Posted in cuba, tagged cuba, drilling, Saipem, Scarabeo 9 on February 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Scarabeo 9
Delivery of a Chinese-built drilling rig that will open the first full-scale exploration for oil in Cuban waters looks unlikely until at least August in the latest delay to beset the project, sources said this week. Upstream
Comment: Look for the first well to be delayed until after the hurricane season, possibly into next year.
Posted in cuba, drilling, offshore, tagged Bahamas, cuba, drilling, offshore oil on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Bahamas Petroleum, the oil and gas exploration company with licences in The Bahamas, is pleased to announce that the company has completed the acquisition of 1120 km of long-cable (8km) 2D seismic in its southern licences. The new seismic survey has confirmed the presence of multiple prospects, some of which are 4-way closure in nature and some of which are combination stratigraphic-structural traps.
I’ll defer to the geologists regarding the significance of this announcement, but the results would seem to provide further encouragement for the island nation’s exploratory drilling plans. Will Florida politicians try to bully the Bahamas the way they have been bullying Cuba?
Posted in cuba, tagged Deepwater Horizon, drilling, offshore oil on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
After reading our previous Cuba post, Paul Post reminded BOE that Cuba has been drilling directional wells from shore to offshore targets for many years. He sent along some images from a 2005 report on Sherritt International Corporation’s operations in Cuba. Two of those images are pasted above and below.
Posted in cuba, tagged cuba, drilling, offshore oil on January 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
It sounds like they are talking about drilling directionally from onshore locations to offshore targets:
Cuba will drill 20 new oil wells in 2011, mainly in the area from Havana to Varadero, some 120 kilometers east of the island’s capital, said Rafael Tenreyro, head of the exploration group of the Petróleos de Cuba Company. He noted that the drilling will take place from the coast to the sea, to reduce the environmental impact, reported IPS. Havana Times
Posted in cuba, Florida, tagged cuba, drilling, Florida, offshore oil on January 23, 2011| 2 Comments »
The Buchanan measure would permit the U.S. secretary of the interior to deny drilling leases to companies involved with countries facing trade sanctions. Buchanan specifically noted that Repsol, a Spanish corporation, has an agreement in place with Cuba to drill off the Florida coast. Sunshine News
Comment: In addition to the economic and foreign policy flaws, this legislation could increase risks to Florida by further limiting the pool of technically advanced and responsible companies that could participate in Cuban offshore drilling.
We would lose regardless of what these companies decided. If a company opted not to purchase US leases (so they could drill offshore Cuba), we would lose economically (i.e. jobs, revenue, and energy). If the company chose to exit Cuba, less capable companies would fill the void.
While it seems unlikely that this bill will pass, even its threat could influence the decisions of leading international companies. If Congress is interested in protecting US interests, how about a bill that would facilitate dialogue with Cuba on safety and pollution prevention issues? How about a bill that would allow leading American companies to work offshore Cuba?
Posted in accidents, cuba, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Apache, blowouts, cuba, gas leak, Gulf of Mexico, National Commission, safety, well control, William Reilly on January 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »
1. This is a surprise. Does anyone know more about this conference?
U.S. experts will participate in a conference on oil safety in Cuba this April, Reuters reported. The conference comes as the BP disaster on the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico is raising concern over the start of offshore drilling in Cuban waters this year. The arrival of an exploratory drilling platform in Cuban waters that had been expected for early this year was reportedly postponed to summer.
National oil spill commission co-chairman William Reilly called on the Obama administration to think about negotiating a treaty with Mexico and possibly Cuba that would lay out uniform safety standards for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
3. Nothing new is being reported on the blowout/uncontrolled flow/gas leak beneath the East Cameron block 278 B platform that Apache is calling a “water disturbance.” Spin doctors never sleep.
Based on the limited information that is available, well integrity issues loom large and there appear to be some disturbing similarities with the Main Pass 91 blowout in 2007.
Posted in cuba, Florida, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Bahamas, cuba, drilling, Florida, offshore oil on January 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Super-geologist Paul Post is tracking Cuban and Bahamian activity and sent this map and update.
click on image to enlarge
Two thousand and eleven could be a key year for oil minnow Bahamas Petroleum Company. The AIM-quoted explorer has hired the Osprey Explorer seismic vessel, owned by Norway’s SeaBird Exploration, to shoot close-grid 2D over its four licences to the south of the Bahamas with a view to firming up a prospect for drilling in Q4. This would be the first well in Bahamian waters since 1986 and will be an acid test of BPC’s claim to be holding first mover advantage in waters that could be home to billions of barrels of oil. OilBarrel.com
Note that the area of interest is adjacent to Cuban waters, so the Cuban findings will be of great interest to the Bahamas. I don’t know if the two countries have an information sharing agreement. Perhaps the Scarabeo 9 semisubmersible will move to Bahamian waters after drilling one or more wells off Cuba.
Posted in cuba, drilling, offshore, tagged cuba, drilling, Florida, offshore oil, Repsol, Saipem, Scarabeo 9 on January 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Well, well. In early March, Cuba will commence with deep water drilling under contract with Repsol and Statoil ASA, using an older rig that was recently rehabbed by the Chinese. Reports indicate that it has fewer safety features than the BP’s infamous Deepwater Horizon. The site is located a scant sixty miles southeast of Key West, Florida. Benzinga.com
There are some errors and unsupported opinions in this article, so I would take the March spud date with a grain of salt. As confirmed by Rigzone, the Saipem Scarabeo 9 is a new rig, not a rebuild. It was built in China and commissioned in Singapore. The inflammatory comment about the rig having fewer safety features than the Deepwater Horizon is also without substance. Everything about the Scarabeo 9 appears to be state-of-the-art.
While a projected 2011 spud date has been reported and appears likely, Cuba’s deepwater drilling program has been marked by repeated delays. BOE has seen no confirmation that the rig has arrived or is en route to Cuba. We would appreciate any updates that others might be able to provide.
Posted in cuba, tagged cuba, Gazprom, offshore oil, ONGC, Petronas, Repsol, Statoil, venezuela on November 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »
According to CubaStandard.com, we can add Petronas, with Gazprom as a major partner, to the list of companies that will be drilling offshore Cuba next year. So, as best we can determine, beginning in 2011 the following companies will be using Saipen’s Scarabeo 9 to drill wells offshore Cuba:
Contrary to our energy, economic, and environmental interests, the US continues to prohibit governmental consultations on these important issues and participation by US companies in any aspect of Cuban offshore operations.
Posted in cuba, tagged cuba, drilling, Florida, offshore oil, Saimpem, venezuela on November 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA will “soon” being exploratory drilling in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico, President Hugo Chávez said during a bilateral meeting in Havana earlier this week.
Scarabeo 9
It sounds like they may want to use Saipem’s new Scarabeo 9 which is scheduled to drill a well for Repsol early next year. The only sure thing is that they won’t be using the Aban Pearl.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 