2007.05.29
AP:
Gas could hit $4 if storm enters Gulf.
"The petroleum industry has spent nearly two years trying to repair the damage from those historic Gulf hurricanes, rebuilding the complex web of platforms, pipelines and refineries in a region that produces roughly 25 percent of the nation's oil and 15 percent of its natural gas."
O&GJ:
MMS proposes Central Gulf Lease Sale 205.
"The US Minerals Management Service proposed an Oct. 3 lease sale in the newly configured Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area."
2007.05.24
Houston Chronicle:
BHP Billiton-operated platform moves toward its spot in the deep water.
"BHP is one of a growing group of foreign companies snapping up acreage in the deep-water Gulf alongside their U.S. counterparts. Last year, the company bought Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s Genghis Khan oil and gas field about 150 miles south of the Louisiana coast for nearly $1.4 billion."
Houston Chronicle:
High gas prices spark talk of breaking up oil companies.
"With gas prices hitting all-time highs and Democrats in control of Congress, the oil industry is again under assault."
> Do you think that is stupid? Read on --
Houston Chronicle:
U.S. lawmakers take a jab at OPEC.
"Dubbed the ‘No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007’ or ‘NOPEC’ bill, the measure would amend the Sherman Act to make it illegal for foreign governments to try to limit oil and gas production to try to control energy prices."
2007.05.21
Houston Chronicle:
Energy industry shows creative side when naming prospects.
"‘It's always fun,’ said Alexandra Herger, Royal Dutch Shell's manager for new ventures in the Gulf. ‘If you get to name a prospect and that prospect is drilled and there's a discovery, your name is on that platform. It's pretty amazing to think your idea you developed from seismic data becomes that huge piece of steel,’ she said."
The New Nation, Bangladesh:
Petrobangla to float 3rd bidding without seismic data.
"But any hurried move to call the bid without having
'speculative' seismic data on the new deep water
blocks-some 20 of them-might result in a very low
response from the international oil companies (IOCs)."
2007.05.14
I'm just getting around to posting this one --
Dow Jones:
Eni Buys Dominion Gulf Of Mexico Assets For $4.8 Billion.
"In May, Dominion's Chief Executive Tom Farrell said the Richmond, Va., energy company was considering selling certain business units because of concerns that Dominion's stock was being undervalued. The exploration and production business had grown to become Dominion's most profitable unit, overshadowing the company's core utility and power generation businesses."
Press Release:
Geotrace Unveils New Software Platform.
"Diamond also was expanded so that it fully integrates with Geotrace's recently acquired Tigress services and software tools. While Diamond provides fast and efficient processing and the use of large seismic data volumes, Tigress offers the same capabilities for petrophysical, geological, production and other downstream data types."
> I don't get it. Is Geotrace selling their processing software?
2007.05.11
Reuters:
CGGVeritas Q1 profits rise, ups synergies target.
"Revenues were $777.3 million, up from $639.4 as sales in its core Sercel division, which makes land and marine seismic equipment, surged to $268.3 million from $144.8 million, and Services revenues rose 4.5 percent to $558.7 million."
AFX News Limited:
Petroleum Geo Services Q1 sales up but below consensus on costs.
"... due to a combination of increased investments, higher costs and a rise in net interest-bearing debt."
Associated Press:
Input/Output Swings to 1Q Profit.
"Revenue almost doubled to $165 million from $86.4 million in the year-earlier period."
Details.
Houston Business Journal:
Geokinetics' AMEX listing 'a major milestone'.
"Seismic data services firm Geokinetics Inc. has completed a public offering of 4.5 million common shares at $28 a share...."
Houston Business Journal:
Busy seismic industry helps double quarterly net income at OYO Geospace.
"OYO Geospace designs and manufacturers seismic equipment used in the oil and gas industry as well as equipment used in the thermal printing industry."
WSJ (subscription):
China's Latest Global Push -- Oil-Field Services.
"Long confined to the domestic market by subpar technology and a lack of experience, China's oil-field-service companies are gaining toeholds from Russia to Texas." ...
"A handful of Chinese companies are already well-known in the services world. BGP Inc., a unit of oil producer China National Petroleum Corp., provides seismic technology, which is used to explore reserves."
2007.05.08
WSJ (subscription):
Repsol-YPF Joins the Fray in Gulf.
"Madrid-based Repsol-YPF, a Spanish-Argentine company,
is teaming up with 3DGeo Inc. -- a company owned by
private investors and researchers at California's
Stanford University -- as it seeks to stake its future
on the tricky field of deep-water exploration in the
Gulf of Mexico, where high-tech maps of the underground
seafloor and computer calculations rule the day.
"The Kaleidoscope project, as Repsol-YPF's plan is
called, ... will use software being developed
by 3DGeo and run through the MareNostrum supercomputer
in Barcelona."
2007.05.07
Press Release:
RXT -- Four year extension of exclusivity agreement with I/O.
"Under the extended agreement RXT has the exclusive
right to purchase I/O's VectorSeis Ocean (VSO) system.
VSO is a redeployable, Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) seismic
imaging system equipped with VectorSeis digital,
full-wave sensors for multicomponent data acquisition on
the seabed. To date, RXT has purchased three systems and
has one other system on order.
"The exclusivity will extend through the end of 2011. As
part of the terms of the Agreement, RXT is committed to
purchasing a minimum of $160 million over the four year
term of the agreement...."
The Motley Fool:
Dawson's Tale of "Woe".
"[T]he obstacles named above didn't so much as slow Dawson down last quarter. On the contrary, in the process of blowing past analyst estimates for both sales and profits, the firm reported 50% revenue growth to $59.9 million...."
ABC Money:
TGS-Nopec Q1 pretax profit 51.3 mln usd, sees strong demand for 2007.
"... an increase from 49 mln usd in the first quarter of 2006, but below what the market had been expecting."
ABC Money:
TGS-Nopec gets US clearance to acquire Parallel Data Systems.
PR Newswire:
Geokinetics Announces Public Offering of Common
2007.05.03
AP:
BP CEO John Browne Resigns Amid Furor.
"... Browne's attempts to fashion BP as an
environmentally friendly oil company -- he was the first
major oil company CEO to acknowledge global warming and
masterminded BP's logo change from a shield to a
flowerlike sunburst design with the slogan "Beyond
Petroleum" -- were undermined by the company's recent
U.S. troubles."
> Despite BP's recent issues, I think Browne will chiefly be remembered for his role in re-making BP into one of the top-tier super-majors in the industry.
> Side note: over the past ten years, I've read numerous profiles of Lord Browne in the Wall Street Journal. The Journal never missed the opportunity to make the snarky observation that Browne, in his 50s, lives with his mother. So his sexual orientation isn't really a surprising revelation.
