2009.07.16

Rigzone: CGGVeritas Surveys Heart of Haynesville Shale.

"CGGVeritas has begun acquiring the Tri-Parish Line 3D multi-client survey in northern Louisiana. The 677-square mile wide-azimuth survey is the largest contiguous Haynesville shale survey to date. It is designed to supply the numerous industry players with a state-of-the-art 3D survey to help them locate the hundreds of horizontal wells that are expected to be drilled in the play."

Dow Jones: CGG Veritas 2Q Vessel Availability Rate At 89% Vs 86% Yr Ago.

"The vessel utilization rates for the second quarter 2009 do not take into account the Harmattan, a 3D vessel which was decommissioned during the quarter as part of a marine capacity adjustment program.... During the second quarter of 2009, 3D vessels were allocated 75% to contract and 25% to multi-client programs, a decrease in multi-client investment in 2009, as planned."

NYT: Exxon to Invest Millions to Make Fuel From Algae.

"‘We literally looked at every option we could think of, with several key parameters in mind,’ said Emil Jacobs, vice president for research and development at Exxon's research and engineering unit. ‘Scale was the first. For transportation fuels, if you can't see whether you can scale a technology up, then you have to question whether you need to be involved at all.’"

2009.07.14

Upstream Online: Dropping seismic demand thumps Seitel.

"Houston-based seismic outfit Seitel said its revenue for the quarter that ended 30 June was expected to be $21.3 million, down 52% from last year." ...

"Seitel currently has a cash balance of $28.7 million, which puts it in violation of its covenants on an undrawn $25 million credit facility."

Engineer Live: New seismic fleet targets 3D and 4D high-end surveys.

"In less than two months time, Polarcus Nadia, the first vessel in Polarcus'distinctive,ultra-modern six-vessel fleet, will be operational. Specifically targeting the high-end 3D towed marine seismic market these unique and purpose-built vessels are at the forefront of maritime and seismic innovation."

PR Newswire: ION Initiates Next Phase of ArcticSPAN Seismic Data Program.

"Ken Williamson, Senior Vice President of ION's Integrated Seismic Solutions group, commented, ‘ION has been actively acquiring seismic data in the Arctic since 2006 when we acquired the initial phase of our ArcticSPAN regional program offshore Alaska and northern Canada. Based on our success with this program, several of our BasinSPAN customers asked us to undertake a deep crustal study in a region offshore Greenland that is largely unexplored and potentially prospective.’"

WSJ: CFTC to Consider Setting Position Limits for Energy Trading.

"U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said [last] Tuesday the agency will hold hearings this summer to consider imposing position limits for ‘all commodities of finite supply.’ The agency will also review whether swap dealers, index traders and exchange-traded fund managers should be allowed to get around those limits through special hedge exemptions."

WSJ: Does drilling cause earthquakes?

"The idea that human activity can cause seismic activity is widely accepted in the scientific community. A 2000 paper in the journal Oilfield Review -- published by the oilfield services giant Schlumberger Ltd. -- noted that the connection between oil production and earthquakes dates back to at least the 1920s, when geologists in South Texas noted faulting near the Goose Creek oil field."

2009.07.12

WSJ: Iraq Moves Up Bids For Next Oil Fields.

"The Iraqi oil ministry said it will move up a second round of licensing bids for 11 oil and natural-gas fields that was to be held at the end of this year. The move follows a first round [two weeks ago] that resulted in just one approved contract. While many big Western companies expressed interest in bidding, they mostly walked away, citing terms they said weren't favorable enough."

Reuters: ION sues WesternGeco for patent infringement.

"ION Geophysical Corp said it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against privately held WesternGeco LLC over technology related to steering devices and control systems for marine seismic streamers. The company, which provides seismic data-acquisition imaging services, said WesternGeco's Q-Marine system, components and technology infringe its patent."

WSJ: Exxon Unveils Big Canadian Gas Field.

"Exxon Mobil Corp. said drilling results from its first wells in Canada's Horn River Basin shale-gas field indicate that it is likely to be a very big and productive source of natural gas."

Oil Online: PGS names the most sophisticated seismic vessel in the industry.

"The most sophisticated vessel in the seismic industry, the 22-streamer Ramform Sterling was named today at the yard in Tomrefjord, Norway. The new vessel, a sister ship of Ramform Sovereign is 16 meters longer than the previous class Ramforms. It has significantly higher acquisition and transit speed, 25 percent longer endurance, and 60 percent higher production capacity compared to the previous Ramform class."

This is from June 26 --

Rigzone: Industry Gears Up for Drilling as Crude Rises.

"During the first half of 2009, the price of oil has more than doubled from its late-2008 nadir near $32, rebounding to settle past the $70-mark during June."