Oil & Gas Corporate News
Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH) (BUY, £5.00) (RKH, 334.75p, ? (3.08%)) has signed a contract for marine seismic acquisition services with Polarcus Limited for the use of the seismic vessel MV Polarcus Asima. Under the contract Rockhopper will acquire a 3D seismic survey over areas of licences PL032 and PL033 (100% Rockhopper) which were not previously defined by 3D, as well as adjacent areas. The vessel will be available to commence the seismic survey by early January 2011, and the time required to shoot the survey within the licence area is estimated to be approximately 50 days. A contract to process the acquired data will be the subject of a separate invitation to tender, which will be issued shortly. Monarch Geophysical Services Limited has been retained to provide specialist acquisition and processing supervision throughout the 3D seismic project. Argos Resources (LON:ARG) Limited (ARG, 50.25p, ? (5.55%)) has simultaneously signed an identical contract with Polarcus, allowing Argos and Rockhopper to share the vessel for acquiring seismic data in each company's adjacent licences and other areas. This co-operative arrangement allows the companies to share mobilisation and demobilisation costs and to capture the technical and cost efficiencies resulting from a larger programme. The primary objective of this 3D seismic acquisition programme is to define the aerial extent of the Sea Lion fan and to examine other areas and play types within PL032, PL033 and adjacent areas, in order to identify future prospects.
Tullow Oil Plc (LON:TLW) (TLW, 1253p, ? (0.87%)) announced that the Onyina-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana encountered water bearing reservoirs. The Onyina-1 well was drilled to explore a large, high-risk, Campanian prospect between the Tweneboa and Jubilee fields in the northeast of the Deepwater Tano Licence. It intersected 49 metres of good quality sandstone reservoir, on prognosis, however they were water bearing at this location. The Sedco-702 dynamically positioned semi-submersible rig drilled Onyina-1 to a total depth of 2,730m in water depths of 828m. On completion of operations, the rig will move to the Jubilee Unit to assist in the preparations for first oil later in 2010. The negative test of the Campanian reservoirs in the Onyina prospect enables further refinement of the exploration and…
