2003.08.21
O&GJ:
MMS
reports $148.7 million in apparent high bids in GOM Lease Sale 187.
"MMS statistics released shortly after the sale revealed that both major oil and
gas companies and independent exploration and production firms were equally active
participants in the sale."
Press Release:
GDC Establishes New
Subsidiary and Announces Management Changes.
"Ken Ratcliff, John Makin and Peter Northmore, founders of Ensign Geophysics
Limited, will manage GDC UK Limited and assist in the overall management of GDC....
Additionally, Stuart Reynolds has been appointed President of GDC."
Ex-GTRI workmate Jim Allen in the news --
Texarkana Gazette:
Oil
seekers experiencing setbacks.
"... Arkus Energy General Manager Jim Allen said Friday that rainy weather,
coupled with some paperwork delays, has forced the company to put off any seismic
testing until later this month, if not until early next month."
O&GJ:
Oil
companies join environmentalists to propose biodiversity guidelines.
"Four major international oil companies joined with five conservation groups to
form the Energy and Biodiversity Initiative (EBI), a collaborative group that has
developed industry guidelines for integrating biodiversity conservation into all
upstream oil and gas operations from initial site selection through final
decommissioning."
2003.08.18
Houston Chronicle:
Vast
drilling depths may yield giant new gulf discoveries.
"The plan is to drill within a range starting at 25,000 feet and possibly all
the way to 35,000 feet within one of the most heavily-explored places on earth,
‘the heart of the Gulf play as we know it today,’ said [Steve Campbell,
spokesman for Newfield Exploration].
But they are looking, mostly for natural gas, some two miles deeper than the
existing production." ...
"British energy giant BP has agreed to drill the initial test well in what is
called the Treasure Island exploration concept, a joint exploration agreement
with Newfield, in Louisiana's Eugene Island area in about 250 feet of water....
They will be looking below a thick layer of salt that typically starts at 18,000
feet, but can start as deep as 22,200 feet."
Nigel Wilson:
BHPP's
biggest drill in decade.
"The extensive exploration program in Bass Strait and on the North West Shelf
is designed to find replacement reserves for production that is declining in two
of the company's most important revenue sources."
2003.08.17
Joel Eskovitz, Scripps Howard News Service:
Gulf
oil and gas inventory stripped from energy bill.
"They were also concerned about the environmental impact of using 3-D seismic
technology -- which could kill fish and beach whales -- to determine how much oil
is in the eastern portion of the Gulf and off both coasts."
> I've been watching this issue for a
couple of years, so I've been able to see the "beached whale hypothosis" go from
idle speculation to gospel fact in the press without citing any real studies.
Someone should look up the reports from this
project and see if it produced any definitive conclusions. (Send me a pointer
if you do.)
Business Wire:
Romona
Geosolutions Wins First Major Geoscience Survey off Sakhalin for Rosneft And BP Alliance.
"Worth approximately US $ 3 million, the contract covers a range of geophysical,
geotechnical and geochemical surveys to be completed by mid October this year."
2003.08.13
Press Release:
WesternGeco
performs Q-Marine 4D baseline survey for Statoil.
"It was previously considered that the low porosity and depth of the reservoir
would make the field unsuitable for 4D mapping. However, petrophysical and
geophysical modeling indicated that, although fluid changes were probably not
detectable at this depth, pressure changes resulting from oil production might
be visible, and so identify which segments of the faulted reservoir are being
successfully drained."
Associated Press:
Seismic
firm's earnings up 36 percent.
"For the three months ending June 30, Omni earned $1.5 million, or 18 cents
per share, on revenue of $10.4 million."
Houston Business Journal:
Anadarko
seeks bidders for buyout.
"Anadarko has already kicked off the process, sharing key financial data with
potential bidders -- all major oil companies -- and is considering dealing away
the company in a two-part auction process, the banking sources told Reuters."
Associated Press:
Iraq
Begins Pumping Crude Oil to Turkey.
"Last month, Iraq began exporting fresh crude oil from its southern oil fields
for the first time since the war.
"Iraq's U.S. occupiers are counting on oil exports to largely fund reconstruction
of the country and have been working since Saddam Hussein's fall in April to
restore the flow of oil. But rebuilding has been delayed in part by looting and
sabotage blamed on insurgents leading a guerrilla campaign against the Americans."
O&GJ:
White
House taps Utah governor for EPA administrator.
"Environmental groups focusing on land use issues were the most critical about
President Bush's choice.... But industry officials were enthusiastic about the
White House's decision, although few associations offered on the record comment."
