2003.11.25

Press Release: Veritas DGC Inc. Announces Its First Fiscal Quarter Results.

"Chairman and CEO Dave Robson commented, ‘We continue to be disappointed with activity levels in the seismic industry. The quarter's results reflect the current lackluster spending by our customers, especially with regards to our nonexclusive Gulf of Mexico surveys. While there are signs that seismic spending may finally be beginning to pick up, we are hesitant to forecast any significant improvement in the near term.’"

Associated Press : Seitel shareholders opt against Berkshire-backed plan.

"Despite the thumbs-down from shareholders, Seitel creditors have approved the plan, and a judge is set to consider it at a confirmation hearing Dec. 3. Those creditors include Berkshire Hathaway, which bought $255 million of Seitel's senior unsecured notes earlier this year."

Business Wire: OYO Geospace Reports Fiscal 2003 Results.

"OYO Geospace today announced a net loss of $2.5 million, or $(0.46) per diluted share, on revenues of $50.9 million for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2003.... The company said that its fourth quarter and fiscal 2003 sales and loss reflect a weak demand for seismic exploration equipment, costs associated with the company's effort to self-manufacture dry thermal film and severance costs related to our consolidation and reorganization plan."

IT Business: Tale of the Tape: Magnetic media won't go away. Advocates of other technologies have been predicting the demise of tape as a storage medium for years.

2003.11.18

Oil Online: BP will not drill Treasure Island test well.

"Treasure Island is an ultra deep exploration concept to explore for oil and gas in the shallow waters. Pursuant to the current agreement between BP and Newfield, if BP does not commence drilling the initial well by Dec. 31, the agreement will terminate and interests in the 20 leases assigned to BP under the agreement will be reassigned to Newfield for nominal consideration."

 Montreal Gazette: Blasting to create 'war zone' for whales.

"But GSI's chief operating officer, Paul Einarsson, said seismic exploration has been done by hundreds of companies for 35 years with no impact, including large portions of the Gulf of St. Lawrence." ...

"‘We don't kill fish; fishing kills fish,’ he insisted."

Press Release: Seitel Announces Third Quarter and Nine Month 2003 Results.

"For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, the Company reported a net loss of $12.2 million, or $.48 per share, compared with a net loss of $94 million or $3.72 per share in the first nine months of the prior year."

National Post (Canada): Seismic events shake buyout.

"... ARX Acquisition Corp. -- the management-led entity formed to privatize Arcis Corp., a Calgary-based seismic company -- ... [has offered to acquire the rest of Arcis shares for $1.26 a share.] On Friday Arcis closed at $1.31 -- or 5˘ above the $1.26 a share offer."

Stars and Stripes: Mystery ships investigated.

"A Japanese coast guard airplane spotted a Chinese ship conducting what appeared to be unauthorized marine research in Japanese water.... When questioned by the Japanese coast guard, the shipıs crew said they were conducting a seismic survey...."

2003.11.11

O&GJ: Unocal completes Harvest appraisal well at deep shelf discovery.

"Unocal Corp., operator of West Cameron Block 44 in the Gulf of Mexico, ... said it drilled Harvest-2 to 14,322 ft TD and encountered more than 140 ft of net gas pay, including 110 ft of continuous pay in one high-quality interval."

Business Wire: TGS-NOPEC Completes Acquisition of Phase 50 GOM Seismic Program.

"TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company announced today that it has completed acquisition of Phase 50, a Louisiana shelf seismic survey designed specifically to image the Deep Gas exploration play."

Business Wire: New Schlumberger Seismic-While-Drilling Measurement Reduces Uncertainty Ahead of the Bit.

"Schlumberger Oilfield Services today announced a new logging-while-drilling (LWD) system that acquires and transmits seismic data in real time without interfering with normal drilling operations."

Dow Jones: Anadarko To Cut Back International Oil Exploration.

"Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will scale back much of its international exploration efforts through the end of 2003 and early in 2004 to focus mainly on Algeria and West Africa."

2003.11.06

Press Release: PGS Emerges From Chapter 11.

"... the Company, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on July 29, 2003, has now emerged from Chapter 11."

> The details are too complicated for me to understand.

Bloomberg Business News: Shareholders can propose plan at Seitel.

"Seitel's shareholders can advance a proposal to reorganize the bankrupt seismic data provider independently and derail its plan to become part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, a federal judge has ruled."

Houston Business Journal: WesternGeco, Kuwait Oil ink deal for reservoir project.

"Seismic services company WesternGeco has signed an agreement with Kuwait Oil Co. for a comprehensive Q-Reservoir project in Kuwait."

Oil Online: Newfield announces Gulf of Mexico deepwater discovery.

"The discovery is located in about 5,200' of water. The Mississippi Canyon 296 #1 well was drilled to a total depth of about 16,200' and encountered 140' of gross gas pay in the main Rob E objective."

News Release: MMS Issues Final Notice of Eastern Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 189.

"he lease sale will be held at 9 a.m., December 10, 2003, in the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana."

2003.11.03

BBC: Tycoon quits crisis-hit Yukos.

"Mikhail Khodorkovsky has resigned as chief executive of Yukos, the Russian oil giant at the centre of a confrontation between big business and the Kremlin."

NYT: Signs of Damage Control in Russia's Oil Scandal.

"President Vladimir V. Putin's new chief of staff criticized prosecutors on Sunday for freezing shares in Yukos, the country's largest oil producer, describing the move as potentially reckless and counterproductive.... ‘How effective is the arrest of Yukos shares?’ Mr. Medvedev asked on state television channel during his first round of interviews since he was appointed last week."

Bloomberg: Shell Surrenders Oil Industry Leadership to BP: Matthew Lynn.

"Look at the way Shell and BP responded to the slump in oil prices in the late 1990s. When oil dropped to $10 a barrel, that posed strategic challenges to all the big oil companies.... Shell wagered its future on cost-cutting. BP placed its money on expansion."

Houston Chronicle: Analysts begin to favor Anadarko. Increase in earnings helps propel company.

"Financial analyst Jonathan Wolff of Wachovia Securities calls it a case of an unloved company ‘getting more interesting’ as better numbers come in.... ‘Investors have largely ignored the underlying fundamentals at Anadarko, in our view, which have been improving and have instead focused on the potential for a sale of the company, which now appears less likely,’ said Wolff in a report."