Noble Energy: First oil from Dantzler, Big Bend by year’s end

Noble Energy, a Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company, has executed the completion work on the Dantzler-1 production well located in the Gulf of Mexico. 

According to the company’s 1Q 2015 report, all drilling and completion activities for the Rio Grande project (Big Bend and Dantzler) are completed.

The Rio Grande area (Mississippi Canyon Block 698, 699, 738 and 782) is a co-development opportunity for recent exploration successes in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Big Bend, a 2012 crude oil discovery, and Dantzler, a 2013 crude oil discovery, are both part of Rio Grande complex.

Furthermore, the company says that tie back of the two fields to the Thunder Hawk platform remains on schedule, with pipeline installation scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2015.

Big Bend (one well) is planned to start production in the fourth quarter of 2015, with Dantzler (two wells) startup around the end of the year.

In addition, Noble says that the drilling rig is currently performing development work at the Gunflint field. First production from Gunflint is projected in mid-2016 as a two-well tieback to the Gulfstar 1 facility. Offshore installation at Gunflint will begin following the Rio Grande installation.

David L. Stover, Noble Energy’s Chairman and CEO, said: “Offshore, there are a number of exciting opportunities ahead of us, including commencing production at Big Bend and Dantzler by the end of the year in the Gulf of Mexico and material exploration wells to be drilled in Cameroon and the Falkland Islands.”

First quarter results

Noble Energy reported net loss of $22 million in the first quarter 2015, or $0.06 per diluted share. This is compared with a profit of $200 million a year earlier. Noble’s first quarter 2015 adjusted income was $10 million, or $0.03 per diluted share. Discretionary cash flow was $555 million and net cash provided by operating activities was $541 million. Capital expenditures for the initial quarter of 2015 totalled $919 million.

Noble’s total revenue fell to $759 million in comparison to  $1,370 million in 2014.

Stover added: “Noble Energy’s strong operational and financial capacity delivered a very positive start to 2015, and we are increasing our full year volume expectations following on the outperformance in the first quarter. Our teams have also made substantial progress in bringing costs down, reflecting continued improvement in operating efficiencies, leverage from existing core area infrastructure, and new pricing arrangements with our service partners. The trends of increasing capital efficiency and decreasing operating costs are expected to continue throughout the year.”

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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