2006.05.31
Anchorage Daily News:
Village calls Shell hostile.
"The village of Kaktovik, long a supporter of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is less enthused about exploration in the Beaufort Sea and now is feuding with a giant oil company, Shell, over its offshore oil-hunting plans.... In a news release ... Mayor Lon Sonsalla said Shell had failed to address village concerns about how it would keep seismic testing scheduled for this summer from disturbing migratory bowhead whales and how the company would operate safely in unpredictable sea ice."
AP:
Input/Output Opens New Imaging Center .
"Input/Output Inc., maker of seismic data equipment, said Thursday its GX Technology subsidiary will open an advanced seismic imaging services center in Port of Spain, Trinidad."
2006.05.25
Slate:
Ask Mr. Science.
The moral flaws of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.
"The era of fossil energy must now give way to an era of
clean energy. But the last century's headlong
consumption of oil, coal, and gas has raised living
standards throughout the world; driven malnourishment to
an all-time low, according to the latest U.N. estimates;
doubled global life expectancy; pushed most rates of
disease into decline; and made possible Gore's airline
seat and MacBook, which he doesn't seem to find
unethical."
2006.05.22
AP:
Shell Resumes Production at 'Mars' Platform.
"... pre-Katrina rates of 140,000 barrels of oil a day and 150 million cubic feet of gas daily should be restored by the end of June.... The platform represents about 5 percent of the Gulf's daily oil and gas production."
> This year's hurricane season starts June 1.
Press Release:
TGS Announces Extension to Gulf of Mexico Multi-Client
3D Survey -- Eastern Delta.
Dallas Business Journal:
TGC Industries buys Highland Industry.
"Highland, based in Houston, is in the seismic drilling business. TGC Industries, based in Plano, provides seismic data acquisition services."
2006.05.16
Houston Business Journal:
Noble Energy to sell Gulf of Mexico shelf assets.
"Independent energy company Noble Energy Inc. has agreed to sell its Gulf of Mexico shelf assets to Coldren Resources LP for $625 million."
Houston Business Journal:
Lukoil to buy Marathon's Russian assets for $787 million.
O&GJ:
Ecuador terminates Oxy's Block 15 contract.
"Occidental had offered Eucador as much as $1 billion .... The dispute involved whether Oxy in 2000 properly transferred part interest in a field to Canada's EnCana Corp."
Press Release:
Petrobras Contract to PGS in Brazil.
"... a three year contract by Petrobras to process a minimum 14,000 square kilometers of 2D and 3D seismic data."
Press Release:
PGS Lands Multi-Client Survey in Lebanon.
O&GJ:
Petronas lets Ethiopian seismic contract.
2006.05.15
Midland Reporter-Telegram:
Dawson Geophysical says revenues surge 51 percent.
"Dawson Geophysical Company reported revenues of
$40,042,000 for the quarter ending March 31, 2006...."
CNW:
Property-Asset or Share Purchase Agreement.
"TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the
Company's proposal to acquire the processing division of
Geo-X Systems Ltd. ("GEO-X"), a private arm's length
seismic services company ... [for] approximately
CDN$11,500,000"
2006.05.12
Reuters:
Geophysique Q1 op profit up, raises goals.
"French land management and seismic analysis firm Compagnie Generale de Geophysique (CGG) posted a sharp rise in first-quarter operating profit on Thursday and said it would meet its 2007 financial goals as early as 2006."
AP:
Input Output Narrows 1Q Loss.
"The company reported a quarterly net loss after preferred dividends of $3.3 million ... compared to a loss of $8.1 million ... in last year's first quarter. Quarterly revenue grew 39 percent to $86.3 million."
People's Daily Online:
Chinese oil firm to undertake seismic survey in east Ethiopia.
"The Chinese oil firm, Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB), is to start undertaking seismic survey in east Ethiopia's Ogaden basin next month, the management said Thursday."
World Oil:
Mexican developments.
"Despite high oil prices, Pemex lost about $4 billion in 2005, the eighth straight year of net losses. Because the government treats the firm as a cash cow, 60% of Pemex's revenue accounts for 33% of federal spending. So, the company is forced to take on a mountain of debt - about $50 billion at present."
2006.05.11
Houston Chronicle:
ConocoPhillips awaits Venezuelan tax hit.
"As Venezuelan interests have been thrown into limbo, ConocoPhillips is pushing forward in Russia."
> Out of the frying pan ...
Slate:
The Little Guys of the Oil Business.
"... in an exceptionally tight energy market, political uncertainty in some of the world's largest energy-exporting states gives new importance to the so-called marginal producers...."
Asia Pulse:
Philippines' DOE Starts Seismic Work in Palawan.
"The project is jointly undertaken by DoE, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company Philippines, and South China Resources."
2006.05.08
Reuters:
Petroleum Geo-Services' profit up, beats forecasts.
"Norwegian seismic survey firm Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) reported a forecast-beating 73 percent rise in first-quarter core profits on Thursday and said its markets were stronger than ever."
AP:
Schlumberger Acquires Software Company.
"Oil field services company Schlumberger Ltd. said Monday it has acquired Odegaard A/S, a Copenhagen-based supplier of software that predicts reservoir uncertainty."
RBC Capital Markets:
Geospace upgraded to "outperform".
"... the company could win contracts worth more than $40 million for additional reservoir equipment. The analyst expects Geospace to announce at least one award within the next few months."
2006.05.03
Investor's Business Daily:
Axis Of Idiocy.
"Bolivia's new president has moved to nationalize his country's oil and gas industry, becoming the latest Latin American nation to do so. Bad for Latin Americans? Of course. But bad for the U.S., too." ...
"‘These new leaders have emerged, and they make me the happiest man in the world,’ cooed the 79-year-old Castro, whose communist regime has murdered 100,000 of its citizens and let thousands more die on the open seas fleeing his tyranny. ‘Now, for the first time, there are three of us.’"
AP:
Some [GOM] Oil Production [Still] Blocked
"The [MMS] said 21.6 percent of the region's normal daily production of about 1.4 million barrels is still blocked from market, along with 13 percent of the Gulf's normal daily natural gas production of 10 billion cubic feet.
"The agency said the report would be its last on Katrina and Rita damage because of the small changes in the shut-in data and the pending start of the 2006 season."
