Member Info for adoubleuk

Nice calm weather! Perfect.

Wessex,

Excellent post!

But in typical style, I can't help adding a couple of details: hope you'll forgive me!

The Bluewater diagram (linked) shows the manifold tied into five walls, for some unknown reason. Obviously this won't be the case.

I've also seen a diagram (though now can't find the reference!) showing the seabed flowlines running into a couple of 'mini manifolds' where they join to the flexible risers. Something of that nature can be seen on the diagram. My suspicion is that such 'mini-manifolds' incorporate an automatic subsea safety shutoff valve (not to be confused with similar downhole items) actuated in the event of line pressure loss, though I've no evidence to support this idea.

Once again (as you yourself will have noticed!) the artist's impression diagram must be treated with circumspection. It shows the flowlines widely spaced during their seabed run, then coming close together before joining the risers. Whereas the EIA states quite the opposite, for the reasons you explained!

Normand Vision finally on her way to Nigg, ETA midday tomorrow. Anyone nearby to take a picture of the manifold being loaded?

NV still in Norway. Ok, I was in a hurry and looked at the vessel header rather than the map. But still, her next work's ours, one hopes.

Tjere have been a number of posts about Poo lately. I've just filled the tank of my car and looked at the cost once again. Not something I usually do. And suddenly realiséd something. Diesel is cheaper than beer! That strikes me as wrong and slightly crazy. It's a lot more difficult, expensive, and dangerous drilling for oil than running a brewery. Wjat are people complaining about? Other than the price of beer, of course.

Genghis,

"Either of you care to make a stab at estimated completion date?:" Not me, I'm afraid! :-))

Wessex, (and Genghis, and all),

"I don't believe that they're progressing to do the risers just yet, as the Kingfisher report to me implies that Normand Vision and Deep Explorer will be doing that from 22 July, and that the SURF will start at the well manifold end and be progressed from north to south towards the buoy."

The Deep Explorer is currently still at Shell's Fram field. But the Normand Vision is at Nigg, so quite possibly picking up the manifold and other associated equipment there.

The supposition that the work will progress from the well / manifold end as start-point and go south towards the buoy seems logical to me. The wells can't be moved, whereas there's bound to be some 'slack' that can be incorporated into the flexible riser end of things.

Wessex,

We were writing at the same time. But both essentially saying the same thing.

Genghis,

"Mooring installation surely close to completion, tho as a non oilie I may be missing something - what say the boatwatchers?"

Looking at the AIS, the NI and the two support PSV's are still beavering away at things. My own personal take on this is that maybe some 'shipwatching' reports a few days ago might have been a bit premature (nobody's 'fault'), because we're not sure exacly what defines 'completion' of the mooring system. My current (again personal) suspicion is that it entails more than just connecting up the chains and cables tethering the buoy to the anchor piles. The buoy itself is part of a dynamic system, remember. It contains balasting and buoyancy tanks so that it can 'hover' midwater below the FPSO when she moves in, and then (no doubt with help from these tanks be winched up into the turret, or in case of need, be disconnected and let down to a neutral-buoyancy 'hovering' state again.

And such systems no doubt have to be function tested before the entire thing can be signed-off as completed. That may be what's happening now, but one can only guess.

Equally, there are doubtless preparations to be made on the buoy for hookup of the flowline risers and umbilicals. The connection points may quite possibly have been covered by blanking plates or similar until now, and once again with an emphasis on 'maybe', such preparations count as part of the completion process before signoff to Technip to do their part of the work.

I'd stress yet again that these are guesses, but they seem reasonable ones to me.

"...... see that the RNS very pointedly say"

DID NOT say...

Looks like a recent thread has been 'disappeared'. Maybe this one will as well, but why not try? Fortunately I saved this message before trying to send it.

" Entertaining though ..."

An apt description! Out of curiousity I've just had a look at that page. A 'positive' (ahem...) RNS, no leaas than 850 posts on the BB (and rising), and the SP has done... nothing!

I know this is off-topic and not 'our' company, but I was interested to see that the RNS very pointedly say how many flow periods and exactly what length of time were required to collect their first 250-bbl tankerload.

