2004.06.24

Rhonda Duey, Hart's E&P: The wild blue yonder.

"We know what hasn't worked in the marine seismic industry. Now the contractors are attempting to determine what will."

> Lots of quotes from acquisition companies.

Rhonda Duey, Hart's E&P: Taking seismic to the seafloor -- cable-free.

> Article about the new Fairfield Z Pod systems.

2004.06.22

O&GJ: Marathon Oil CEO expects more consolidation within asset-constrained industry.

"‘I can assure you -- with almost $40/bbl oil and $6/Mcf gas -- that if companies today had a large inventory of near-term exploitation, development wells that they could drill or work over, they would be doing it,’ [Marathon Oil Corp. CEO and Pres. Clarence P. Cazalot Jr.] said. ‘Much to the chagrin of the oil companies and the service companies, we are not seeing the big uptick in seismic activity and drilling activity simply because the opportunity set is not there.’"

2004.06.21

O&GJ: World oil and gas reserves still growing at healthy pace -- BP.

"The new data estimate total world oil reserves at 1.15 trillion bbl, about 10% higher than previously reported for 2002. Additionally, global oil reserves have increased almost continuously over the past 30 years, BP officials said." ...

" BP Group Chief Executive John Browne sought to further cement the point that oil and gas are not being depleted at an accelerated rate.... ‘At current levels of consumption, there are sufficient reserves to meet oil demand for some 40 years and to meet natural gas demand for well over 60 years.’"

Oil Online: Sonsub and Fairfield complete sea trials of new seismic acquisition technology.

"The Deep Z Pod Deployment Skid System is an under slung ROV mounted skid designed for the deployment of deepwater seismic data acquisition modules built by Fairfield Industries.... The Deep Z Pods are self-contained sensors, which contain a precision clock, 4C recording, and an extended battery life."

BBC: IBM seizes supercomputing crown.

"But the Earth Simulator supercomputer, by NEC in Japan, remains number one." ...

"Analyst firm IDC expects the supercomputer market to expand by 6.5% a year, from $5.6bn last year to $7.6bn by 2008."

2004.06.17

BBC: Shell boss 'fears for the planet'.

"[Shell Chairman Ron Oxburgh] said a technique called carbon sequestration urgently needs to be developed to capture greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide, so they can be stored underground, rather than be allowed to enter the atmosphere."

Financial Times: US regulators hold line on oil estimates.

"... some company executives believed the SEC had loosened the rules when it said newer seismic technology, which some see as less rigorous than well tests, could be used to book oil and gas found in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The executives held their view in spite of a line in the letter that said: ‘Please understand that we take this position only with respect to the determination of proved undeveloped reserves in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and no other location.’"

PR Newswire: PGS Completes 2003 Audited Norwegian GAAP Financial Statements for 2003 with Qualified Audit Opinion.

"The Company is continuing its efforts to have audits of the Company's 2002 and 2003 Financial Statements and a re-audit of the Company's 2001 Financial Statements completed under U.S. GAAP, and to address the material weaknesses in the Company's system of internal controls over financial reporting as previously disclosed."

2004.06.15

New York Times: An Oil Enigma: Production Falls Even as Reserves Rise.

"‘The studies that I have seen show there have been upward and downward revisions, but over time, the revisions have been modestly upward,’ said Gene Gillespie, senior energy analyst at Howard Weil. ‘You're measuring something that's a couple miles under the surface of the earth that you can't see. It amazes me that over time they come as close as they do.’"

Press Release: Input/Output Announces Closing of Secondary Stock Offering and Completion of GX Technology Acquisition.

"Input/Output, Inc. announced today that it closed on June 14, 2004 the public offering of 20,209,631 shares of its common stock, which was priced at $7.00 per share.... I/O has received net proceeds of approximately $131 million from the offering."

Associated Press: Input/Output Says 2.9M More Shares Sold.

Business Wire: Saudi Aramco Selects WesternGeco For [Two] Q-Land Surveys.

2004.06.10

Physics Web: Elephants turn to seismic communication.

"Elephants communicate primarily through sounds or vocalisations known as ‘rumbles’. These rumbles have fundamental frequencies in the infrasonic range below 30 Hertz, which means that they cannot be heard by humans, although the harmonics of the fundamental frequency are audible. The Stanford team has shown that these rumbles can also act as a source of Rayleigh waves that can travel through the ground."

Houston Business Journal: Input/Output prices offering of 20.2 million shares.

"The company plans to use net proceeds from the sale of its shares of common stock to pay a portion of the purchase price for the acquisition of GX Technology Corp."

PR Newswire: Seitel Announces Proposed $190 Million Private Offering of Senior Notes Due 2012.

"... the entire net proceeds from the sale ... [ultimately] ... will be used ... to pay 100% of allowed creditors' claims...."

Business Wire: WesternGeco Completes First Q-Marine Survey in Danish Sector of North Sea.

WSJ (subscription): IBM's Computer-Server Business Puts the Squeeze on Rivals.

"International Business Machines Corp., once a doormat for rivals hawking cheaper and faster computers, is making strong gains in the $46 billion global market for heavy-duty ‘servers’ that power most big businesses.... After regaining the top spot in servers in 2002, IBM captured 32% of the world-wide market last year...."

2004.06.08

O&GJ: Eight deepwater Gulf of Mexico discoveries made so far in 2004, MMS reports.

"The list of new gulf discoveries includes a BP PLC discovery on its Puma project on Green Canyon Block 823 and Unocal Corp.'s discoveries on its Tobago prospect on Alaminos Canyon Block 859 and its San Jacinto prospect on Desoto Canyon Block 618."

The Washington Post: After the Oil Runs Out.

"We need new technologies, especially for transportation, which accounts for two-thirds of U.S. oil consumption.... Producing the hydrogen equivalent in energy to the oil now used in U.S. transport would require 10 trillion kilowatt hours of electric energy; we would have to triple our electric generation capacity."

O&GJ: Natural gas 'rapidly gaining in geopolitical importance,' study finds .

"Worldwide consumption of gas is expected to more than double by 2030, and natural gas is likely to surpass coal as the world's secondary energy source, the study said.... The study also found that spending for LNG facilities is expected to double after 2020."

2004.06.07

Houston Business Journal: TGS-NOPEC to acquire NuTec Energy.

"TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. has signed a letter of intent to acquire substantially all of the assets of NuTec Energy Services for $11.25 million in cash."

Press Release: Dawson Geophysical Announces Planned Expansion.

"Dawson Geophysical Company ... announced its intention to field an additional seismic data acquisition crew in response to continuing demand for its high resolution surveys. This expansion will bring the crew complement to eight. Improved market conditions are a direct result of more favorable prices for crude oil and natural gas obtained by the Company's client base."

PR Newswire: CGG Showcases Seabed Seismic Solution.

"CGG Services announced that it has successfully completed a deepwater seabed seismic acquisition project in the Gulf of Mexico.... Autonomous nodes were deployed along the Sigsbee Escarpment in a variety of conditions and in water depths ranging over 2000m to demonstrate the effectiveness, flexibility and data quality of CGG's seabed solution."

Remember Sarbanes-Oxley? The Enron-inspired legislation that makes company officers sign a declaration that their annual report is true? --

Accountancy Age: Stringing us along?

"With an investigation into Shell's ‘proven’ oil reserves looming, Sarbanes-Oxley may well have caught its first major false accounting scandal."