2002.06.26
SEG Press Release:
SeaBed
Geophysical AS awarded contract for building and testing prototype ultra
deep 4C system.
"BP has awarded SeaBed Geophysical AS a contract for development, building
and testing of a prototype 4C system. The prototype 4C system, CASE DEEP,
will be a marine four component seismic recording system including
autonomous sensors with ultra deep capabilities (3000m)."
Oil & Gas Journal:
OPEC
extends current production quotas through September.
WSJ (subscription):
Seitel
Says Former Officers May Have Misused Funds.
"Seitel is seeking more than $4 million in repayments from the former
chief executive officer, Paul Frame, and the former chief financial
officer, Debra Valice."
Houston Chronicle:
Seitel
accuses former executives of misusing funds.
"Meanwhile, Valice has sued Seitel for wrongful discharge." ...
"Frame owns a 14,000-square-foot home on River Oaks Boulevard,
according to Martha Turner Properties. The realty company is marketing
the recently completed home, which has never been occupied, for $15
million."
> Lifestyles of the rich and infamous.
The Veritas - PGS merger is still on track --
Houston Chronicle:
Terms
set again for seismic merger.
Dow Jones Business News:
Veritas
DGC, Petroleum Geo-Services Amend Merger Agreement.
"Several of the changes are similar to the preliminary revisions released
in March." ...
"The companies expect to close the deal late in the third quarter or
early in the fourth quarter."
Green Gabbro:
Thoughts from
Geophysical Field Camp.
2002.06.21
Houston Chronicle:
200
workers in area to lose jobs.
"Unocal Corp. said Thursday that it is laying off about 200 people out
of 750 associated with its Gulf Region business unit in Sugar Land."
Oil Online:
Unocal
business unit restructures.
"The restructuring measures will involve about 200 layoffs from the
Gulf Region workforce in its Sugar Land office and field locations.
The cuts represent about 7 percent of Unocal's total U.S. workforce." ...
"The focus of the exploration program has been redirected from the
Gulf of Mexico's mature shallow depths to the emerging `deep shelf'
play, which represents a new frontier for the industry. [Ken Butler,
Gulf Region vice president] said the restructuring also would
involve the divestment of properties by year-end that are marginal
to Unocal."
Oil Online:
ChevronTexaco
increases target for annual savings.
"ChevronTexaco Corp.increased its merger-related synergy target to $2.2 billion,
an annual before-tax rate to be achieved by April 2003."
> That sounds a lot better than "cost savings from reduced headcount," doesn't it?
Oil and Gas International:
MMS
Central US Gulf Lease Sale 182 banks $355.7 million.
"The US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS)
announced today the completion of the two-phase bid evaluation process
for Lease Sale 182, which was held on March 20, 2002.... Those companies
that rank in the top five for participating in the highest number of
winning bids for Sale 182 are: Spinnaker Exploration..., Magnum Hunter...,
BP Exploration & Production..., Dominion Exploration & Production...,
and Kerr-McGee...."
2002.06.18
Reuters:
Devon says
"4C" seismic yields Gulf gas finds.
"Devon Energy Corp. said on Monday its first drilling program based on
four-component, three-dimensional seismic technology has led to four
successful offshore natural gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico.... The
company said it has licensed two large four-component seismic surveys
in the Gulf of Mexico, covering a total of 660 square miles, from which
it expects to develop several more ready-to-drill prospects."
Press Release:
Paradigm Expands
its Reservoir Characterization Offering With Stratimagic Version 2.0.
"The new release of Stratimagic offers multi-attribute seismic facies
classification, integration with the industry-leading VoxelGeo(TM)
volume-based seismic interpretation solution, and expanded
interoperability with third party databases."
Oil and Gas International:
Veritas
to shoot 3D survey in western Wyoming.
"Veritas DGC is planning to acquire 3D data over a 290 sq mile tract
near Merna, Wyoming.... According to Veritas' submitted acquisition
plan, it will utilize vibroseis buggies, all-terrain vehicles, and
helicopters to complete the shoot. In those areas where vibroseis
buggies are unable to go, subsurface charges will be used for sources."
Oil and Gas International:
Saudi
privately owned services company planned.
"Plans at this juncture are that the company to be set up will carry
out a range of services to include drilling, engineering, seismic
acquisition, the manufacture of numerous oilfield products, and others."
