Murphy Oil announced a partnership with supermajor Chevron in the Gulf of Mexico in Q4 2016, in addition to suffering from a net loss of US$64 million during the period, and an even bigger loss for the year.
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Image from Murphy. |
During the Q4 period, Murphy farmed in to the Hoffe Park prospect in the Mississippi Canyon Block 166, in the Gulf of Mexico with 25% stake. In late Q4, Chevron drilled the well and successfully encountered hydrocarbons. Well operations have been suspended pending determination of the appraisal plan for the discovery, Murphy says.
Murphy’s offshore business produced more than 81 MMboe/d in Q4. In the full year 2016, production was more than 83 MMboe/d.
Its North America operations, including the GoM and the east coast of Canada, average more than 23 MMboe/d, and were comprised of 92% liquids in Q4.
In December, Murphy and its partners were the successful bidder in Mexico's fourth phase, round one deepwater auction on Block 5, the most competitive block of the bid round.
Under the terms of the joint venture, Murphy will be the operator with a 30% working interest. The block is in the deepwater Salinas basin covering approximately 1000aq mi and water depths in this block range from 2300-3600ft. The initial exploration period for the license is four years and includes a work program commitment of one well.
Offshore Malaysia at Block K and Sarawak, Murphy says it liquids averaged over 37,000 b/d, while Sarawak natural gas production averaged over 115 MMcf/d during Q4. Full year production for Block K and Sarawak liquids averaged 39,000 b/d, and Sarawak natural gas averaged 106 MMcf/d.
“As scheduled, there were major turnarounds at the Kikeh floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility and Sarawak floating storage offloading (FSO) facility, cumulatively reducing production by approximately 4900 boe/d during the quarter. Both the Kikeh and Sarawak turnarounds were completed safely and ahead of schedule,” Murphy says.
Although Murphy fell to a net loss of $64 million in Q4, it is an improvement when compared to Q4 2015’s net loss of $581.1 million. For full-year 2016, Murphy incurred a net loss of $276 million, also an improvement when compared to 2015’s $2.27 billion net loss.
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