AUSTRALIA’S Po Valley has announced the sale of its interest in two onshore Italian oil exploration licences for $1.69 million. The company said it is selling its 85% share in the fully awarded large oil exploration licence, Cadelbosco di Sopra, and 100% of the immediately adjoining small oil exploration licence, Grattasasso, to a private oil and gas company backed by a private equity fund based in London. Both licences are located northwest of Modena in the Emilia Romagna Region.
Archives for September 2017
September 2017


Polarcus announces broadband 3D project in Asia Pacific
Polarcus has received a letter of award for a broadband 3D marine seismic project in Asia Pacific. The project is due to commence in the fourth quarter and will run for approximately one month. Polarcus did not reveal which country the operation will be conducted in or for which client. It is also not certain which vessel the company will deploy. The vessel which is believed to be in the region, however, is the Polarcus Naila, which previously operated in Malaysia.

CGG starts CWAZ survey in Gulf Of Mexico
CGG has announced the start of acquisition of its first Complementary Wide-Azimuth survey, known as AC CWAz, a BroadSeis™ 3D multi-client program in southern Alaminos Canyon, Gulf of Mexico. Extending over 130 OCS Blocks and covering Great White and the recent Whale discovery, CGG said AC CWAz is supported by industry funding and complements its existing surveys in the area by adding azimuth and offset coverage to the historic wide-azimuth data. “All the data will be combined and reprocessed using the latest 3D deghosting, Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI), especially Reflection-based FWI (RFWI), and Tilted Transverse Isotropy (TTI) imaging technology.

Frogtech unravelling mysteries of Guyana Suriname Basin
Frogtech believes that its multi-client Guyana Suriname study will help clear up a number of ambiguities associated with a Basin that has proven to be a focal point for the world’s major E&P players. The Canberra-based company said that in 2012 the United States Geological Society had estimated that the Guyana Suriname basin contains 26,000 MMBO of technically recoverable oil. “This makes for the third-most prospective basin in the South American and Caribbean region, the eighth largest in the world,” Frogtech said in a media release.

Norway attracts record bids for APA round
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum has announced a record application from 39 companies – six more than last year - for new acreage in mature areas on the Norwegian continental shelf as part of the awards in pre-defined areas (APA 2017). The APA 2017 round included blocks in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea, was announced in May and the application deadline expired on September 1.

Senex secures Surat Basin lease
The Palaszczuk Government in Queensland has announced that it is “moving rapidly to boost gas supplies for industry” with confirmation that a Queensland company is the preferred tenderer for a Petroleum Lease on land in the Surat Basin released to supply the domestic market. Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dr Anthony Lynham said he was very pleased to see emerging gas producer Senex secure the rights to supply such a critical resource for our market. “The Palaszczuk Government is leading the nation with practical measures to increase domestic gas supplies and support local jobs,” the Minister said.

NPD names new exploration director
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NDP) has appointed Torgeir Stordal as their new exploration director, a position he stepped into on September 1. Stordal, 55, studied applied geophysics and has a Master of Science from the University of Bergen. He has worked for Shell since 1989 where his roles included geophysicist and geologist within exploration and field development. In more recent years, he has held several management positions within exploration. During the period 2009-2013, he was the exploration manager in Norske Shell and has since held a global role within resource evaluation at Shell’s headquarters in the Netherlands.

CGG STARTS ESPIRITO SANTOS IV SURVEY OFF BRAZIL
CGG has announced the start of work on Espirito Santo IV, a large BroadSeis™ 3D multi-client survey in the deep and ultra-deep waters of the Espirito Santo Basin offshore Brazil. The Oceanic Champion is acquiring the survey which is expected to take seven months and will cover 10,300 sq km and be processed at CGG’s Rio de Janeiro Subsurface Imaging center. ‘The high-end broadband sequence will include the latest 3D deghosting, Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI) velocity modeling and Tilted Transverse Isotropy (TTI) imaging. Fast-Track PSDM products will be delivered six months after completion of the acquisition,’ CGG said.