2002.06.14
Bloomberg Business News:
Survey: Oil spending to drop.
"Budgets for drilling and servicing oil and natural gas wells in North
America are expected to decline 16 percent from a year earlier, although
spending outside the region will rise 6 percent, Salomon analyst Geoff
Kieburtz wrote in an industry note." ...
"Nearly 60 percent of Salomon's survey respondents expect spending to
increase in 2003, with 42 percent forecasting growth of more than 10
percent."
Dow Jones Newswires:
Shareholders
OK Acquisition Of Paradigm.
"Fox Paine & Co., a San Francisco-based private equity firm, agreed in May to
acquire Paradigm Geophysical for $100 million. The $5.15 a share price was a
37.8% premium over Paradigm Geophysical's average closing price of $3.74 for the
90-day period ended May 21."
2002.06.13
Houston Chronicle:
Seitel board
lops at top. Two leaders pushed out over finances.
"While the top management has changed, Seitel's future is still in the
hands of its creditors. The company, one of the nation's largest
seismic data firms, is negotiating with holders of its senior notes,
trying to agree on new repayment terms on bonds with $255 million in
principle outstanding."
2002.06.12
Houston Business Journal:
Seitel's
CEO quits, board fires CFO.
"Seitel Inc. said Wednesday President and CEO Paul Frame has resigned in
the wake of investor lawsuits, allegations of securities violations and
noncompliance with certain loan agreements. Seitel, a Houston-based
provider of seismic data for oil and gas exploration, also said the board
of directors fired Chief Financial Officer Debra Valice."
Business Week:
The
Green Arm of an Oil Giant. Jim Davis of ChevronTexaco explains the thinking
behind its Energy Solutions unit, which includes alternative energy.
"At some point in the future, these technologies are going to become
cost-competitive, and when they do, a huge market shift is going to
take place.... In the stationary power market ... it's going to happen
within the next 10 years. In the transportation market, you're probably
well past 10 -- maybe a 20-year horizon, although we're seeing the hybrid
[automobiles, like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius] take out more
market share."
2002.06.11
Reuters:
IEA
Says Oil Demand Recovering.
"China led a recovery in world oil demand
in the second quarter but oil prices are ebbing because
inventory cover remains comfortable and speculators less
concerned about tensions in the Middle East, the International
Energy Agency said on Tuesday. Growing leakage over official output
limits by OPEC, record
exports from Russia and worries about the slow pace of global
economic recovery also have dulled the impact of rising oil
demand, the IEA said in its monthly Oil Market Report."
Oil and Gas International:
Daily
US Gulf oil & gas production rising rapidly to 2006 - US MMS.
"[MMS Director Johnnie Burton said], `Should the high case projection be
met in 2006, oil production would be at almost 2.5 million b/d versus
the 945,000 b/d in 1995.' Gulf oil production was an estimated 1.5
million b/d in 2001. Gulf deepwater oil production surpassed
shallow-water oil production in March 2000. According to these
forecasts, as much as 77% of daily oil production in the Gulf and 26%
of daily gas production could come from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico by
2006."
Houston Business Journal:
TGS-NOPEC
to survey offshore Nigeria.
"The Ministry of Petroleum Research in Nigeria has granted TGS-NOPEC
exclusive rights to acquire multiclient seismic data over the prospective
blocks located in shallow waters adjacent to several producing hydrocarbon
fields."
Oil and Gas International:
TGS-Nopec
seismic shoot off Western Sahara proceeding.
"The company came under criticism for the project following its recent
announcement of the non-exclusive 2D offshore seismic program south of
the Tarfaya region of Morocco off the area claimed by Morocco but
contested by the local Western Sahara (Saharwi Republic) government."
> The OGI article includes a map.
2002.06.10
Los Angeles Times:
US
Refuses to Buy Back Oil Leases.
"The Bush administration on Friday rejected Gov. Gray Davis' request that
it buy back offshore drilling rights, as it did last week in Florida,
arguing that circumstances in the two states are quite different and that
`Florida opposes coastal drilling and California does not.'" ...
"`Ever since the spill off Santa Barbara in 1969, Californians have
vehemently opposed new offshore drilling,' Davis said in a statement Friday." ...
