2004.08.31
Reuters:
Pemex claims giant new fields. But analysts say Gulf oil deposits still unconfirmed and hard to get to.
"The deposits, mainly in deep waters for which Pemex will need hefty investments and technology-sharing agreements to access, could reach 54 billion barrels of crude equivalent, which would boost Mexico's total reserves to 102 billion." ...
"But analysts worry about how Pemex, which hands over 61 percent of its revenue to the state in taxes, will afford the investments required to drill wells 1.3 miles deep."
Oil Online:
CGG awarded ONGC seismic work.
"The project comprises 19 separate surveys covering a total surface area of approximately 13,000 sq km and is located predominantly in the Bombay High basin."
Business Wire:
Vanco Announces the Commencement of Offshore Madagascar 3D Seismic Acquisition Program.
Reuters:
Russian Oil Project to Be Vetted for Whale Threat.
"The World Conservation Union said the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company had requested an independent study into its plans to expand production around Russia's Sakhalin Island near feeding grounds of the Western Gray Whale. The independent scientific panel is expected to complete the review by the end of November."
Press Release:
OMNI Reports Second Quarter Results.
"The Company reported its seismic drilling revenues were approximately $2.0 million less than expected during the quarter ended June 30, 2004 due to abnormal weather conditions."
2004.08.30
The Christian Science Monitor:
Economic fallout of $50 a barrel.
"Consumer spending has also been affected in the US. It slowed to a 1 percent annualized pace in the second quarter of 2004, from 4 percent in the first quarter. Some analysts note that the last three sustained oil price rises in recent decades have been followed by recessions."
Newsweek has an "energy revolution" issue hitting the stands. Here's an overview on o&g advances. There's an embedded sidebar with links to other articles. --
Newsweek:
Digging Deep. Even remote patches of oil are starting to look more and more attractive.
The Globe and Mail:
Setbacks aside, East Coast may be a sleeping giant.
"... 12 exploration licences held since 1999 by the likes of ExxonMobil, Shell Canada, Kerr McGee and others expired in July, presumably because the data gathered in the five-year period didn't yield any compelling prospects. There were five dusters in 2003 and seven in 2002.‘It's a tough environment with a lot of risks associated with it,’ says Professor Larry Lines, chairman of the Geology and Geophysics Department at the University of Calgary.
Add to this the cost per well ranging between $60-million and $100-million [Canadian]...."
2004.08.24
Reuters:
Oil Prices Fall to $45 as Iraq Oil Flows.
"U.S. light crude fell $1.05 to $45.00 a barrel, slipping further from last week's $49.40 peak, which was the highest level in 21 years of New York oil futures trading. London Brent crude lost 81 cents to $42.22 a barrel.... Some market players were starting to look at the possibility that prices may have peaked, after this year's near 40 percent gains."
PR Newswire:
Petroleum Geo-Services ASA Announces Expected Late Sale Uplifts from Brazil License Round 6.
"Petroleum Geo-Services Petroleum Geo-Services ASA announced today that based on preliminary acreage awards to its customers in the Brazil Licensing Round 6
held on August 17th and 18th, 2004, it currently expects to realize multi-client late sale uplifts of approximately $15 million."
2004.08.22
Patrick Seale, Dar Al Hayat:
The Hydrogen Challenge to Arab Oil.
"It is almost certain that within three, four or, at the latest, five decades from now, the petrol pump will have been left behind and replaced by some other form of energy-provider. At present, the world's 500 million cars are driven by internal-combustion petrol engines. By 2030, the number of cars is forecast to increase to more than two billion, largely due to growth in Asia. What new technology will drive them?"
2004.08.20
Reuters:
Oil Falls from Highs After Missing $50.
"U.S. light crude fell $1 in late trade to $47.70 a barrel on profit-taking from a record $49.40 a barrel on the last day of the September futures contract. It later closed at $47.86. Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange set all-time records in all but one of the last 16 trading sessions but failed to break $50."
WSJ (subscription):
High Demand for Oil Could Mean High Prices Are Here for Long Run.
"In inflation-adjusted dollars, oil peaked in 1981 at $73 a barrel, 55% above where it's trading now. Back then, moreover, the oil crisis sparked a full-blown recession. Today, despite some signs of a slowing, the economy continues to grow -- and, with it, oil demand." ...
"U.S. gross domestic product grew 4.2% in 1973 but swung to a decline of 1.9% in 1974, according to Credit Suisse First Boston. In 1978, the year before Iran's revolution began, U.S. growth was 6.7%. It was zero in 1980." ...
"The amount of oil and natural gas used to produce a dollar of GDP dropped by 55% between 1973 and 2003.... But the bulk of that improved efficiency occurred prior to the mid-1980s. Since then, it has slowed. One big reason is the transportation sector, which accounts for the biggest chunk of fuel use. During the past two decades, the average fuel economy of U.S. cars and light trucks has gotten worse." ...
"Europe has zipped past the U.S. in energy efficiency, largely because it has slapped high taxes on energy."
Associated Press:
Anadarko to sell $1.31 billion in assets.
"Apache will pay $537 million for 78 fields and 112 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico shelf, and Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc. will pay $775 million for an overriding royalty interest.... Upon completion of the deal, expected to close by the end of September, Woodlands-based Anadarko will operate only one offshore platform."
O&GJ:
MMS reports $171.4 million in apparent high bids in GOM Lease Sale 192.
"MMS officials received 421 bids totaling $197.4 million from 54 companies at the sale.... Of the 351 tracts receiving bids, 135 were in water depths of less than 200 m.
"The latest sale offered 3,907 blocks up for sale covering 21.2 million acres in the western gulf's Outer Continental Shelf planning area off Texas and Louisiana."
2004.08.18
WSJ (subscription):
Exxon Mobil Bets On New Technology In the Hunt for Oil.
"Oil is a ‘resistive’ material -- a poor conductor of electricity. So when electromagnetic energy waves are sent into the earth, oil-soaked rocks show up as a resistive layer that contrasts with more conductive substances like water-soaked rocks. Schlumberger Ltd. pioneered electromagnetics as the standard for ‘well logging,’ the process of mapping the layers of oil in a newly drilled well. Scientists have nurtured the notion that the same technology could be used to explore for oil from the surface." ...
"There was one big problem: Electromagnetic ‘noise’ in the atmosphere wreaked havoc on measurements, muddying the picture scientists tried to get from deep in the earth."
