2007.10.31

WSJ (subscription): Why Oil May Not Stop at $100.

"Prices have jumped nearly 40% since early summer, the oil ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said, because of the slumping dollar, widespread Wall Street speculation and bottlenecks in the refining process." ...

"IEA analysts insist that a sufficient resource base exists to supply demand through 2030, but [Nobuo Tanaka, the new executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency] said he isn't confident there will be enough investment, skilled workers and technology to actually get to that oil ‘in a timely manner.’

"Andrew Gould, the chairman and chief executive of Schlumberger Ltd., an oil-services company, expressed similar concerns, noting that 70% of the oil fields that now quench world demand are more than 30 years old."

2007.10.30

Dow Jones: Latest Price Jump Discourages Big Oil Mergers.

"Major oil companies are more likely to use the extra revenue from the latest jump in oil prices to continue share repurchases rather than undertake costly acquisitions, analysts said."

Houston Business Journal: BP to relocate Chicago employees to Houston.

"BP plc notified its 3,300 employees in its suburban Chicago offices Thursday that many could be laid off, and many more could be headed to Houston."

Press Release: TGS Announces New Project in the 181 South Area of the Gulf of Mexico.

Oilweek: Norex wins $6.3M oilsands seismic contract.

"Third-quarter results ‘will reflect continued low activity levels in the seismic industry in Western Canada,’ Norex said."

2007.10.29

Catch up from last week --

Reuters: Seismic firm PGS beats consensus with Q3 profits.

"Norwegian seismic surveyor Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) posted a stronger-than-expected 86 percent rise in operating profit for the third quarter and said 2008 would be better than 2007."

O&GJ: IFP -- Oil equipment, services demand growth slows.

"Geophysics companies posted a 19% growth rate in the first half of this year, pulled along by onshore seismic projects. The offshore sector is slowed by lack of equipment, as the seismic marine fleet is slow in renewing its units, and their availability remain tight."

Oilweek: Seitel bid for Pulse Data dies after inadequate shares tendered by deadline.

"Seitel Inc. has given up on its $3.30 per share cash offer for Pulse Data Inc.'s, ending a prolonged and nasty battle between the two companies including recent accusations of ‘scaremongering.’"

Small Cap Investor: TGC Industries misses Q3 estimates.

"... the provider of geophysical services to the gas and oil industry announced a 35% jump in third-quarter revenue that missed expectations."

Houston Chronicle: BP profits drop on operations woes.

Oil Online: Vanco signs Ukrainešs first deepwater Black Sea agreement.

"Work will begin immediately on a detailed exploration program which will include an extensive 3D seismic survey in 2008 followed by deepwater drilling."

Press Release: Paradigm Releases Next-Generation Subsurface Imaging Solution.

"‘The Common Reflection Angle Migration was specifically designed to supplement the current set of imaging tools available to geophysicists who are frequently challenged by matching imaging algorithm and methodology to the exploration objective,’ said Zvi Koren, chief geophysicist and seismic imaging product manager for Paradigm."

I stumbled across this one the other day. Ross Hill's 1993 patent for Gaussian Beam prestack depth migration --

Free Patents Online: Depth migration method using Gaussian beams.

"The process includes the step of decomposing wavefields recorded at the earth's surface using Gaussian beams as basic functions."

2007.10.20

Motley Fool: The 800-Pound Gorilla of Oilfield Services.

"And Fools, if you're attempting to get up to speed on the energy industry and its various parts, I have a couple of tips. First, in announcing his company's earnings, Schlumberger CEO Andrew Gould almost certainly will make more informative comments about global energy conditions than will all the other industry CEOs combined. And beyond that, the company's website is a font of information and instruction about energy. For instance, the site contains a glossary of oilfield terms that is so comprehensive it includes 521 entries beginning just with the letter ‘s.’"

> I use that all the time --

Schlumberger: The Oilfield Glossary.

> Back to the news ---

Houston Chronicle: Schlumberger 3Q Profit Climbs 35 Percent .

"Schlumberger Ltd. kicked off earnings season for oilpatch companies Friday, reporting a 35 percent jump in third-quarter profit that was tempered by weaker-than-expected results in North America." ...

"Schlumberger's seismic services arm, WesternGeco, posted revenue of $794 million, an increase of 20 percent over last year. The ongoing rush to explore for new sources of oil and gas in deeper waters and more rugged terrain has been a boon for companies like Schlumberger that provide seismic services."

WSJ (subscription): Schlumberger's Net Rises 35% Despite Drop in Gulf Revenue.

"Schlumberger Ltd.'s shares plummeted 11% as Chief Executive Andrew Gould said oil-field-services companies will see prices in the U.S. drop further in the fourth quarter."

Offshore Shipping Online: New high capacity 3-D vessel for Wavefield Inseis.

"With continued very strong long term demand for marine seismic 3-D services, the new 10-streamer vessel, which will be completed at an Asian yard, is due to be operational early in the third quarter of 2008." ...

"The vessel was originally ordered by another contractor, which was unable to take delivery."

2007.10.17

Press Release: PGS - Acquisition Of Depth Imaging Company AGS.

"Petroleum Geo-Services ASA announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Applied Geophysical Services, Inc. (AGS) for a price of USD 51 million, subject to certain adjustments for changes in working capital. PGS estimates an enterprise value for AGS of approximately USD 46 million. AGS is based in Houston, Texas and specializes in providing advanced depth imaging services. The transaction is expected to close during the course of this week."

Press Release: Seitel extends offer for Pulse Data, warns of possible stake sale.

