2006.06.30
Forbes:
Fugro to buy new seismic ship for 100 mln eur from Norway's BMV.
"The investment is part of Fugro's previously announced
plan to increase and modernise its marine seismic
capacity."
Reuters:
China oilfield firm chief sentenced to death.
"China has sentenced to death the former president of a
firm connected with the country's number-two oil field
for taking bribes and embezzling nearly 37 million yuan
($4.62 million), a Beijing newspaper said on Monday."
San Francisco Chronicle:
Fiscal crisis looms for Mexico as oil starts to dry up.
"At current extraction rates, the nation has only 10 years of proven oil reserves remaining. And as Mexico prepares to vote in
Sunday's presidential election, the leading candidates
disagree bitterly about what, if anything, can be done
to halt the impending collapse of the industry that
forms the backbone of the national economy."
2006.06.25
Houston Chronicle:
As a buyer, CEO steps into new role.
"Many in the industry speculated [James] Hackett's
arrival at Anadarko in December of 2003 meant he'd been
hired by another struggling energy company to fix it up
for sale. But an aggressive asset sales program that
raised more than $2 billion to cut debt helped position
the company to be the buyer rather than the seller."
WSJ (subscription):
Wall Street Reactions to Anadarko's
Double Deal.
"Analysts say that while the move, which more than
doubles Anadarko's annual sales, is bold and gives it a
bigger footprint in the Gulf of Mexico and Rocky
Mountains, it could be too much for the company to
swallow at once."
> Some analysts mention other potential targets -- Noble Energy, Forest Oil, Gasco Energy, Newfield Exploration, Ultra Petroleum, Quicksilver Resources, Southwestern Energy, EOG Resources and Devon Energy
AP:
Schlumberger Shares Jump on Upgrade.
"Schlumberger deserves a bigger premium, [Calyon analyst
Mark S. Urness] said, partially because it's the only
big oilfield service company with large exposure to the
hot seismic market. With demand surging for seismic
data, Schlumberger should be able to separate itself
from competitors through its stake in WesternGeco,
Urness wrote in a research report."
2006.06.22
Associated Press:
Japan, Allies Move Closer to Whale Hunts.
"Japan and its allies edged closer toward their goal of
resuming commercial whale hunts as the International
Whaling Commission's annual meeting drew to a close
Tuesday with accusations of vote-buying from opponents."
> New IWC motto: Whaling doesn't kill whales. Seismic exploration kills whales! --
Associated Press:
IWC -- Oil Exploration Could Harm Whales.
"Blasts from undersea airguns fired by boats searching
for oil could harm whales and should be studied further,
said a report unanimously endorsed Monday by the
International Whaling Commission." ...
"The IWC's unanimous support of the report was one point
of consensus among the 70-nation body, which is bitterly
divided over allowing commercial whaling."
Reuters:
Seismic air guns may harm whales.
"US oil major Exxon Mobil Corp ... is represented at the
IWC as a non-governmental organization.... ‘We are
not aware that these surveys have ever resulted in
physical injury or adversely affected any marine mammal
population,’ the company said in a statement
distributed in St Kitts.
"But Exxon said that it and other energy companies had
set up an $US8 million ($10.9 million) research program
to investigate the impact of the air guns."
Houston Chronicle:
Oil giants open to lease talks.
"Executives from Shell Oil Co., ConocoPhillips, Exxon
Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. told a House panel they
would be open to talks about the terms of offshore
deep-water leases signed in 1998 and 1999 that -- much
to the federal government's chagrin -- failed to require
the payment of royalties when oil and natural gas prices
reached particular levels." ...
"The lone holdout Wednesday was Kerr-McGee Corp., which
has filed suit claiming the price triggers are illegal."
2006.06.21
WSJ (subscription):
BP Replaces Its Top U.S. Executive.
"BP PLC replaced its top executive in the U.S., marking
the latest management shuffle following a series of
safety and environmental problems there. The company
said Robert Malone will become chairman and president of
BP America Inc., the company's main U.S. operating
unit."
Houston Chronicle:
Texas native will head BP America.
"BP has had several high-profile problems in the U.S.
recently, including the March 2005 explosion at its
Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers and injured
scores, the near-toppling of the Thunderhorse platform
in the Gulf of Mexico during last year's hurricane
season and a severe oil spill from a BP-operated
pipeline in Alaska this spring."
2006.06.19
Houston Chronicle:
WesternGeco agrees to $19.6 million fraud fine.
