Noble to Start Second Round of Gas Drilling in Cyprus

Texas-based Noble Energy will apparently commence appraisal drilling within its Block 12 concession sometime between this October and March next year.
In the government gazette edition of August 17, the US firm invited bids for two separate contracts which, taken jointly, suggest that it is pressing forward with the natural gas field - approximately nine months after it announced a significant find there.
One of the tenders calls for "bit and hole opener services" - industry jargon for the equipment used to drill undersea wells.
According to the information published in the gazette, "the contractor must have the ability to provide bits and undertake hole opening operations onboard the Ensco 5006 in Cyprus during the 4th quarter of 2012 and/or the 1st quarter of 2013..."
The Ensco 5006 (formerly the Pride North America) is a semisubmersible rig.
Noble's own Homer Ferrington rig - which last year drilled the so-called Aphrodite well - is currently engaged in Israeli gas fields.
The contract says the drilling services are to be used "for one or two wells in Block 12."
The second tender invites bids for "subsea test tree services in support of drilling operations in Block 12...for one firm deepwater well."
In petroleum and natural gas extraction, a subsea tree, also known as a "Christmas tree", is an assembly of valves, spools, and fittings used for an oil well, gas well, water injection well, water disposal well, gas injection well, condensate well and other types of wells. It was named for its crude resemblance to a decorated tree.
Placed on top of a well, the assembly is used to take readings for temperature, pressure, flow and composition of the gas, and to test for leaks.
This data then helps oil companies make a more accurate estimate for a gas find (volume and quality) and helps calculate how long it will take to extract the gas, thus giving an indication of the financial cost.
"This is all part of the appraisal process which serves to remove any uncertainties over a gas prospect," explained Constantinos Hadjistassou, an energy researcher with the University of Cyprus.
"It looks like Noble is proceeding assertively with the find," he added.
Information from appraisal drilling will be used when the company carries out a feasibility study to figure out how much actual extraction and production would cost - and how long it would take.
Subsea testing costs around $350 million. Analysts say the total tab for developing the Block 12 prospect - including all the facilities for subsea testing as well as the pipelines - could come to $3.5 billion.
In December of last year Noble confirmed the discovery of a substantial gas reservoir in Block 12 in Cyprus' offshore Exclusive Economic Zone, with reserves estimated to be between 5 and 8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), with a gross mean of 7 Tcf.
Noble is a 70 percent stakeholder in Block 12 and acts as operator with Israeli Delek drilling and Avner Oil Exploration holding a 15 percent stake each.
Source: Cyprus Mail