Australia’s Po Valley Energy has announced maiden oil and gas condensate Prospective Resource estimates for its large onshore oil exploration holdings in northern Italy. The gains cover the Torre del Moro Exploration Licences southeast of Bologna, the Bagnolo SW prospect in Cadelbosco licence, and a large 334% increase in the 2C resources in its Bagnolo in Piano and Ravizza oil fields in the Cadelbosco Grattasasso Exploration Licences. These two oil fields and the oil / condensate prospects are 100%-owned by Po Valley.
Company Updates
DUG announces arrival of immersion tanks for Houston supercomputer
DownUnder GeoSolutions (DUG) is excited to announce tanks are arriving at Skybox Houston for its huge geophysically configured supercomputer, Bubba. Part of a unique cloud service tailored specifically to the geophysics community, called DUG McCloud, the supercomputer will be housed in a purpose-built exascale compute facility in Houston. Construction began on the Texas facility in late 2018. After initial setbacks caused by winter storms, work has continued on DUG McCloud at a remarkable pace ever since.
Otway Basin can play a lead role in gas famine
New sources of gas need to be found to offset the emerging gas crisis in the east coast market and the Otway Basin bordering the South Australian-Victorian border can be part of that solution, according to one of Adelaide’s newest ASX-listed petroleum explorers. Addressing the first day today of the two-day Paydirt 2019 South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference in Adelaide last week, Vintage Energy’s Managing Director, Mr Neil Gibbins, said the Victorian gas supply market alone is expected to fall from 435 petajoules (PJ) two years ago to around 187PJ by 2022.
CGG completes 2D survey offshore Gabon
Acquisition of CGG’s 9,800 km long-offset broadband 2D multi-client seismic survey in the highly prospective Gabon South Basin has been completed. Fast-track data sets will be delivered in batches from the end of April, giving interested oil companies sufficient time to understand offshore petroleum systems and appraise blocks offered in Gabon’s 12th offshore licensing round planned for September 2019. This modern data set will help define the full extent of existing and new plays in the region. It will also aid in understanding the thickness variations in the sediment overburden for source rock and maturity analysis.
Karoon still courting farm-in partner to expedite FID for its Neon oil field
Australian oil and gas company Karoon is still courting a farm-in partner for its 100% owned Neon oil field in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, as it considers FPSO options and the possibility of drilling another well to de-risk the prospect. The company has carried the blocks containing two oil fields, Neon and Goia, to a development and production phase but also extended a final investment decision initially targeted for last year to 2019.
Shell applies for 3750 km2, 3D seismic survey off Western Australia
Shell has applied to offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA to conduct a 3750km2seismic survey offshore Kimberley, Australia. The oil and gas major plans to launch the “Factory” 3D marine seismic survey within the Browse and Bonaparte Basin, off Western Australia. The Factory 3D survey will comprise acquisition of approximately 3,750 km2 of 3D seismic data in Exploration Permits AC/P65, AC/P41, WA-534-P, and a smaller section of adjacent acreage to acquire data to fully-image the prospects on the titles, NOPSEMA said.
Sercel Brings its Technical Expertise to Structural Health and Earth Monitoring Markets
CGG has transferred its geophysical seismic technology to structural stability and earth monitoring markets The company said that Sercel has created two new brands, Sercel Structural Monitoring and Sercel Earth Monitoring, to bring the benefits of its advanced sensor technology to the high-potential Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Earth Monitoring markets. Renowned in the global geophysics industry as a leading provider of innovative seismic equipment and reservoir monitoring instruments, Sercel has designed and manufactured an extensive range of cutting-edge sensors for natural resource exploration for over 60 years.
Otto Energy farms into Gulf of Mexico license
West Perth, North America-focussed Otto Energy has farmed into Talos Energy’s Green Canyon 21 (GC 21) lease in the Gulf of Mexico. Otto said it would earn a 16.67% working interest in GC 21 through paying 22.22% of the cost of drilling of the Bulleit appraisal well in the lease. Otto Energy said the well would be drilled by Talos using the Noble Don Taylor drillship, commencing in the mid-second quarter of 2019. First production is expected to be within 12-18 months from spud.
Certification confirms Leigh Creek Energy gas reserve ‘largest in South Australia’
Leigh Creek Energy’s (LCK) said its syngas resource at Leigh Creek has received reserve certification, unlocking South Australia’s largest gas reserve for commercial use. LCK announced that it had received a PRMS certificate of 1,153PJ (petajoule) 2P syngas reserves, making Leigh Creek’s commercial deposit in the far north of SA ‘larger than reserves currently located within the Cooper Basin’.
CGG GeoSoftware supports geoscience training with renewal of HampsonRussell software donation to Portugal’s CERENA/IST University
GeoSoftware, part of CGG’s Geoscience Division, has renewed the donation of its HampsonRussell seismic reservoir characterization software to CERENA/Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) University in Lisbon, Portugal. CERENA, a research center of IST, supports IST’s MSc course in Petroleum Engineering with teaching and research in areas relating to oil and gas exploration and production, including the characterization of petroleum reservoirs. CGG’s software technology is already an integral part of the Petroleum Engineering MSc course and related research programs.