Page 8 - LatAmOil Week 33 2019

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Shell gets green light for seismic work at Santos Basin blocks
BRAZIL’S Ministry of the Environment has given Royal Dutch Shell a green light to proceed with a seismic survey of two adjacent o shore blocks known as BM-S-54 and Sul de Gato do Mato. Both sites lie within the Santos Basin, and the latter is an extension of the former’s southern edge that contains the Gato do Mato oil eld.
e ministry’s administrative arm, known by its local acronym IBAMA, issued an envi- ronmental permit to the Anglo-Dutch major last week, according to E&P Brasil. e permit, which will remain valid for a permit of seven months, authorises Shell to collect 3-D seismic data from the blocks. It is conditional on the company’s use of two speci c marine vessels – the Neptune Naiad seismic ship and the Island Enforcer support ship.
Shell has not said exactly when it intends to begin the 3-D seismic survey. It has said, though, that it is taking a closer look at the blocks in order to gather more information on their structure and potential. Additionally, it has said it will conduct a formation test during the survey.
e company is slated to collect 9,400 square km of 3-D data on BM-S-54 and Sul de Gato do Mato. It will use port facilities in Rio and Nit- eroi, as well as Jacarepagua Airport, as opera- tional bases for work at the o shore sites.
Shell has encountered oil shows in 3-SHEL- 30-RJS, the exploration well it is drilling at Gato
do Mato. e company recently informed Bra- zil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (known by its local acronym ANP) that hydrocarbons were present within the well at a depth of 2,067 metres.
Earlier this year, it also called a tender for the purpose of chartering a oating produc- tion, storage and o -loading (FPSO) vessel for installation at Gato do Mato. It intends to use the latter to facilitate drilling work at the eld, which is supposed to begin regular commercial production in the third quarter of 2023. Gato do Mato may eventually yield up to 90,000 bar- rels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 8.5mn cubic metres per day of natural gas. ™
Japan’s MODEC sells bonds to refinance FPSO now working offshore Brazil
JAPAN’S MODEC said last week that one of its a liates had issued project bonds on interna- tional capital markets in order to raise money to re nance a oating production, storage and o oading (FPSO) vessel chartered for work in the pre-salt zone o shore Brazil.
In a statement, MODEC said MV24 Capital had listed $1.1bn worth of bonds on August 12. e securities mature in 14.8 years and carry an interest rate of 6.748% per year. e issue is being underwritten by Citigroup, Mizuho Securities, Morgan Stanley and SMBC Nikko.
e Japanese company noted that the trans- action had “[marked] the first project bond for an FPSO project sold in the Regulation S/ Rule 144A market. It said it had sold most of the bonds to non-Japanese investors, including
companies based in the US and Europe.
e company went to say that demand for the securities had been strong, as investors had sought to buy about twice as many as were available. It added: “ e strong reception for the bond in the international market highlights MODEC’s highly praised asset management capabilities, as well as operations and mainte-
nance for FPSOs.”
MODEC will use the proceeds of the issue to
re nance the FPSO known as Cidade de Man- garatiba MV24. Brazil’s national oil company (NOC) and its partners signed a 20-year xed-
price contract for use of the vessel in 2014. ey
are using it to support operations at Iracema
Sul, an oil eld formerly known as Cernambi
Sul that lies within the BM-S-11 contract area. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 33 21•August•2019