Dale

WA research streamlining the study of Earth’s earliest life forms

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

A new publication summarising more than 50 years of geoscience research on Western Australia’s microbialites is setting a new standard for the study of some of Earth’s oldest fossils. Created by microbes, some of these fossils date back to the Archean period, around 3.5 billion years ago.

Eminent scientist and retired Chief Paleontologist from the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA), Dr Kathleen Grey, worked with Professor Stanley Awramik from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to develop GSWA Bulletin 147 Handbook for the study and description of microbialites.

This handbook sets a benchmark for universal terminology and descriptive methodology for the study of microbialites, which includes stromatolites like those from the Shark Bay World Heritage site.

Blue Energy urges action to stave off East Coast gas shortage

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Debt-free Blue Energy has urged the state of Queensland and the Federal Government -- in spite of COVID-related upheavals and oil price haemorrhaging -- not to lose sight of an impending domestic gas shortage in 2023 and the urgency of infrastructure projects to stave off this famine.

Blue Management said it has been in active discussions with representatives of both Federal and State Governments to highlight the need for national energy infrastructure projects to ensure timely and reliable delivery of energy to domestic East Coast manufacturers and gas users.

“This is in light of the projected long-term East Coast domestic gas shortfall commencing in 2023, as identified by the latest AEMO GSOO March 2020 report.

Polarcus wins Asia Pacific survey

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Oslo-listed marine seismic services company Polarcus has signed a contract for a survey in the Asia Pacific region, the Oslo-listed marine seismic services company announcing that the deal is for an XArray marine seismic acquisition project.

As per custom, Polarcus did not disclose the identity of the client nor any financial value associated with the deal.

Polarcus said the survey would start in June this year and would last for approximately one month. The company did not reveal which vessel would be deployed for the project.

The latest award comes at a precarious time for offshore seismic contractors which were recently flagged by Norway’s Rystad Energy as the most vulnerable in the oil and gas supply chain due to the fallout of historically low oil prices and the COVID-19 crisis.

Melbana seeks new partners for Beehive

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Melbana Energy is back in the hunt for new suitors to partner its aspirations for WA-488-P offshore northern Australia after Santos’ option to farm into the prospect lapsed.

Containing the potentially significant Beehive prospect, the permit is located in the Bonaparte Gulf in some coveted real estate between Blacktip, a producing gas field, and the Turtle and Barnett oil discoveries, which are undeveloped.

The permit carries an obligation to drill an exploration well by December this year and Melbana said its data room had been piqued by results from a 3D seismic survey and work conducted on rig selection and well permitting.

CSIRO study finds hydraulic fracturing fears unfounded

27/04/2020 Posted by Dale

An independent and authoritative review by Australia’s leading scientific agency, the CSIRO, provides further evidence there are no negative impacts of hydraulic fracturing that can’t be managed by robust regulation and high industry operating standards.

The study conducted by the CSIRO’s Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance, found the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract coal-seam gas in Queensland has little to no impact on groundwater, waterways, soils or air quality.

APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said the CSIRO field study backs up over a dozen independent scientific inquiry that have confirmed that properly regulated, hydraulic fracturing is a safe practice.

Santos gets green light for Bedout Sub-Basin

27/04/2020 Posted by Dale

NOPSEMA has approved Santos' application for a 3D seismic marine survey in the Bedout Sub-basin offshore Western Australia.

The approval was granted on April 9, 2020.

The Keraudren Extension 3D Marine Seismic Survey area is located approximately 45km from Bedout Island, 56 km from the mainland and 141km from Port Hedland.

The survey data will develop regional geologic models to assist an exploration permit retention strategy and potential locations of future drilling of exploration and development wells and the seismic survey vessel will sail on pre-determined lines towing streamers with hydrophones to determine the structure and composition of geological formations below the seabed.

CGG Geosoftware innovates on with Cloud-Ready Reservoir characterization applications

27/04/2020 Posted by Dale

CGG GeoSoftware has released new versions of its Cloud-ready reservoir characterization and petrophysical interpretation software with features and functionality “that enhance the user experience, improve capabilities, and offer greater flexibility”.

CGG said all applications across the entire GeoSoftware portfolio now run on both Azure and AWS platforms, enabling easy access to products from wherever a client is working. The newest releases, Jason 10.1, HampsonRussell 10.5 and PowerLog 10.1, also offer advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as streamlined connections to Python ecosystem notebooks.

Jason 10.1 enhancements include further expansion of drag-and-drop functionality of files and viewers.

Strong Cooper Basin production helps oil and gas companies in tough time

27/04/2020 Posted by Dale

Booming oil and gas production in the Cooper Basin is helping South Australian companies survive through record low oil prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Santos has reported its strongest quarter of gas production in the Cooper Basin in nine years while Beach Energy told the ASX this week it had achieved a 15 per cent oil production increase in the basin’s Western Flank.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday, 23 April, Santos reported a $209 million fall in sales revenue for the March quarter.

Australia’s second-largest independent gas producer’s first quarter production of 17.

New date set for APPEA Conference in 2021

21/04/2020 Posted by Dale

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the APPEA Conference and Exhibition, originally planned for May 2020, has been postponed to June 14-17, 2021 at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The APPEA Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual upstream oil and gas event in the southern hemisphere, attracting thousands of delegates from across the country and around the world.

The conference’s technical and business papers already submitted will be published in the 2020 APPEA Journal (to be released in May, further information will be advised in due course).

TGS begins Gambito 2020 offshore seismic survey

21/04/2020 Posted by Dale

TGS has commenced the Gambito 2020 3D seismic survey offshore Gambia.

The acquisition, utilising the BGP Prospector vessel, is being undertaken in conjunction with BGP under the cooperation of The Gambian Ministry of Petroleum & Energy

The 4,770km2 Gambito 2020 3D survey covers open acreage in deep and ultra-deep waters and is perceived to be highly prospective considering that extensive basin floor fans were identified in TGS’ 2D regional seismic grids.

The acquisition will take about three months, with the full dataset available set to be available after final processing in the second quarter of next year.

The survey will support a future licensing round in Gambia and TGS has exclusive rights to existing multi-client seismic data offshore The Gambia.