"The announcement said the Justice department uncovered
421 instances of visa fraud perpetrated by WesternGeco,
a seismic imaging company, between January 2000 and the
end of 2004."
Houston Business Journal:
WesternGeco to pay visa fraud fine.
"WesternGeco will also avoid prosecution if it continues to comply with federal law, pays its fines, and keep cooperating with authorities."
Another Brilliant Investment Advisor:
Lots Of Energy Left In Oilfield Services.
"The oilfield equipment and services industry has
enjoyed a tremendous run, with stocks averaging a return
of 79% over the last 12 months and 48% annualized over
the last three years."
Press Release:
Acquisition of new vessel.
"SeaBird Exploration ... has acquired M/V Sentinel. A DP
(Dynamically Positioned) vessel, built in 1979. The
vessel will be converted to a Source/Ocean Bottom
Seismic ship."
2006.06.14
AP:
U.S. accepts $581 million in offshore bids.
"This year's sale figure far exceeded last year's
auction when $342 million in winning bids were accepted
for 403 tracts."
MMS:
Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 198 -- Summary of Results.
MarketWire:
4D Seismic (FDSM) Awarded Contract for Humble Oil Field.
"The Humble Oil fields are still active and have
produced over 138,835,590 barrels of oil. Humble Oil
started in these fields, changing its name to Exxon in a
mid 1960s restructuring, and merging with Mobil in 1998
to form ExxonMobil."
Houston Chronicle:
People in Business.
"Geotrace has promoted Denby Auble to chief operating
officer. Patrick Ng has joined the firm as vice
president of reservoir imaging, and Gary Fair as general
manager, production enhancement reservoir seismic
operations."
2006.06.12
It's time to re-start our hurricane coverage --
WSJ (subscription):
In Katrina's Wake, U.S. Oil Crossroads Remains Vulnerable.
"As the hurricane season starts this month, a
little-understood episode from last summer -- the
shutdown of a massive gasoline conduit run by Colonial
Pipeline Co. -- underscores how vulnerable the U.S.
energy network remains.... [T]he Colonial pipeline's
shut-down brought the U.S. much closer to large-scale
gasoline shortages than the public realizes, according
to interviews with industry executives and government
officials." ...
"The Colonial network is owned by a consortium including
some of the country's biggest oil companies.... By far
the biggest fuel pipeline in America, it is the source
of 30% of the refined petroleum products sold east of
the Mississippi, according to the company."
Petroleum News:
Chevron to begin North Slope exploration in 2007.
Christian Science Monitor:
Renewables: 25% of energy use in '25?.
"Oil still accounts for more than 96 percent of
transportation fuel use, but biofuel production has
doubled since 2001 and it is poised for even stronger
growth as the industry responds to higher fuel prices
and supportive government policies, Worldwatch
reported."
> In the past, critical examinations have shown that the environmental impacts of "biofuels" make the strip-mining of tar sands look enviro-friendly.
2006.06.06
Reuters:
Oil demand growth holding up to high prices.
"Soaring energy prices may not undercut world oil demand
growth as much as some experts had feared, as consumers
become accustomed to the higher costs, the U.S. Energy
Information Administration said on Tuesday."
AP:
Veritas DGC Fiscal 3Q Profit Surges .
"Veritas DGC Inc., a provider of seismic data services
to the oil industry, on Tuesday posted sharply higher
fiscal third-quarter profit as high oil prices created a
robust market for exploration data."
Casper Star-Tribune:
Seismic project gets go-ahead.
"A federal judge has ruled that a controversial oil and
gas seismic survey project will be allowed to proceed in
the Adobe Town area of southwest Wyoming's scenic Red
Desert."
2006.06.02
MarketWire:
Veritas DGC Inc. Announces Letter of Intent to Sell Land Seismic Acquisition Business.
"Veritas DGC Inc. announced today that it has entered
into a letter of intent with Matco Capital Ltd. to sell
its land seismic acquisition business for an undisclosed
consideration. In fiscal year 2005 the land seismic
acquisition business of Veritas generated approximately
US $140 million of revenue, or approximately 22 percent
of the consolidated revenue of Veritas."
MarketWire:
IBM Supercomputer to Help Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG) Boost Computing and Processing Capacity.
"These new clusters, based on the dual-core IBM
BladeCenter(R) JS21, will also allow CGG to boost its
worldwide computing capacity to a maximum of 113
teraflops (RPeak).... The new system is being deployed
at the company's premises in Massy (France), London,
Kuala Lumpur and Houston, Texas."
