Data and Technology

Data

Data is an E&P company’s lifeblood, particularly in the sub-salt and pre-salt basins that are Cobalt’s strategic areas of focus. We have invested more than $200 million in state-of-the art resources, which provides Cobalt with a distinct advantage when complemented with our team’s in-depth regional knowledge, experience and meticulous approach. Such an approach has been effective in understanding sub-salt and pre-salt formations where distortions and poorly illuminated areas make seismic interpretation and locating hydrocarbons difficult.

As a result we have established a competitively advantaged proprietary data bank which includes licenses to approximately 28,000 square miles of 3-D and 78,000 linear miles of 2-D data covering more than 2,800 blocks in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and approximately 5,000 square kilometers of 3-D and 200,000 linear kilometers of 2-D seismic data in West Africa.

Through the ongoing infusion of additional information, combined with advanced reprocessing technologies and hands-on interpretation by some of the most talented geoscientists in the business, we have generated some of the highest quality prospects in the industry.

The discovery of Shenandoah and Heidelberg (our first two exploration wells in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico) are strong indications that this approach is paying off.

Technology

Technology is the X-factor in today’s oil and gas business. Our industry is one of the world’s largest users of computer power and data. At Cobalt, we are using technology in a very different way.

We have signed a multi-year contract with Landmark Graphics to provide all seismic data storage and software hosting services. This virtual IT system with state-of-the-art subsurface interpretation and volume visualization capabilities minimizes capital spending for information technology and a large IT department. Our teams can access our hosted environment from anywhere in the world using a laptop, a web browser and the Internet.

Our use of technology also extends to the well site. Cobalt has secured the ENSCO 8503 – a new build, fifth generation dynamically positioned semi-submersible rig capable of drilling any prospect in our inventory. We expect delivery of the ENSCO 8503 in January, 2011. To expedite production, we will tie-in to established subsea building blocks, utilizing a robust and flexible subsea design that meets the criteria of most of our prospects.