Upstream news

Under the terms of the agreement, Apache and Total will each hold a 50% working interest in Block 58, which comprises approximately 1.4 million acres in water depths ranging from less than 100 m to more than 2100 m.

The acquisition includes acreage in the 1.2 million North Marakia Offshore block, which is located approximately five miles offshore Egypt’s northern coast in the Herodotus basin.

The Leviathan field was discovered in 2010, and the initial development phase was sanctioned in 2017.

The new contract award, under a 10-year Framework Agreement signed in 2017 with PDO, is an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) services contract for the Mabrouk North East Development Project in Oman.

Equinor and Rosneft have taken an investment decision on the first stage of the North Komsomolskoye full field development.

Wood Mackenzie has identified five themes related to project sanctions, exploration, M&A, energy transition and IMO 2020 that will impact Asia Pacific’s upstream industry in 2020.

Marine services company Malin Group has appointed oil and gas expert Alan Hunter in a new business development role.

Sandeep Sharma will join EnerMech on 1 January 2020 along with newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Chris Brown.

EM&I has used its NoMan remote camera technology for inspections of difficult to access to areas, including on an FPSO in New Zealand.

From Malaysia and Singapore to new frontiers like Myanmar, firms are looking for ways to reach first gas efficiently and cost-effectively in the face of significant challenges. Stewart Maxwell, Aquaterra Energy, looks at the fundamental issues facing these potential operators, and asks whether new ways of thinking about offshore platform design can increase the number of viable projects in the region.