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Brunei Awaits Oil And Gas Bonanza
By Sonia K

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam's oil and gas reserves are bound to increase with a new oil well ready to be drilled in a few days time. TOTAL E&P Borneo BV has taken a giant stride in exploration with its MLJ2-06 High Pressure and High Temperature (HPHT) project marking another milestone in Brunei's oil and gas development.

The Minister of Energy, Pehin Dato Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, was the guest of honour at the blessing ceremony of the MLJ2-06 well, which is located 50 kilometres offshore and approximately 25km close to the Champion Oil Field.

Present to attend the ceremony were General Manager of TOTAL, Mr Louis Heuze, Ambassador of France to Brunei Darussalam, Mr Patrick Bonneville, Managing Director of Shell Deepwater Borneo Limited, Mr Vincent Liew, Managing Director of BLNG, Mr Fred Smeenk and representatives from the Ministry of Energy.

Sheikh Edham bin Sheikh Nikman was on hand to bless the well.

TOTAL E&P is forecast to spend a minimum of $65 million to a maximum of

$95 million for a minimum of 140 days per well for its operations.

The estimated spending per day for its operations per well will be $450,000, according to Mr Heuze.

TOTAL has been in Brunei for 20 years and has contributed to the technological know-how of Brunei's oil and gas industry. With their work on the new MLJ2-06 oil rig, TOTAL can be considered in the industry as one of the most experienced operating company in HPHT environment.

According to the Minister of Energy, the MLJ2-06 well is certainly a world class well with reservoir conditions approaching 170 degrees Celsius and 17,000 psi.

He said that it is definitely one of the most challenging wells that has been drilled in this region and to reach the geological objectives of the well as well as to improve its drilling efficiency, advanced technological drilling equipment such as expandable liner or formation pressure while drilling will be used.

Pehin Dato Awang Haji Yahya added that the drilling rig that has been selected for this project is the Maersk Completer, which is modern and designed with the latest technology, and has largely automated equipment.

"TOTAL and the rig contractor Maersk have made very significant investments to prepare her for HPHT environment and to bring her to the highest safety environmental standards," the Pehin said.

The minister also congratulated TOTAL E&P Broneo BV's team for their dedicated efforts and their strong emphasis on safety and quality standards. He expressed his gratitude to TOTAL for sponsoring the Department of Petroleum Geosciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam and by working together with the university in offering a one-year programme in Master of Science in Petroleum Geoscience as well as the newly introduced Bachelor of Science Programme in Geology and Petroleum Geology.

According to the Drilling Manager of TOTAL, Yannick Marcillat, "This is one of the most challenging wells in the region because the wells we are producing are shallower, and the pressures we have encountered previously were not so high. This particular well has a very high pressure with 17,000 psi and we have to be very careful when the pressure comes to the surface. Besides, it is hotter at 170 degrees Celsius so it is a bit complicated when we run electronic equipment as the temperature is very high for the equipment."

The drilling of the well should start sometime this week and at the moment the crew is positioning the rig. The rig has three legs and when the legs reach the bottom of the sea, the rig will be lifted above the surface of the sea.

"Right now, we are putting some weight on both legs because they penetrate into the bottom of the sea. One of them will penetrate 21 metres deep because there is a lot weight applied to it. This operation will finish in two days' time and then the drilling will start," explained Marcillat. They plan to go up to 22,000 feet deep.

The new rig built in Singapore was towed all the way by two ships and it took eight days for it to arrive to its location.

The duration of the operation of the well is 170 days, however, TOTAL has other wells to drill as they want to explore more areas of the field.

"At the moment, the contract of the rig is for one full year, at least we have one year of activities and for this particular well more than six months," Marcillat added. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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