannels . . . .

NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

NewBase 23 June 2014 K. Al Awadi

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New base special 23 june 2014

Economy & Finance

Transcript of New base special 23 june 2014