2003.08.10
Associated Press:
Plane lost in
1964 found in Canadian Arctic.
"Torp's work on three-dimensional geology maps caught the attention of Everett's
mining company, which paid his tuition at graduate school before flying him and
Kunes to the Northwest Territories to look for gold."
The whale noise myth strikes again --
Nature:
Toxic algae suspected in
whale death. Red tide's poison may have killed a dozen humpbacks in North
Atlantic.
"There is a slim chance that the animals died after acoustic damage caused by
navy sonar, says Michael Moore of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in
Massachusetts, who is involved in the investigation."
2003.08.07
AScribe:
Geological
Tool Helps Scientists Map the Interior of the Ocean.
"The study reports on a new adaptation of seismic reflection profiling --
sending sound unto the water and analyzing the return echoes -- to create
detailed pictures of eddies, internal waves, and other oceanic features that
affect climate, fisheries and the spread of pollution." ...
"‘Until now, the water column signal has been regarded as just noise to
the seismologists,’ Schmitt said. ‘New insights into ocean mixing
processes open up to us if we think about that 'noise' as indeed containing
useful signals.’"
WSJ (subscription):
Major
Oil Find For BHP Billiton In Gulf Of Mexico.
"The Neptune prospect lies some 135 miles offshore of Louisiana in the same
Atwater Foldbelt geographic area of the Gulf that hosts the Mad Dog and
Atlantis developments. It is also host to BHP Billiton's 44%-owned Shenzi
discovery where further drilling is scheduled for later in the year."
Business Edge:
Zero-impact
seismic tested.
"WesternGeco Canada Ltd. will have foot access only to Saskatoon Mountain
Natural Area to hand-string geophones in the area.... The project aims to
strike a balance between industrial development and environmental protection."
Press Release:
Jason changes name to Fugro-Jason.
KUHF:
Public Newsroom.
"The former president and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum has been elected to Input/Output's
board of directors."
2003.08.05
BBC:
Chevron eyes $4bn Yukos stake.
"Chevron Texaco is in talks to take a 25% stake in Yukos, the Russian oil
giant at the centre of an official probe, the Sunday Times reports."
Moscow Times:
Yukos Denies
Report of Chevron Bid.
Petroleum News:
B.C. delegation visits
Cook Inlet.
"People think of what they've seen in the past, such as old photos of seismic
work in the Mackenzie Valley -- ‘whole areas would seem to be exploding
with the seismic.’"
2003.08.04
This is London:
Shell
may bid £6bn for rival.
"It is understood Anadarko has retained investment bank CSFB to try to put a deal
together. The unusual choice of adviser for a US company suggests it has its
sights on a European oil major." ...
"Apart from Shell it is believed Agip, the exploration and production division
of Italy's Eni, could also be interested in acquiring Anadarko while US major
Exxon Mobil has also been mentioned."
Reuters:
Anadarko
keeps bid rumors afloat,but who will buy?
"Anadarko's shares ended the week at $42.68 on the New York Stock Exchange,
valuing its equity at around $10.6 billion. The company has little over $5
billion in debt. The total cost of buying Anadarko thus will be at least
$17 billion."
Hi Pakistan:
One
killed in rocket attack on OGDC camp.
"An employee of Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) was killed and three
others were wounded when unknown armed men attacked and fired five mortars and
rockets on the base camp of the OGDC at Barkhan district.... Officials of the
OGDC from Barkhan told The News by telephone that unidentified armed men attacked
from different directions of Barkhan at around 5:00am and fired over five mortars
and rockets on the Seismic-II base camp. The officials and employees of the
company were busy in their fieldwork when they were attacked, sources added."
LinuxWorld Australia:
Vendors
ready for LinuxWorld.
"Petroleum firm Amerada Hess, for example, traded in IBM Unix systems for Linux
on Intel-based boxes. Jeff Davis, technical lead at the firm in Houston, says
the company is saving "several million dollars" by running its supercomputing
applications for seismic analysis and reservoir simulation on Red Hat Linux."
2003.08.01
Houston Chronicle:
Seismic firm
warns fourth quarter net loss.
"‘While customer interest remains high, we are becoming increasingly
frustrated by the lack of spending among major exploration and production companies
for exploration projects,’ said [Veritas DGC] Chief Executive Dave Robson."
Houston Chronicle:
Anadarko to jettison
400 jobs. Senior managers also departing.
"The company has been the subject of intense speculation recently about a
possible buyout. Possible buyers mentioned have included most of the major oil
companies, as well as large independents such as Devon Energy Corp."
