Oilexco makes discovery at Moth

Oilexco has made dual zone oil and gas-condensate discovery at Moth in the Block 23/21 in the UK Central North Sea.

The 23/21-6z Moth discovery well was drilled to a total depth of 14,616 feet (4,454 m) by Diamond Offshore semi submersible Ocean Guardian. Hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir sands with a thickness of 605 feet (184 m) were intersected in the Middle Jurassic Pentland and a further 219 feet (66 m) were intersected in the Upper Jurassic Fulmar. The Middle Jurassic Pentland sands at depth of 13,283 feet (4,048 m) were drill-stem tested through perforations from 13,276 feet to 13,730 feet (4,043 m to 4,184 m) in 439 feet (133 m) of oil and gas bearing reservoir sands. Although they say initial indications are encouraging, the company has decided not to continue with the testing process of the Pentland sands at this time. Further testing will likely occur during the course of additional appraisal drilling in the future. The partners will put together a forward program for the development of this discovery. Future appraisal wells will likely utilize higher capacity testing equipment in order to determine the maximum achievable flow rates, they say. "Oilexco remains the most active driller in the UK North Sea and we continue to achieve significant results from our exploration program, with Moth being the second major discovery to be made by the company in the last year," said Arthur Millholland, president and CEO of Oilexco. The company's partners are BG Group, Hess, and BP.
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Worldwide offshore rigs unchanged

The worldwide offshore contracted rig count and total worldwide offshore rig fleet size are unchanged this week.

However, some rig markets did experience fluctuations in their fleet numbers, according to ODS-Petrodata’s weekly mobile offshore rig count. This week, 625 of the world’s 691 mobile offshore drilling units are under contract, and worldwide offshore rig fleet utilization is 90.4%. The US Gulf of Mexico contracted offshore rig count and available offshore fleet size were unchanged. With 104 rigs out of 123 available under contract, US Gulf fleet utilization stands at 84.6%. No change was recorded this week in the South American offshore rig count. With 71 rigs out of 95 available under contract, South American fleet utilization is 74.7%. The European and Mediterranean region saw the offshore contracted rig count and total offshore fleet size decrease by two each. The European offshore rig fleet remains fully utilized, with all 97 rigs under contract. In West Africa, the offshore rig fleet size and the number of contracted rigs grew by two each this week. With 58 rigs out of 61 available under contract, West African utilization remains at 95.1%. In the Asia and Australia region, the total offshore fleet size and number of rigs under contract rose by one each. With 104 out of 107 available offshore rigs under contract, fleet utilization in the region is 97.2%.
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New World Alliance and Grand Alliance offer joint Black Sea Service

The member lines of The New World Alliance and the Grand Alliance have begun a jointly operated service from Asia to the Black Sea.

TNWA member lines comprises Mitsui OSK Lines, APL, and Hyundai Merchant Marine. TNWA and the Grand Alliance carriers began co-operating in February this year with a slot exchange on their respective fortnightly services to the Black Sea. The new joint service will now provide shippers a weekly frequency with the common port coverage. Eight vessels will be deployed on the service. TNWA members will operate three vessels. Grand Alliance member lines will operate five vessels. Hanjin and UASC will keep participating in this service as slot charterers. Capacity for these eight ships is about 5,000TEU. Port rotation for the "EBX" (East-Mediterranean/Black Sea Express) Service is as follows: Shanghai - Ningbo - Shekou - Singapore - Suez - Istanbul - Constanza - Odessa - Constanza - Istanbul - Damietta - Suez - Jeddah - Singapore - Shanghai.

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Completion of FLC - Aker Yards transaction scheduled for July

Norway's Aker Yards and the Russian company FLC expects to complete the transaction in which FLC buys 70 percent ownership in three Aker yards in Ukraine and Germany in July 2008.

The agreement was announced on March 25, 2008. The one remaining item in the process before the transaction is concluded is to complete the process to obtain approval from the Ukraine competition authorities. This process has taken somewhat longer than anticipated, but FLC and Aker Yards expect that it will be possible to get this final approval shortly.

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