Primeline picks COS for China drilling

Primeline Energy Holdings has tapped China Oilfield Services for its upcoming exploration project in western Lishui Basin in the East China Sea. The turnkey drilling contract will cover two wells on block 33/07, with the first, LS23-1-1, slated for mid-September using the rig HYSY941.

The location of the second well will be subject to the results of the first, and the contract grants Primeline the option to suspend drilling operations between the two to allow it sufficient time to study the data it gathers. China Oilfield Services had previously been contracted by Primeline in December 2013 to shoot 600 square kilometres of 3D seismic on the block.

Primeline’s 100-percent interest in the exploratory licence was set to expire in October 2015, but was given a six-month extension by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the parent company of China Oilfield Services. The licence stipulates China National Offshore Oil Corporation has the right to participate in up to 51 percent of any commercial development on the block.

Primeline Energy is a Hong Kong-headquartered independent focused on Chinese upstream assets. It also holds a 36.75-percent interest in the producing LS36-1 gasfield in block 25/34. This week, the company completed an acquisition of Primeline Petroleum Corporation, and has signed a memorandum of understanding to merge with Singapore’s Loyz Energy that is expected to close by the end of 2015.

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