Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 31 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Zenith raises funds for Azeri drilling
AZERBAIJAN
Zenith aims to ramp up production from less than 300 bpd to 3,000 bpd by the end of 2020.
CANADA’S Zenith Energy, focused on onshore oil production in Azerbaijan, has shored up funding for a new drilling cam- paign, the company said in a statement on August 2.
e junior oil producer has completed the placement of 47.8mn shares and 47.8mn asso- ciated warrants at the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, raising C$1.9mn ($1.44mn). It plans to use some of the proceeds to deepen wells C-37 and C-30 at the Jafarli oil eld in eastern Azerbaijan.
Hailing the placement’s success, Zenith CEO Andrea Cattaneo said it had attracted large exist- ing shareholders as well as two “highly respected UK institutional investors.” Cattaneo added that he too had participated in the placement, re ect- ing his “unchanged con dence in the value of the company’s equity.”
Zenith marked its foray into Azerbaijan in 2016, signing a 25-year PSA with the country’s state-owned SOCAR to restore and develop the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab oil elds. e deposits reached a peak output of 15,000 barrels per day during the 1980s, before entering rapid decline.
Zenith operates the elds through an 80:20 joint venture with SOCAR.
In its latest investor presentation, Zenith said it aimed to ramp up production in Azerbaijan from 270 bpd at present to 1,000 bpd by the end of 2019 and 3,000 bpd a year earlier. e deepen- ing of existing wells at Jafarli is set to play a key role in this plan.
“It is no exaggeration to state that the poten- tial of C-37 well-deepening operations makes this one of the most exciting moments since Zenith’s inception,” Cattaneo said.™
Gazprom Neft, Novatek reveal plans to target deep Achimov oil, gas
RUSSIA
Shallower reservoirs are reaching depletion
RUSSIAN oil and gas companies Gazprom Ne and Novatek are preparing to sink dozens of wells targeting deep Achimov layers at the Uren- goi eld in Western Siberia.
e pair’s Arcticgaz joint venture has plans to drill at least six wells by the end of this year into the hydrocarbon formation, located at a depth of 3,500-4,000 metres, tender documents show. A furthr 32 boreholes will be completed next year, followed by 21 in 2021 and 31 in 2022, according to the documents.
Arcticgaz nished its rst 5,624-metre Achi- mov well earlier this month, achieving a test- ow rate of more than 1mn cubic metres of gas and 500 tonnes (4,500 barrels) of condensate per day. e result con rmed “signi cant prospects” for exploiting the formation, Novatek said at the time.
More than 40 Achimov deposits has been identi ed at Urengoi – a super-giant gas eld that rst entered production in the 1960s. Russian producers are looking to develop these deposits as the eld’s shallower reservoirs reach depletion.
Arcticgaz is currently processing applications from potential contractors to drill the planned wells and bring them into production. It wants to complete the wells with longer horizontal sec- tions, unlike most previous Achimov boreholes that have been vertical. It will also deploy exten- sive hydraulic fracturing to boost pressure.
Novatek has not had any experience with Achimov, having largely focused on developing remote deposits in Russia’s far north instead of exploiting deeper reservoirs in established areas.
Gazprom Ne ’s parent company Gazprom, on the other hand, currently produces gas from two Achimov blocks at Urengoi. At one of them it is partnered with Germany’s Wintershall. Gaz- prom is near to closing a deal to transfer a 25% stake in two other Achimov contract areas to Austria’s OMV, with the pair agreeing on a sales price of €905mn ($1bn) last month. ™
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