Archives for April 2018

PESA WA Branch’s April Technical Talk

24/04/2018 Posted by Alison McLeod

The April monthly technical talk was held by PESA WA Branch with over 50 people attending, with special gratitude to our four sponsors: Spectrum (Platinum), CGG (Gold), Searcher Seismic (Gold) and DUG (Gold). WA Branch President, Helen Debenham, opened the meeting with the brief introduction of upcoming Branch events. Helen also announced new activities of our sponsors, including large projects of reprocessing 3D and 2D data in Otway Basin (Spectrum) and Gippsland Basin (CGG). Both projects will assist exploration activities to unlock future potential in eastern Australia. Jointly PESA and ASEG representatives,…

Schlumberger profits surged in Q1

24/04/2018 Posted by Dale

Schlumberger has posted an increase in profit and revenues during the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year. The company announced revenues of US$7.8 billion for the first quarter of 2018, a 14% increase compared to US$6.9 billion in the same period of 2017. In addition, net income attributable to Schlumberger was US$525 million in Q1 2018 compared to US$279 million in the year-before period, an increase of 88%. Inthe last quarter of 2017 Schlumberger recorded a loss of US$2.3 billion. Schlumberger Chairman and CEO, Paal Kibsgaard, said: “Looking at the global oil market, the absence…

Eni to spend US$1B a year on exploration

24/04/2018 Posted by Dale

Italian oil company Eni said it expects production to increase by 3.5% per year over the next four years and has plans to invest US$1.1 billion per year on exploration activities in its quest to discover two billion barrels of new resources. This was revealed by Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi in the company’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan, which builds on the transformation started by the company back in 2014. Descalzi said over the past four years, in a very low price environment, Eni had increased its hydrocarbon production and restructured its mid-downstream businesses to drive positive structural result. “We have reduced…

Searcher expands its Offshore Argentina Seismic and Well Database

24/04/2018 Posted by Dale

Searcher Seismic announced it has expanded the Offshore Argentina Seismic and Well Databasewhich is being carried out in anticipation of the 2018 Argentina Offshore Bidding Round 1. Since late 2016, Searcher Seismic has been collating, organising, reimaging, interpreting and evaluating a vast amount of offshore data from the Argentina continental shelf areas. The original data required considerable adjustments, editing and QC enhancement, which allows the industry to easily utilise the rectified data sets for further analysis. Searcher now holds 11,171 km of Pre-STM broadband reprocessed data and over 100,000 km Post-STM processed open file 2D and 1,865 km² 3D. Several of these…

Northern Territory lifts hydraulic fracking moratorium

24/04/2018 Posted by Dale

The Northern Territory government has lifted a near two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the Australian state, barely three weeks after a scientific report gave the technology the all clear and said it could be performed safely if regulated responsibly. Northern Territory Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, made the surprise announcement, saying that he had taken his cue from the recent review, led by Justice Rachel Pepper from the Land and Environmental Court of New South Wales, that hydraulic fracturing could be done safely. Pepper’s reported listed 135 recommendations to mitigate risks associated with onshore shale drilling. Mr Gunner said his…

PESA WA SHORT COURSE – The Practical Application of Sequence Stratigraphic Principles

19/04/2018 Posted by Alison McLeod

PESA WA was pleased to host Dr. Simon Sturrock on 12 -13 April as facilitator of a short course in The Practical Application of Sequence Stratigraphic Principles. Chevron Australia provided the Perth CBD classroom venue and student places were generously sponsored by Carnarvon Petroleum. The sessions were descriptive, interactive, and coloured with many anecdotes. Strong attendance by students and established professional of varying backgrounds made for informative and collaborative discussions. In the classroom exercises, NWS data (including seismic, biostratigraphic, core and log) was amalgamated with focus on a process understanding of basin evolution, and with the aim of producing predictive…

New Zealand bans new oil and gas exploration permits

17/04/2018 Posted by Dale

New Zealand's ruling Labour Party has banned all new oil and gas exploration permits in the country. This was announced by New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who said that the changes would be phased in and that all existing permits would be honoured. The decision was welcomed by environmental activist group Greenpeace, which has campaigned for seven years to end offshore oil and gas exploration in the country – most recently with campaigns against the Amazon Warrior seismic vessel in its exploration program for Statoil, Chevron and OMV off the Wairarapa Coast. Greenpeace had sailed 60 miles out to…

Australia’s pipe dream would be the third longest

17/04/2018 Posted by Dale

Former Western Australian premier Colin Barnett’s “pipe dream” of constructing a 2400km gas artery traversing from west to east Australia would, if realised, produce one of the longest pipelines on the planet.

But not the longest, according to GlobalData, which said recently that analysis of planned and announced trunk/transmission oil and gas pipelines in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, had revealed the Trans Saharan Gas project pipeline to be the biggest of them all with a length of 4,400km.

GlobalData did…

Abu Dhabi is open for bidding with six oil and gas blocks

17/04/2018 Posted by Dale

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has released six oil and gas blocks for bidding as part of Abu Dhabi's first ever block competitive exploration and production bid round. In a media release ADNOC said the licensing strategy represents a major advance in how Abu Dhabi unlocks new opportunities and maximizes value from its hydrocarbon resources. “It is also consistent with ADNOC's approach to expanding its strategic partnerships across all areas of its business. The successful bidders will enter into agreements granting exploration rights and, provided defined targets are achieved in the exploration phase, be granted the opportunity to…