Archives for September 2019

Successful Dorado-3 Baxter flow test exceeds expectations

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Initial flow testing of the deeper Baxter reservoir of the Santos-operated Dorado-3 well has successfully exceeded expectations. Carnarvon Petroleum, which holds a 20% stake in Dorado, said the initial clean-up flow rate test over the Baxter Member was conducted over a 12-hour period with the flow rate constrained by the surface well equipment. The company said the flow rate achieved a maximum possible measured rate of approximately 48 million standard cubic feet (“MM scf”) per day of gas and 4,500 barrels (“bbls”) per day of associated condensate through a 60/64” choke. This is equivalent to approximately 15,300 barrels of oil…

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Life-of-project enterprise agreements ‘a critical IR reform’

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Allowing enterprise agreements to run the full length of major project construction is a sensible and long overdue reform, critical to securing the next wave of resources and energy project investment, says the Australian Resources and Energy Group. Life-of-project agreements are the subject of a policy discussion paper released last week by Attorney General and Minister for Industrial Relations, Christian Porter. CEO of Australian Resources and Energy Group AMMA Steve Knott said this would be a critical reform providing certainty around cost and timing of world-class resources and energy projects which take up to seven years to complete. “The ability…

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Drone attacks put petrochemical feedstock supply under strain

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Drone attacks on Saudi Aramco will severely disrupt NGL and petrochemicals supply - much more than oil. The impact on global economic and geopolitical dynamics will be huge, writes Joseph Chang, Global Editor, ICIS Chemical Business. The drone attacks on Saudi Aramco’s oil and gas facilities and key infrastructure will have significant ripple effects in the global energy and petrochemical markets, as well as the global economy, as oil prices rise and natural gas production is disrupted. The drone strikes on 14 September hit the Khurais oilfield and Abqaiq, the world’s largest crude oil and natural gas processing site. Aramco…

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AEGC 2019 sets a new benchmark

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On every score the second Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AEGC2019) lived up to its rock star billing by exceeding even the wildest expectations. Record breaking numbers tallied after the gathering at Crown in Perth revealed that 1182 delegates, including 459 full conference subscribers, attended the four-day event in the first week of September. This represented growth in excess of 30% from last year’s inaugural event in Sydney comprising identified members that included: two AIG-ASEG-PESA, three AIG-PESA, 53 ASEG-PESA, 43 AIG-ASEG, 93 AIG, 245 ASEG and169 PESA memberships. Of special significance was the 65 high school participants, who were not counted…

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DUG announces appointment of Laurence Letki as Chief Geophysicist

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DownUnder GeoSolutions (DUG) has announced the appointment of Laurence Letki as Chief Geophysicist. DUG described Ms Letki as “an invaluable and experienced team member”, who had been promoted from her position as Principal Geophysicist. Laurence is a highly respected industry professional, a leading expert on full waveform inversion, and a frequent speaker at oil and gas industry conferences around the globe. She recently presented ‘High Frequency Full Waveform Inversion as an Interpretation Solution’ at APPEA 2019, and will be presenting ‘Exploring the Applications of High Frequency FWI for Qualitative and Quantitative Interpretation - a Dual Azimuth Case Study’ at SEG…

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Geoscientist employment opportunities continue improvement despite June quarter slowdown

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Employment opportunities for Australia’s geoscientists continued to show a very slow-improving trend, despite disappointing results for the second quarter (April to June), an Australian Geoscientist Employment survey has established. The second quarter setback saw unemployment rise from 7.5% at the end of March, to 9.3% at the end of June. On the other hand, underemployment amongst self-employed geoscientists fell from 20.5% to 14.9% for the same period. The underemployment figure represents the proportion of self-employed geoscientists unable to secure more than one quarter of their desired workload. The survey was completed by 734 respondents nationally. Some 66% of respondents worked…

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Sercel launches GPR – ‘a game-changing new ocean bottom node’

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CGG has announced the launch by Sercel of GPR, a new Ocean Bottom Node (OBN). CGG said GPR “leverages the proven high performance of Sercel’s QuietSeis® broadband digital sensor technology to collect superior data for accurate seismic imaging compared to data collected by conventional sensors.” The company has jointly developed GPR in partnership with BGP. CGG said the launch of GPR coincides with the continuing growth and maturity of the global node market and further strengthens CGG’s extensive portfolio of innovative products and services, all designed to reduce the risks and increase the success of its clients’ reservoir exploration and…

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Woodside invests in emerging technology for seismic data acquisition

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Woodside has signed a Shareholders Agreement with Perth-based Blue Ocean Monitoring Ltd (BOM) to invest in Blue Ocean Seismic Services Ltd (BOSS). Woodside in a statement that BOSS is developing an innovative solution that has the “potential to make ocean bottom seismic data acquisition cheaper and more accessible”. Seismic data is critical for understanding geological formations and the nature of hydrocarbon resources that may be contained within them. Current methods use remotely operated vehicles to place nodes on the ocean floor that capture and record soundwaves. The concept was jointly developed by Woodside and BOM and focuses on using Autonomous…

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TGS and Schlumberger announce new 3D Multi-client Reimaging Project in Egyptian Red Sea

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TGS and Schlumberger have announced a new 3D seismic reimaging project in the Egyptian Red Sea. The project will comprise reimaging data from three overlapping seismic surveys totalling 3,600 km² that was acquired between 1999 and 2008 - the only available 3D data in this part of the Red Sea. It includes the integration of all legacy seismic and non-seismic data and will apply advanced imaging technologies to better define complex subsalt structures. The project, which is supported by industry prefunding, will be carried out by TGS and WesternGeco®, the geophysical services product line of Schlumberger. Data will be available…

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Cooper unveils new gas field discovery in the Otway basin

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Cooper Energy has made a new gas field discovery in the Otway basin offshore Victoria with the exploration well Annie-1 located in VIC/P44. Cooper Energy, as operator and 50% interest holder, with Mitsui E & P Australia also holding a 50% interest, said the well had reached total depth (TD) of 2,442 meters measured depth rotary table (MDRT) at 9:00 am AEST on September 4, 2019. The well was drilled by the Diamond Offshore-operated semi-submersible rig Ocean Monarch, which was deployed to drill two exploration wells for Cooper and started drilling Annie-1 in early August. Within the Annie-1 borehole, the…

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