2009.09.30

Los Angeles Times: Big find spurs California dreamin'.

"The Los Angeles-based company revealed in July that it had found 150 million to 250 million barrels of oil and natural gas in an undisclosed part of Kern County using techniques that the oil company's executives would rather not talk about. It was California's biggest find in 35 years."

Corning Leader: Schlumberger ranks high on list of 'green' companies.

"Schlumberger ranked as the 118th "greenest" out of America's 500 biggest companies, and they were No. 3 out of 31 companies in Newsweek's green rankings of the oil and gas industry."

Offshore Magazine: Tullow begins 3D seismic acquisition offshore Guyane.

"The 2,500-sq km (965-sq mi) 3D acquisition is expected to be complete by year-end."

Shipping Online: First two X BOW seismic vessels at work in Gulf of Mexico.

"WesternGeco has four ULSTEIN SX124 vessels under construction, two at Barreras and two at Drydocks World, Dubai."

Press Release: TGS Acquisition on the Freedom Wide Azimuth Project Completed.

"... totals over 16,600 square kilometers in the Mississippi Canyon and Atwater Valley areas of the deepwater central Gulf of Mexico."

Press Release: TGS Executes Agreement for Deepwater Liberia Shoot.

"... 15,000 kilometers of long-offset regional 2D seismic, gravity, and magnetic data over the ultra-deep waters located offshore Liberia."

2009.09.22

NYT: Oil Industry Sets a Brisk Pace of New Discoveries.

"It is normal for companies to discover billions of barrels of new oil every year, but this year's pace is unusually brisk. New oil discoveries have totaled about 10 billion barrels in the first half of the year, according to IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. If discoveries continue at that pace through year-end, they are likely to reach the highest level since 2000."

WSJ: CGG Veritas Wins $464M Mexico Oil Exploration Deal From Pemex.

"The contract involves taking over 75,000 square kilometers of three-dimensional seismic imaging to identify potential drilling sites in Mexico's deep waters, where Pemex is only beginning to explore for oil, said Pemex."

Upstream Online: PGS faces arbitration on scrapped newbuild.

"PGS unit, Arrow Seismic Invest III, binned its contract for the unit last month, and is demanding a refund of €39 million ($55.6 million) plus interest from the shipyard."

Offshore Shipping Online: Fugro Discovery upgraded.

"Early in 2009, Fugro Discovery went back to the dockyard for the next phase of its refit, emerging as a vessel capable of undertaking a much wider range of survey tasks."

Digital Energy Journal: CGGVeritas opens Saudi Arabia centre.

2009.09.14

Houston Chronicle: Report sees rebound in global oil demand.

"Global oil demand will resume its climb next year and should be back to 2007's highs by 2012, IHS-Cambridge Energy Research Associates reported Tuesday. The recovery will come more quickly than after the last major oil bust in 1980 -- when demand took a decade to reach its 1979 level -- because developing nations like China and India are still primed for growth...."

Houston Chronicle: Transitions in Mexico. A push for Pemex.

"... Pemex, has been listing badly for years, and President Felipe Calderon has just placed a less-experienced new captain at the helm.... Analysts see the change as the prelude to Calderon's renewed attempts to get sweeping constitutional changes through congress allowing private investment and profit sharing in Mexico's oil fields, which were nationalized seven decades ago."

2009.09.08

OGJ: MMS changes proprietary term of some geophysical data.

"Currently the US Department of the Interior agency treats seismic and other data collected through permitted geophysical operations as proprietary for 25 years. The new rule, which was published in the Aug. 13 Federal Register and goes into effect Sept. 14, will allow companies to request a 5-year extension under certain conditions."

WSJ: Shell Plans Further Reductions in Jobs.

"Shell has previously said its reorganization will affect about 24,000 employees out of its total work force of 102,000. Even though it is unclear if all theses will be job losses, the recent internal announcements indicate a significant number of positions will disappear."

WSJ: Brazil Claims Stake in Oil Find.

"Under the proposal, which must be approved by Congress, Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, will be guaranteed a dominant role exploring and producing crude in plentiful offshore fields believed to stretch along 500 miles of Atlantic coastline. Brazil says the find holds up to 50 billion barrels of hydrocarbons, enough to lift Brazil into the major leagues of oil-producing nations.... To guarantee a bigger draw for public coffers, the federal government will become an automatic shareholder in new wells, receiving a share of the profits and direct ownership of a portion of the oil. Profits are to be funneled to a special investment fund bound by law to invest in development projects. Brazil will create a new company, to be called Petrosal, to oversee production in the region."

Reuters: PGS terminates Spanish shipbuilding contract.

"PGS reiterated that it would be exposed to an impairment charge relating to the vessel of about $50 million to $60 million."

Press Release: Seitel Announces Second Quarter 2009 Results.

"Revenue for the second quarter of $22.4 million decreased by $22.3 million or 50% as compared to the second quarter of 2008, primarily driven by a $17.2 million or 57% retrenchment in total resales from our library, that reflected a $25.4 million decrease in cash resales.... Acquisition revenue fell by 33% or $4.2 million with the reduction split evenly between the U.S. and Canada."

Digital Energy Journal: Fugro-Jason releases new Jason Geoscience Workbench version.