Today’s Key Takeaways: 88 Energy North Slope flow tests. LNG Supertanker certified for environmental performance. Historical copper supply gap. UK green agenda watered down.
OIL:
88 Energy plans Alaska North Slope flow tests
Editors, Oil and Gas Journal, September 21, 2023
88 Energy Ltd. has mapped the recently identified Upper Slope Fan System (Upper SFS) across its Project Pheonix acreage on the North Slope of Alaska. The data will be used for subsequent stimulation and flow test operations.
88 Energy Ltd. has mapped the recently identified Upper Slope Fan System (Upper SFS) across its Project Pheonix acreage on the North Slope of Alaska. The data will be used for subsequent stimulation and flow test operations.
Seismic interpretation and log correlation has revealed that the Upper SFS reservoir is more extensive than originally mapped, correlating over 4 miles to strong shows in the Icewine-1 well previously attributed to be part of the lower SMD-A package (OGJ Online, Apr. 11, 2023).
Resources in this reservoir are not currently included in the company’s resource estimates as they have yet to be assessed. The Upper SFS target remains an untested reservoir in nearby offset wells. The company described the quality and strength of shows recorded during the drilling and logging of Hickory-1 as still among the best it has witnessed to date. Moreover, post-well geochemical analysis of Hickory-1 sidewall core data indicates fluid maturity to be in the early-peak oil window.
Simulation models have been built for each of the target intervals in Hickory-1, with the objective of ensuring a successful stimulation and flow test in each zone. Pantheon Resources reported flow rates of 50-100 bo/d from vertical wells and intervals in the adjacent northern acreage. These vertical test results, although modest, provide critical information in understanding the reservoirs and allow the design of long, horizontal wells that would be employed during development.
Post-well analysis and flow test modelling of the Hickory-1 reservoirs provide accurate design of completion fluids and string necessary for flow test operations. Sourcing and procurement of these long lead items is underway with operations scheduled for early first quarter 2024. Permitting is on track with the Alaskan state authorities, and All American Oilfield LLC’s recently upgraded Rig 111 drilling-workover module has been secured for the flow test program.
88 Energy holds 75% interest and is operator of the Project Phoenix area.
GAS:
LNG-Fueled Supertanker Recognized for Environmental Performance
Mike Schuler, qCaptain, September 20, 2023
The LNG dual fuel supertanker Antonis I. Angelicoussis has become the first Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) to be certified by the Green Award Foundation for its environmental performance.
The Green Award program offers incentives to ships that exceed industry standards in safety, quality, and environmental impacts, with 37 ports providing discounts on port dues for oil tankers.
The 330-meter-long and 60-meter-wide tanker is managed by Maran Tankers Management, the tanker shipping arm of Greece’s Angelicoussis Group.
The Angelicoussis Group has been participating in the Green Award program for over 27 years. In recent years three Maran Tankers managed oil tankers were certified by Green Award, as well as four LNG tankers operated by sister company Maran Gas Maritime.
The 320,916 DWT Antonis I. Angelicoussis is the first of four new LNG dual fuel sisters’ ships built by Samsung Heavy Industries and delivered to Maran Tankers Management earlier this year. Maran Tankers also has eight new build LNG dual fuel Suezmax tankers on order as part of its fleet expansion program.
Antonis I. Angelicoussis‘certification includes level 1 labels for carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions.
Green Award Foundation is an independent non-profit organization governed by industry representatives. It manages a voluntary quality assessment certification scheme that inspects and certifies ships, qualifying them for financial and non-financial incentives awarded by a global network of a 180 incentive providers made up of ports, service providers and suppliers. To date, over 1,000 ships have been certified.
The organization says it acknowledges the potential of LNG to reduce emissions compared to conventional fuel oil, with the possibility of achieving net zero emissions through the use of bio- or synthetic LNG.
“For that we’ve introduced in 2022 special greenhouse gas labels to strengthen Green Award’s approach towards decarbonization and emissions reduction within our mission to recognize ships that take roles as front-runner,” it said.
MINING:
The Oregon Group Predicts Historical Copper Supply Gap
Mining.Com, September 21, 2023
TORONTO, Sept. 21, 2023 /CNW/ – The supply of copper, essential for a host of industries and crucial to green technology and the global energy transition, is expected to face a supply gap of nearly 10 million mt within the next ten years according to a new report. The Oregon Group predicts a long-term supply deficit in the copper market, despite the existence of large global reserves.
The report examines key trends affecting global copper supply and demand. These include years of supply side underinvestment, rising geopolitical tensions, and exponential growth of industries connected to decarbonization.
Thanks to the global green economy, copper demand is expected to nearly double by 2030. However, despite stark warnings from major copper producers in recent years, production has yet to recover from more than a decade of neglect. Dwindling ore grades, aging mine infrastructure, higher development costs, and also minimal exploration in prior years means primary supply is badly equipped to cope with a major, sustained rise in demand. According to Bloomberg NEF, the upcoming supply upcoming supply shortfall could be so large that it could “hold back global growth, stoke inflation by raising manufacturing costs and throw global climate goals off course.”1
POLITICS:
Sunak Gambles on Voters Focusing More on Costs Than Climate
K. Donaldson, A. Wickham, E. Ashton, E. Milligan, Bloomberg/Rigzone, September 21, 2023
Rishi Sunak’s decision to water down a key part of the UK’s green agenda represents a gamble that conceding some ground to the climate-skeptic political right will appeal to Britons buffeted by a cost-of-living crisis.
In a hastily arranged speech Wednesday after his planned U-turn was leaked to the BBC, the British prime minister said a ban on the sale of new fossil-fuel cars — a central plank of a legally-binding commitment to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050 — would be pushed back five years to 2035.
Reports of the sudden shift had sparked a backlash within his Conservative Party over fears it would damage Britain’s international standing and dissuade carmakers from investing. Other moves included easing rules on when some Britons must replace oil and gas boilers with heat pumps, which are unpopular among grassroots Conservatives. Sunak convened a call with senior ministers as he tried to tame what he later called the “flak” he was facing.
When he finally appeared in front of the cameras, Sunak framed his decision as part of his “new approach” to tackling climate change, one that meets targets but puts a “fairer and more proportionate” burden on Britons. He denied being driven by politics, or that he was watering down the UK’s ambitions.