Noble Affiliates Inc., Ardmore, Okla., said Amistad-7 well on Block 3 in the Gulf of Guayaquil tested 19.4 MMcfd of gas on a 32/64-in. choke at 3,208 psi of flowing tubing pressure from 172 ft of perforations. The well is part of a 4-well program on the block. EDC Ecuador Ltd., the owner of the block, plans to use the field's production to power a 240-Mw power facility (OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2001).
Enterprise Oil PLC awarded MODEC International LLC a $290 million contract to provide the floating production, storage, and offloading system and related subsea equipment for its Bijupirá and Salema fields off Brazil.
Russian company Sibneft awarded Deutag Land Drilling GMBH a 30 million euro contract for the use of land drilling rig in the Romanovskoye field in western Siberia. The rig will be winterized to cope with -45° C temperatures. The 2-year contract contains options for extensions.
Shell Exploration & Production Co. awarded Helmerich & Payne Inc., Tulsa, a contract to build and operate a self-moving platform rig for use on both fixed and tension-leg platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. BP PLC signed a letter of intent for H&P to build another rig for use on its Horn Mountain spar in the Gulf of Mexico. The new rigs should commence operations in spring 2002.
Europa Oil & Gas Ltd. plans to drill a horizontal well to produce the northern area of onshore Whisby oil field in the UK. The field operator, Blackland Park Exploration Ltd., will operate the well during the production phase and Europa will get 65-75% of output. It has a 3-year option to drill further wells in the field on the same terms. Europa was acquiring 2D seismic.
Norsk Hydro AS, on behalf of the partnership on the Snorre field and license 089 (Tordis and Vigdis) off Norway, has entered into an agreement with Dolphin AS that ends the dispute between the parties regarding compensation for cost overruns in connection with the rebuilding of the drilling rig Bideford Dolphin.