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Kosmos announces Gulf discovery
GULF OF MEXICO KOSMOS Energy announced this week that an from the partial sale of our frontier exploration
oil discovery had been made in the US Gulf of portfolio,” he continued. “The well in Green
Mexico with the Winterfell well, in which it holds Canyon Block 944 de-risks prospectivity in sev-
a 17.5% interest. eral neighbouring blocks held by Kosmos, with
The well is an infrastructure-led exploration approximately 100mn barrels of gross potential
(ILX) project located within tie-back distance within Kosmos’ acreage position.”
of several existing and planned host facilities, The other partners in Winterfell include
according to Kosmos’ statement. It is operated by Red Willow Offshore, Ridgewood Monarch
an affiliate of Beacon Offshore Energy. Winterfell North, CSL Exploration, CL&F Offshore, Hou-
is located in water depths of around 5,300 feet ston Energy, Beacon Offshore Energy Explo-
(1,600 metres) of water and was drilled to a total ration and Beacon Asset Holdings. Kosmos
depth of approximately 7,000 metres (23,000 said it would now work with its partners on an
feet). The well targeted a sub-salt Upper Mio- appraisal plan and development options for the
cene prospect located in Green Canyon Block well.
944, encountering roughly 85 feet (26 metres) of It is also planning to drill the Zora ILX well in
net oil pay in two intervals. the Gulf later in the year.
“We are pleased to have started the New Year ILX has become an increasingly popular
with exploration success at Winterfell validating option for Gulf operators in recent years, as low
our proven basin exploration strategy, which is oil prices made new – and more costly – stan-
focused on low-cost, short-cycle, low-carbon dalone developments less economically attrac-
development solutions,” stated Kosmos’ chair- tive. Indeed, Kosmos does not currently operate
man and CEO, Andrew Inglis. “The Winterfell producing platforms, favouring subsea tiebacks
well was funded by a portion of the proceeds to platforms operated by other companies.
Halliburton sees bright spots
amid fourth-quarter loss
US OILFIELD service provider Halliburton as well as higher well construction and wireline
reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of 2020, services activity, and year-end completion tools
but said that its revenue rose on a sequential and software sales.
basis, with its North American revenue showing “I am optimistic about the activity momen-
the largest increase. tum I see in North America, and expect inter-
The company’s fourth-quarter net loss national activity to bottom in the first quarter
totalled $235mn, or $0.27 per diluted share, of this year,” commented Halliburton’s chair-
compared with a $1.65bn loss in the same man, president and CEO, Jeff Miller. “I am also
quarter of 2019 and a $17mn loss in the third encouraged by the growing pipeline of interna-
quarter of 2020. Total fourth-quarter revenue tional customer opportunities and the unfolding
of $3.24bn beat analysts’ estimates of $3.21bn, global activity recovery.”
while Halliburton’s adjusted net income was Like its customers, Halliburton has cuts its
$0.03 above estimates of $0.18 per share, capital expenditure and workforce in response
according to Refinitiv IBES data cited by Reu- to last year’s industry downturn. The cost
ters. However, revenue was still down 37.6% cuts helped it generate free cash flow (FCF) of
year on year as activity levels remain below $1.15bn in 2020, exceeding its target of $1bn.
what they were at a year ago. Looking ahead, the company still sees some
Nonetheless, Halliburton’s revenue from challenges, but is cautiously optimistic about
North America jumped by 25.8% compared to how things will play out.
the third quarter of 2020, reaching $1.2bn, while “We view 2021 as a bit of a transition year,
its international revenue rose by 0.4% to $2.0bn. and 2022 is when we see the global rebalancing
The company attributed the rise in North Amer- of supply and demand,” Miller said on Hallibur-
ican revenue to higher activity in stimulation ton’s earnings call, adding that he also expected
and artificial lift at its US onshore operations, to see more consolidation in the industry.
Week 03 21•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13
