Energy

Alan Swaby looks at a FTSE 100 oil company that didn’t have a barrel of oil to its name 25 years ago—but now has billions.

Tullow Oil is sitting on vast reserves of oil, so much so that the share price has gone from 400p in 2006 to 1400p today. Its biggest find to date—the Jubilee offshore field in Ghana—came on stream in 2010, just three years after the discovery was made. Other global sites saw an average of 58,100 boepd in 2010 from fields as far apart as the North Sea and Pakistan. 

AWS Ocean Energy Ltd, the Scottish wave energy company, has secured a major investment from French power giant Alstom.

AWS said that Alstom has acquired a 40 per cent equity stake in the company, giving it the financial capability to accelerate the development of its AWS-III wave power technology.

The investment is Alstom’s first ever in the wave energy sector.

Wood Group PSN has announced the extension of its contract with TAQA Bratani by a further five years.

Under the terms of the services contract, Wood Group PSN will provide operations and maintenance support, and engineering and construction services, to TAQA's Cormorant Alpha, North Cormorant, Tern and Eider platforms in the northern North Sea.

The contract is an extension of the previous duty holder and integrated facility management services contract that was awarded to Wood Group in November 2008.

Greek company Raycap has announced the completion of its new photovoltaic power generation facility in Drama, north-eastern Greece.

The new plant, one of the largest solar power plants in northern Greece, is equipped with 18,200 high-efficiency thin-film solar panels, while two 800kW central inverters ensure efficient and reliable power distribution to the grid. The plant is expected to generate two million KWh per annum.

UK-based Cairn Energy has commenced drilling operations on two wells offshore West Greenland, it was announced today.

Operations will commence on the AT-7 well in the Atammik Block and the LF-7 well in the Lady Franklin Block, approximately 160 and 300 kilometres offshore Nuuk respectively.

The AT-7 prospect lies at a depth of 905 metres and the LF-7 prospect at 989 metres.

Drilling will be carried out by a fifth generation semi-submersible, the Leiv Eiriksson, and the Ocean Rig Corcovado, a sixth generation drillship.

Texas-based Treaty Energy Corp. has acquired its own drilling rig ahead of commencing operations in Belize, it has been announced.

The Schramm Rig, purchased in Alabama, has been shipped to a service center for inspection and upgrades as needed, prior to its shipment to Belize in June.

The rig is capable of drilling with either air or mud, and is thus able to drill with either method if on-site conditions change, the company said.

Noble Energy has announced the discovery of oil at its Santiago exploration prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Around 60 feet of oil pay was identified in the well, which was located in 6,500 feet of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 519 and drilled to a total depth of approximately 18,920 feet.

Noble Energy is the operator at Santiago, with a 23.25 percent working interest. Houston Energy holds 10 percent, Red Willow Offshore has 20.25 percent, and BP Exploration & Production holds the remaining 46.5 percent.  

Desire Petroleum has announced that new data on its acreage offshore the Falklands has pointed to potential new prospects for oil.

The London-based company, which is wholly focused on the North Falkland Basin, said that initial indications for two new prospects—Beverley and Shona—were encouraging, based on preliminary raw data.

Desire said that the Shona lead is at the same stratigraphic level as the Sea Lion discovery made in May last year by rival exploration company Rockhopper, which was the first oil discovery in the North Falkland Basin.

French electrical group Schneider Electric has acquired 74 per cent of Indian manufacturer Luminous, it has been announced.

Tullow Oil has announced its second acquisition in the space of seven days—this time purchasing the interests of EO Group, which include those offshore Ghana.

The deal, worth $305 million, will increase Tullow's interest in the West Cape Three Points licence offshore Ghana by 3.5 per cent to 26.4 per cent. It will also increase its interest in the Jubilee Oil field, which it already operates, by 1.75 per cent to 36.5 per cent.

The agreement is conditional upon various approvals, including from the government of Ghana.