"Because of the regular shape of this feature and because it appears in
the quadrature component of the EMI data, it could represent an area of
altered-soil electrical conductivity as a result of a past excavation....
The EMI quadrature data suggest a trench or pit....
"Three distinct hyperbolas are evident [on a GPR cross-section.]... [An]
interpretation, consistent with all geophysical information, is that the
center hyperbola is a reflection from an isolated object while the other
hyperbolas are diffractions from corners of vertical or steeply dipping walls of
a pit or trench."
> It will be interesting to see how Blair's energy plan compares to Bush's.
The UK plan isn't expected until the end of the year, however.
2001.06.24
Reuters:
Upstream oil spending boom
to post 25 pct growth.
"An annual survey by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney of 274 oil and gas companies
... reveals that spending plans have increased further since a similar survey in
December which had forecast expenditure growth of 19.7 percent." ...
"Salomon said it had recorded a marked trend towards exploration versus
development spending that will benefit seismic companies."
Oil & Gas Journal:
MMS
rejects 13 high bids in Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale.
"It has accepted high bids for 534 other tracts totaling $499,683,478. MMS
explained the rejected bids in Lease Sale 178, Part 1, were insufficient."
2001.06.23
Houston Chronicle (scroll down, below the "adult auction site" article):
Houston makes mark
on supercomputer list.
"Houston-based Western Geco has three machines on the list, Nos. 202, 235 and
303, all IBM SPs of similar design to the famous "Deep Blue" machine that beat
chess master Garry Kasparov in 1997. The machines are used to crunch seismic
data gathered for the energy exploration industry."
> Gosh, I remember when seismic exploration was the number two user of
supercomputers, after the U.S. government.
2001.06.22
Reuters:
Lawmakers
Vote to Block Drilling in Fla. Waters.
"Florida lawmakers tacked an amendment to the Interior spending bill to prevent
drilling to April 2002 in an area that lies mostly about 100 miles from the
state's coastline. One narrow strip of the lease area ends about 30 miles from
the Florida coast." ...
"It would be the first lease sale in the eastern Gulf of Mexico since 1988."
Oil & Gas Journal:
House
votes to postpone eastern Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 181 .
"The Minerals Management Service had planned to conduct the sale in December,
following nearly 5 years of preparation." ...
"In June 1998, President Bill Clinton withdrew from leasing until 2012 all the
East Coast, West Coast, and eastern Gulf except for the Lease Sale 181 area.
Following extensive discussions with Florida and Alabama, his administration
determined that area could be leased under the current MMS 5-year plan
(1997-2002)."
2001.06.21
Wall Street Journal:
GOP Warns
GM, Auto Industry About Fuel-Efficiency Standards.
"At a closed-door meeting this week with Vice
President Dick Cheney, GM officials warned that the
company could be forced to slash production --
perhaps by as many as one million vehicles a year --
if the White House increases corporate average
fuel-economy, or CAFE, standards. President Bush is
strongly considering taking such a step this summer.
"GM's senior executives told the vice president that an
increase in fuel-efficiency standards for light trucks
to 23.7 miles a gallon from the current 20.7 could
have a devastating effect on its Yukon XL, Tahoe
and Suburban models, as well as others."
New York Times:
Administration
Seeks to Retain Aid to Ethanol.
"Virtually no vehicles built to run on either ethanol or gasoline are actually
using ethanol, partly because fewer than 1 in 1,000 of the nation's service
stations sell it, according to the report. Yet by manufacturing the dual-fuel
vehicles, automakers receive credits that allow them to lower the average gas
mileage of the rest of their fleets. This has allowed them to sell more
gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles." ...
"Oil companies dislike ethanol because it cannot be transported in most
pipelines, requiring use of costlier rail cars or tanker trucks."
> More on ethanol --
Slate:
Dubya's
Regrettable Bipartisanship.
"The Natural Resources Defense Council is no great ethanol fan either. It points
out, `[E]thanol production from corn in the U.S. is economically viable only due
to a federal tax subsidy. Prospects for lowering costs on and expanding ethanol
production are limited due to the high level of inputs required to produce
agricultural crops (e.g., fertilizer, pesticides, tractor fuel) and the resulting
high cost and substantial environmental impact.'"
Oil Online:
Texaco
and Agip confirm Gulf of Mexico deepwater discovery.
"Texaco, and its partner Agip, have announced the successful
delineation of Champlain, a deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil
discovery, located in Atwater Valley Block 63 located 160 miles
south of New Orleans."
