Energy Development Corp Expands into China's East China Sea with Technical Cooperation Agreement

Strategic Insights -

Energy Development Corp (EDC), a leading independent exploration and production company, has entered into a technical cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Bureau of Marine Geological Survey (SBMGS) to explore the East China Sea's Ping Nan block, a potentially major natural gas reservoir. The deal marks EDC's increasing involvement in China, following its establishment in 1987 as a spin-off from a New Jersey utility company. The company has grown significantly, with record net income of $46 million in 1993 on revenues of $679 million, and plans to increase its reserves to 900 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) this year.

Key Takeaways:

  • EDC has entered into a technical cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Bureau of Marine Geological Survey (SBMGS) to explore the East China Sea's Ping Nan block, a potentially major natural gas reservoir.
  • The company, which was spun off from a New Jersey utility company in 1987, has grown significantly, with record net income of $46 million in 1993 on revenues of $679 million.
  • EDC has reserves totaling 809 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), of which two-thirds are natural gas and one-third oil, and plans to increase those reserves to 900 Bcfe this year.
  • The company maintains exploration, production, and development operations in 13 states, and operates offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Peru.
  • EDC has an interest in 134 platforms and operates 25 of them itself, and has been involved in exploratory work in the 3.5 million-acre Boyang Basin since 1991.
  • The company is participating in a 3-D seismic study covering 2.5 million acres in the central and western regions of the Gulf, and is searching out partners to develop the Boyang Basin area, which is about the size of 750 blocks in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • In the U.K. North Sea, where EDC gets production from five fields, tax incentives have helped boost production, and the company is benefiting from long-term gas contracts with escalator clauses that provide higher rates of return.

Statistics:

  • EDC has reserves totaling 809 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), of which two-thirds are natural gas and one-third oil.
  • The company plans to increase those reserves to 900 Bcfe this year.
  • EDC has an interest in 134 platforms and operates 25 of them itself.
  • The company's exploration, production, and development operations are maintained in 13 states.
  • EDC operates offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Peru, and has onshore operations in England, France, Tunisia, New Zealand, and China.

Sources:

  • The Oil Daily
  • Energy Development Corp.