One thing's a shame, and that's that SP isn't directly related to oil flowrate. Because UKOG is getting a 'calculated' 300 bbl/day - ish, and their SP is 2.5 pence. Hurricane's empirical DST on 205/21a-7z was 15,000 bbl/day, so by that formula our SP ought to be 125p, and that's just for one well!

"

SXX,

I couldn't help noticing this the other day, on my phone, but having no proper internet connection, didn't reply. However, as the 'game' of poker is something which occupies a lot of my time, and as nobody else has responded,I feel I might do so now.

"Who thinks Dr T would be
a) A great poker player
b) A terrible poker player

I think "a" - which is also why I get a warm fuzzy feeling each time I watch this 19 minute interview."

My own opinion is that Dr T must be a terrible poker player. For one simple reason. That being whenever he finds himself holding a great hand, a big grin crosses his face.

Oh yeah...

Anyone who doesn't make it to next year's AGM will need a very good excuse!

Ricfle,

"Next time you feel the need to tell me that I am wrong, why not check your "assumptions" against the known facts and stop wasting everyones time."

OK, I was wrong about the DST on Shell's initial exploration well. I admit it. But I posted while sitting on a treetrunk in a field with a more-than-tenuous internet connection, as explained, so being remiss in not doing complete cross-referencing might (given the circumstances) be excused, I think.

However, and even so:

"The well was tested by DST 1 across a 245 ft (75 m) interval of basement, and the overlying tight Rona sand and Valhall Fm limestone. The test flowed at a maximum rate of 191 bbl water a day with a 2% trace of 31-36o API oil."

OK. An old-time 1974 DST which in all likelihood was an old-time DST which maybe the likes of SonoftheBull on here MIGHT remember, though I think he's younger than I so probably doesn't.

A 75m DST across three different formations, and the well was drilled off-structure, anyway. It's not that Shell didn't interpret things right,and neither did Dr T tell them they were wrong. (See thrust of my post passim.)

It's simply that they stuck the donkey tail on the doorknob.

"

"just said cheerio to ADUK after enjoying a most pleasant lunch next to the Dordogne with him. Really enjoyed his company and I have learned enough to steady my nerves here . I look forward to travelling up to his home town at some point. "

...And having returned home I'd like to publicly thank the Snail for his hospitality and excellent company! Also (although it's against LSE posting rules to advertise things), he's got his house up for sale, and a nicer place and location one couldn't think of. Sitting on his terrace in the sunshine enjoying a post-prandial 'digestif' with coffee, enjoying the view over the Dordogne valley and discussing Hurricane Energy and a little bit (really a little bit) about petrogeology and seismic will be a lasting memory.

This is a little bit O/T, I know, but this BB is this BB, and it regards this BB and its regular contributors. So far, I've actually met three. And I've made three good friends. Different backgrounds, different means, different worries, so on and so forth. But with just this tenuous link of being serious HUR investors in common. But also I'm in contact with a few others I have yet to actually meet. But all good people, so far. Confirmation bias? I think not. Because strangely there are other things in common, like holding similar O&G shares! Snail's into RBD. So's someone else but I won't mention her name. I'm into UOG, but they've got a slice of the same thing RBD's into. Maybe great minds do think alike...

Of course, today's conversation wasn't all Hurricane. We both found the wine at lunch a bit 'light', mutually agreed that airports are horrible places, and smalltalk like that.

Thanks for everythin, Esgargot! I owe you...

PS Almost forgot. Of course we talked about this BB, like two fishwives over the fence. And I (we) have a question for Ricfle. Because there was slight disagreement on that. How should your BB pseudonym be pronounced? I imagine it as 'Rick-Full', whereas Escargot thought 'Rick-Flea'. Maybe you could tell us.

PS. More to my latest, and while I'm sitting on my treetrunk.