"The 1969 blowout of an oil platform did more than solidify California's
opposition to offshore drilling. Heart-wrenching images of dying, oil-soaked
birds and goo-covered beaches inspired the nation's first Earth Day and
helped launch the environmental movement."
Associated Press:
Oil
millionaire Simon, [GOP] candidate for Calif. governor, speaks out against offshore drilling.
2002.06.07
Reuters:
Oil
refiners can make "clean" hydrogen too - Shell
"`While some environmentalists are reluctant to admit it, the refining
industry offers a number of very practical ways forward on hydrogen.
Refineries can convert fossil fuels to usable hydrogen by gasification
far cheaper than the solar model,' [Michiel Boersma, the head of
Shell's Global Solutions consultancy] said. `This would set the
ball rolling on hydrogen, build public acceptance and attract
investments into research.'"
Wired:
Fuel
Cell Car Coasts Across U.S.
"`We feared everyday that we weren't going to make it,' said Wolfgang
Weiss, who led the team of 16 engineers and technicians that drove the
Necar 5. Weiss said the greatest challenges were getting stuck in
bumper-to-bumper traffic in Chicago, and the days when the mercury
surpassed 90 degrees. `Fuel cell engines don't like to get hot or
stand still.'"
Oil and Gas International:
WesternGeco
opens seismic data processing center in Trinidad
"The WesternGeco data processing center will focus on hiring and
training local employees, with the first Trinidadian geophysicists
already having undergone geophysical training in the USA and Norway."
Press Release:
GX
Technology Opens New Aberdeen Service Centre
2002.06.05
Associated Press:
TotalFinaElf
dominates lease sale for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
"TotalFinaElf, until now a minor factor in Alaska's oil fields, paid more than
$10 million each for two parcels on the way to shelling out $52.9
million — 83 percent of the total winning bids — for 19 tracts."
Oil and Gas International:
DMT
scores Central Europe's largest seismic survey.
"Germany's Deutsche Montan Technologie (DMT) has won
a contract to acquire 3D seismic data on the northern edge of the Austrian
Alps from Rohöl-Aufsuchungs. It is said to be the largest such survey ever
in Central Europe."
Oil & Gas Journal:
Newfield
Exploration to acquire EEX in $640 million deal.
2002.06.04
New York Times:
Climate
Changing, U.S. Says in Report.
"In a stark shift for the Bush administration, the United States has
sent a climate report to the United Nations detailing specific and
far-reaching effects that it says global warming will inflict on the
American environment. In the report, the administration for the first
time mostly blames human actions for recent global warming. It says
the main culprit is the burning of fossil fuels that send heat-trapping
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."
New York Times:
White
House Warns on Climate Change.
"`I read the report put out by the bureaucracy,' Bush said dismissively
Tuesday when asked about the EPA report, adding that he still opposes
the Kyoto treaty."
2002.06.03
Oil and Gas International:
BHP
Billiton scores deepwater discovery in US Gulf Walker Ridge.
"The Cascade prospect lies approximately 35 miles south-southwest of the
Mad Dog and Atlantis oil and gas discoveries, where earlier this year
BHP Billiton approved funding to advance these fields into development
and production."
Oil and Gas International:
ChevronTexaco
to drill US Gulf ultra-deep Keathley Canyon.
Oil Online:
PGS
to survey fields off Saudi Arabia.
"The contract includes ... the provision of seismic data processing
services by PGS' Data Processing division. The survey will cover 1,000
square kilometers using high-resolution two-component and four-component
seafloor technology to better characterize the producing reservoirs and
identify potential deeper targets."
A couple of press releases that just got posted to the SEG site:
Input/Output
introduces VectorSeis System Four.
"The heart of the VectorSeis platform is a micro-electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS) accelerometer that is designed and manufactured by I/0
specifically for the seismic industry. This technology offers significant
benefits such as direct digital output at the sensor, inherently high
vector fidelity and wide seismic bandwidth."
CGG teams up
with Norsk Hydro and ENI to launch VectorVista for multi-component processing.
"VectorVista offers the full range of 4C data analysis and interpretation
tools. Compressional wave data (PP) and converted wave (PS) data can be
displayed simultaneously. A compressed function to display squeezed PS
sections is also built in. The workstation offers a number of ways to compute
the PP/PS ratio, or Gamma function, which is a fundamental issue in 4C
processing."