> No size estimate, though.
Oil & Gas Journal:
Congressional
report: New technology key to ANWR drilling debate.
2001.06.19
> Three OGJ stories --
Oil & Gas Journal:
Federal
Reserve Bank economists see weak rebound in oil jobs.
"`Texas was down 13.4% and Louisiana down 16.4%. Lafayette, a major jumping-off
point for offshore activity in the Gulf of Mexico, was 25.1% below its previous
oil employment peak, and Houston remained 8.6% under its 1998-99 peak,' Gilmer
and Mitchell [two analysts at the Houston branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of
Dallas] said, citing the latest available Bureau of Labor Statistics."
> Cites upstream employment, relative to peak levels. (Dates of reference peaks
apparently vary for each location cited.) Reasons are mergers and new
technology, of course. Independents are currently driving the employment market.
Oil & Gas Journal:
Deepwater
drilling and LNG imports will help US gas supplies.
> Completely bogus headline. Actually a review of a talk by Ronald E. Oligney,
co-author of The Color of Oil. Interesting stat --
"`Today, 15%-20% of all US power is consumed by computers and the internet,'
Oligney said."
> I'm sure that's just electric power -- not cars. Still, it's pretty amazing.
Oil & Gas Journal:
Hunt
Oil to acquire Chieftain International for $600 million.
"Previously, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. defeated Hunt Oil in its bid for Berkley
Petroleum Corp., Calgary.... It completed the acquisition of some Alberta properties
from Canadian 88 Energy Corp. earlier this year.... Also, last year, Hunt agreed to
buy Newport Petroleum Corp. of Calgary in a stock purchase valued at $760 million...."
2001.06.18
Less than three months until the SEG
convention; time to start getting ready.
First, the itinerary. I usually try to make the opening icebreaker on Sunday
night. And it looks like there are a lot of interesting post-convention workshops.
That was easy.
The location this year, San Antonio, is cool for me. I can drive the family and
drop them off at my in-laws' house for the week.
> Oops, no can do on the family trip! My oldest is starting kindergarden and will
have school.
2001.06.17
> I should mention that one of the eleven co-authors of last
week's National Academy of Sciences report on global warming has broken
ranks, claiming that the press is misinterpreting the findings of the report.
Richard S. Lindzen:
The Press Gets It Wrong.
Our report doesn't support the Kyoto treaty.
> Lindzen was the much toted "long-time skeptic" included on the panel. This
probably didn't get much attention because it was published in the Wall Street
Journal editorial section, ground zero for the vast right-wing conspiracy.
Also, it's worth noting that none of Lindzen's ten co-authors on the report
joined him on this editorial.
> However, I *would* like to hear more discussion of this point:
"... a doubling of carbon dioxide by itself would produce only a modest
temperature increase of one degree Celsius. Larger projected increases depend
on `amplification' of the carbon dioxide by more important, but poorly
modeled, greenhouse gases, clouds and water vapor.... Given the difficulties
in significantly limiting levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a more effective
policy might well focus on other greenhouse substances whose potential for
reducing global warming in a short time may be greater."
> If you want to look at the NAS report yourself, start
here.
Associated Press:
Phillips'
Growth Creates Jitters [for Bartlesville].
"Phillips is the economic hub of this prairie town of 35,000, despite having
cut its local work force from 9,000 to 2,400 over the past 15 years."
"`To really gain plaudits from green consumers, they would have to combine it
with a reduction in spending on oil exploration,' said Matthew Spencer, a
campaigner at the environmental group Greenpeace."
> In any case, Mr. Spencer seems to think that this is a $1 billion publicity
stunt, which it certainly is not. The biggest non-governmental investors in
renewable energy technology are energy companies, and they aren't doing it to
win favor with Greenpeace.
2001.06.14
Oil & Gas Journal:
Shell
to invest up to $1 billion in renewable energies businesses.
"Karen de Segundo, CEO of Shell Renewables, said that
her division was concentrating on solar photovoltaic and
wind power, which she stressed are `the fastest growing
sectors' in the global renewables industry, while also
sizing up opportunities in biomass."
> If you've forgotten, BP is the
world's largest maker of solar panels.
Lots of spinning going on here ->
Oil & Gas Journal:
Vice-Pres.
Cheney says more study needed on global warming questions.
> Cheney tells some whoopers in this article. My favorite is the straw man he
sets up by saying the current administration "is not prepared to ban fossil
fuels."
> OGJ understatement of the week:
"The White House's energy strategy is not without controversy."