"Seitel Inc. is extending its $180-million bid for Pulse Data Inc. until Oct. 19 and warning that Seitel's controlling shareholder intends to sell a 13.5 per cent stake in Pulse Data if the takeover offer fails."

Press Release: Pulse Data rejects Seitel's latest offer and alleges 'scaremongering tactics'.

"Pulse Data Inc. says it continues to reject a $180-million takeover offer from Seitel Inc. and dismisses a statement the bidder's controlling shareholder will pull out if the deal fails as ‘a scaremongering pressure tactic.’"

Bloomberg: Japan to Search for Oil, Gas in Continental Shelf.

"Japan will spend as much as 9 billion yen ($77 million) to search for oil and natural gas in its continental shelf next year, using the country's first state-owned exploration ship, a government official said."

2007.10.16

AFP: OPEC maintains estimate for oil demand growth in 2007.

"OPEC maintained its estimate for world oil demand growth in 2007 even as oil prices jumped to fresh record highs Monday."

Rigzone: StatoilHydro Starts Production in GOM.

"StatoilHydro started production on Q, a well located in the Gulf of Mexico's Mississippi Canyon Block 961. This is the first well in deep GOM waters for which the company serves as operator."

Bloomberg: Energy security weighs on Exxon Mobil CEO.

"Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson said energy legislation being considered in both houses of Congress is too focused on supply independence and not enough on security."

2007.10.15

AFX News Limited: TGS-Nopec warns Q3 sales to be hit by 3D vessel problems, sales difficulties.

"TGS-Nopec ASA said third quarter sales are likely to come in below expectations due to ‘productivity issues’ with two of its newly delivered 3D vessels and difficulties in closing new sales in the Gulf of Mexico."

The Candian Press: Alberta cancels lease for company that planned seismic testing on Marie Lake.

PRNewswire: Paradigm Unveils GOCAD Suite Version 2.5.

"The new suite is designed to expand Paradigm's industry-leading reservoir engineering solution by improving customer experience through a new user-friendly Windows-based graphical user interface (GUI)."

2007.10.11

Bloomberg: Baker Hughes gains on Halliburton rumors.

"Baker Hughes, the world's third-largest oil-field contractor, had its biggest gain in five months in New York trading on Wednesday amid speculation that the company will be sold to larger rival Halliburton Co."

WSJ (subscription): CEO Hayward to Streamline BP, Cut Headquarters Jobs.

"There would be big job losses at company headquarters, though BP would also hire lots more engineers to work in the field." ...

"‘We'll continue to build up the organizational capability on the front-line at the same time as we get rid of some office roles,’ said Mr. Hayward in the interview."

Rigzone: Genghis Khan Starts Production.

"BHP Billiton announced that oil production has commenced from the Genghis Khan development in the Gulf of Mexico." ...

"BHP Billiton and its partners acquired the Genghis Khan development in February 2007 from Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for U.S. $1.33 billion."

2007.10.04

Rigzone: Big Bidders -- Central GOM Lease Sale 205.

"Of the 5,359 blocks offered, 723 of them received 1,428 bids. The average bid per block is the highest it's ever been for this region at 1.98." ...

"The companies that submitted the most winning bids were BP Exploration & Production Inc. with 83 bids, Shell Offshore Inc. with 69 bids, Cobalt International Energy with 53 bids, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. with 44 bids and Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. Inc. with 30 bids."

AP: Gulf lease bids show strong numbers.

"... companies put up $2.9 billion in high bids for 723 tracts off Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana...."

"It was the largest total of high bids for a Gulf lease sale since 1983, when the Minerals Management Service conducted an initial sale of tracts across the entire Gulf.... Winning bids in the tens of millions of dollars were common, with nine coming in above $50 million each."

2007.10.03

AP: Winning bids to be announced for Gulf of Mexico leases.

"The central Gulf sale has been generally held in March. This year's sale was delayed by a dispute last year between Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the federal Interior Department over the state's share of offshore royalties."

Reuters: Norway's PGS says its fleet 89 pct employed in Q3.

"PGS said that 25 percent of its fleet capacity was engaged in multi-client seismic surveys in the third quarter, down from 33 percent a year earlier, while contract seismic work accounted for 64 percent of capacity, up from 50 percent a year earlier."

Offshore Shipping Online: CGGVeritas plans vessel renewal program.

"CGGVeritas plans to pursue a vessel renewal program in which it will retire older, less flexible vessel hulls from its fleet starting in 2010.... CGGVeritas will replace older vessels with vessels based on the Ulstein X-Bow design."

Offshore Shipping Online: Two more seismic ships for Eastern Echo - construction to take place in Dubai.

"Eastern Echo has negotiated a Letter of Intent to build two more X BOW seismic vessels for delivery in the first quarter and second quarter of 2009." ...

"The estimated project cost for the newbuilds is US$130 million per vessel including 12 streamer capacity, compared with US$117 million dollars per upgraded vessel [for vessels] 1-4."

Press Release: Seitel presents best and final offer to Pulse Data shareholders.

"Seitel, Inc. increased its offer for Pulse Data Inc. common shares to $3.30 in cash per share. This is Seitel's best and final offer and it will expire at 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 12, 2007."

Oilweek: Pulse Data urges shareholders to wait after Seitel hikes takeover bid.

O.K., this one is a month old --

Hydrocarbon Online: Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping And Rock Solid Images Join Forces.

"Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping (OHM) has completed the acquisition of Houston US based Rock Solid Images (RSI)."