This date is a month behind the initial six-week timeframe afforded to fix the two thrusters, which blew in mid-September. At this time, Origin anticipated the vessel would be repaired by early November.
The vessel's owners, Consafe Offshore, said the rig was temporarily in Port Phillip Bay, south of Melbourne, for the replacement of faulty parts following a "partial breakdown of the transformers to the thruster power generation system."
Delays in production are also being felt by two Australian companies in the US Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
BHP Billiton has resumed much of its exploration and production operations, but said Typhoon-Boris fields would not return to normal production for months and it was likely to lose about 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent from its GoM operations this fiscal year. The facility most damaged by Hurricane Rita was the Typhoon tension leg oil platform, which suffered severe damage after being cut from its mooring. The production platform had been producing 40,000 barrels of oil and 60 million cubic feet of gas per day.
Meanwhile, Petsec has finished repairing its GoM oil platforms – Vermilion-258 and West Cameron 343/352 – both of which were damaged by Rita in late September. But the company has warned of delays in restarting production. It said Vermilion-258 would resume production as soon as its downstream sales pipeline reopened. But that could take between two and four months to happen, operator Stingray Pipeline Company has told Petsec. Similarly, repair work to the West Cameron 343/352 platform has also been completed, but production will have to wait until the HIOS sales pipeline is ready to accept gas.
Back in Australian waters, BG International has withdrawn as operator of Karoon Gas Australia's Browse Basin leases, after the UK-based company failed to meet Friday's deadline to sign an agreement to start the 3D seismic program. Karoon will now resume a 100% working interest in the WA-314-P and 315-P leases. Executive director Robert Hoskings told EnergyReview.net the 400-square-kilometre 3D seismic program remained on schedule to begin November 17.
In the Timor Sea, the Magnolia project looks likely to be drilled in mid-November as the joint venture waits for the Ocean Bounty drilling rig to complete its current well, joint venture partner Norwest said on Thursday.
In cooler waters, the Gilbert-1A well in the offshore Gippsland Basin permit Vic/P47 proved to be a wet blanket. Pressure measurements and formation fluid samples recovered from the well indicated the target formations were water-bearing. But analysis of drill cuttings, wireline logs and sidewall cores from does confirm fluorescence and hydrocarbon shows in the Gurnard Formation, indicating that hydrocarbons have moved into the Gilbert area.
In Queensland, higher-than-expected gas flows from Champagne Creek-3 in southwest Queensland permit ATP 768P - 700,000 cubic feet per day through a one-inch choke - bode well for the future development of this pipeline grade resource, says Sunshine Gas.
Still in Queensland, the Surat Basin's Pinnacle West-1 exploration well has failed to encounter significant hydrocarbons at either its primary or secondary targets, operator Oilex reported this week. Located in ATP 608P Remainder Block, the well reached a depth of 1531 metres without encountering any significant hydrocarbons.
On the other side of the country, casing, production tubing string and completion assembly has been run at the Senecio-1 exploration well in Perth Basin permit L1 to a depth of 2981 metres, partners Arc and Origin announced. The Dongara Sandstone/Wagina Formation was tested with the Century Rig 11 off site. Seven zones were perforated over a gross interval from 2785 to 2860 metres measured depth and a clean-up flow undertaken. During the cleanup flow period, the Senecio-1 exploration well flowed gas at an initial 2.5 million cubic feet per day, which then more than halved to 1.2 million cfd within the 10-hour evaluation period.
In the US, Norwest Energy was now selling gasfrom the first five wells in the Millers project in Tennessee. After being recently brought into production, the five wells are delivering gas under an existing sales contract at US$12 per thousand cubic feet. "While the initial results are not up to expectation, the high gas prices make the project commercial," said CEO Joe Salomon.
In Oklahoma, hydrocarbon findings at both the primary and secondary objectives of Tomahawk's recently completed Palmer-1-28 well have confirmed the a major gas shale play. Palmer-1-28 was the first well to be drilled by Tomahawk, in the new 10-9 area, which is about 15km west of the company's existing production wells.
Across the state line, Carpenter Pacific Resources has identified at least 10 further prospects on its East Texan leases, following the discovery of oil and gas at the recompleted Huntington-3 well. After re-entering the abandoned well, the company and its partners perforated and fracture stimulated two new reservoirs. H-3 is now producing 240 barrels of oil per day and 450 thousand cubic feet of natural gas per day, flowing at 475 lbs of flowing tubing pressure. CPR holds a 30% interest in the Jefferson-McLeod Project.
In California, Livingstone Petroleum has spudded its first exploration well - Larner North 2-12 in the Sacramento Basin - since listing on the ASX. As the first well in a multi-well program, LN 2-12 is expected to take 12 to 14 days to reach a total bottom hole vertical depth of 2316 metres. The well is being drilled directionally to use the existing drill site and infrastructure at Larner 1-12, a gas-producing well discovered in September last year.
Across the Atlantic, the 'Stena Tay' rig has drilled the Tevét-2 well to a depth of 3,741 metres off the Mauritanian coast but operational difficulties have made it necessary to sidetrack the well. The well took a kick at 3,741m, but it was currently unknown whether the influx comprised water or hydrocarbons. Well control operations were undertaken resulting in the eventual abandonment of the original borehole by means of cement plugs.
On the other side of Africa, Range Resources – traditionally a gold mining exploration company - will soon evaluate the as-yet-unknown oil and gas potential of Puntland, in northeast Somalia. The Perth-based company told the ASX last week that it had entered a conditional heads of agreement to acquire a 50.1% interest in the exclusive rights to all hydrocarbon and mineral exploration and development in the state. Puntland covers 212,000 square kilometres or one-third of Somalia. Range said it believed the area had all the pre-requisites to become a major oil-producing province.