I have yet to see any statement by Shell, BP, or others saying 'Fractured Basement does not work'. This is a pure fiction invented by PI's to explain their misguided opinion that they (the majors) don't think Lancaster will work, and that's why they haven't yet taken Hurricane over

And I might as well turn to that theme as well, before my laptop battery runs down

'Takeover' is in my belief (just personal opinion) just wishful thinking. A PI security blanket. But don't get me wrong. I'd LOVE to see a takeover with every share I own suddenly being worth a fiver. I've made a bunch of money from a takeover like that a few years ago, and a bidding war which the Chinese won. Check out Talison Lithium. But I simply don't see any business logic for that happening here. The majors can easily buy the assets by 'taking over' those subsiduary companies which were formed a couple of years ago. Remember them? Hurricane GWA and so on? But we don' hold shares in those offshoots. We hold them on the core company, Hurricane Energy Which I believe will continue to exist as an independant entity for years to come.

Don't bother to reply in a hurry, because I'm going to leave my treetrunk in the field and will be without internet until sometime tomorrow. It's got fark, and amthough I can still see the laptop screen, I can'rt see th keyboird.

Ricfle,

Believe it or not, I am writing this sitting on a fallen treetrunk in the middle of a field, using my laptop connected to an 'Orange Airbox' device. Because I'm at my bolthole in the N.Dordogne, the normal land-transmitted internet is down, and I have to walk to this field to pick up a mobile signal. Remote Location. So I hope you'll appreciate the lengths I go to so as to reply to your always interesting posts.

"Dr T's most outstanding attribute in my opinion is his his shear bloody mindedness (no offence intended) that FB works when the majors like Shell say it does not.

"In 1974 Shell drilled into the FB of Lancaster and it would not flow, Dr T stated that they were wrong "

I'm afraid this is just not true.

Firstly, in 1974 Fractured Basement as a potential reservoir was unknown to anyone other than the Chinese, who were only then just beginning to recognise that it could produce oil.

Secondly, Shell drilled 205/21a-01 as a vertical exploration well to target the Commodore Sandstones (as they were to become known, and later as the Victory). At that time, 'hitting the basement' was a sign of the bottom of the 'conventional' reservoir, it would be drilled into and cored to make sure it was continuous, and then stop.

From that data, Shell decided that the sandstones weren't commercial, so abandoned the well. A DST test was not even performed to see if anything would flow, to my knowledge.

None of this had anything to do with Dr Trice, who I believe was still doing his undergraduate studies in university at the time

Mr Jim,

", I don`t see HUR selling bit and pieces to a major , if the North sea is up for sale they will just buy out HUR ."

See reply by joshua767 at 23:53 as well.

Personally I utterly disagree with you on this. (a) it's contrary to everything the company has said in interviews, etc, and (b) why would a major want to do that, with all the hassle entailed? Hurricane has made absolutely no secret about the assets (ie the fields) being up for sale or lease (though I'm sure they'll keep a 'non-operating' percentage interest) after about 6 months of production. Essentially this means they can all sit down at a table and amicably negotiate a price. The interested parties will be wanting the oil, not the company. And Hurricane has no intention of becoming an oil production company, other than the EPS.

Furthermore, they (the majors) won't want to 'dissemble' the Hurricane corporate team, which would be almost inevitable in the event of a takeover. They'll be quite happy to let Hurricane continue to act as independant 'pathfinders', exploring further new fields and putting in that legwork, which is another goal stated by Dr T. That's the obvious win-win situation for everyone.

And finally there's no way I see Dr T having any intention of becoming effectively a wage-slave for a major again. He's already been there and done that.

Some people here seem to be under the mistaken impression that the major oil companies are some sort of predatory sharks, but this is the 21st century and things don't work like that any more. John Browne has hung up his hat. As I said in an earlier post, how come outfits like Tullow, Apache, PMO, Genel, Rockhopper and countless scores of others still exist and haven't been taken over?

A fellow shipwatcher (thanks, Mario!) has drawn my attention to some interesting manoeuvers by the FPSO. Check 'past track' on 'marinewatch'. Maybe Sea Trials are preceded by Land Trials?

HTL,

"Nice finish"

And so say all of us!

However (not wishing to put a damper on things) I suspect the possibility of traders not wanting to be 'out' for the weekend. There's been speculation here that there may be an RNS regarding mooring work being finished, although at the time of me writing this the Normand Installer plus the two PSV's still seem to be beavering away with things. And as always one must be prepared for action by the 'sell on the news' mob.