The United States, according to a report in Bloomberg, is “irritated” by a signed offshore exploration cooperation agreement between Rosneft and a consortium of Japanese companies. Citing sources familiar with the issue, Bloomberg said the US believes that Japan, as part of the Group of Seven Allies, should not be working against sanctions imposed in 2014 on the Russian oil and gas industry in response to the Soviet’s annexation of Crimea. The Group of Seven Allies, known as G7, comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Seismic (public)
US offers 76 million acres in new Gulf of Mexico lease sale
United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said his department would offer 75.9 million acres offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida for oil and gas exploration and development. The lease sale, scheduled for August 16, will include all available unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and provide a reduced royalty rate for shallow water leases to encourage exploration and production under current market conditions, the Department of the Interior said.
Phillip Playford’s life is honoured and celebrated
IT was with much sadness that PESA learned of the passing of Dr Phillip Playford AM at the age of 85 after a long battle with cancer. PESA President Toby Colson and Australia Geoscience Council President Bill Shaw both paid tribute to Dr Playford, a luminary of the geological profession, award-winning author and a remarkable man who even discovered a shipwreck, the Zuytdorp, which was the first Dutch ship to be found and identified in Western Australia. His book about the wreck, Carpet of Silver; The wreck of Zuytdorp, won a Premier’s Prize for literature.
Timor-Leste champions ‘world-class’ resources
Timor-Leste’s national oil company, Timor Gap, has claimed that the country’s offshore areas could hold “world-class” oil and gas resources. This follows stimulating interpretation of the 2016 Crocodile seismic survey carried out by BGP Prospector, a 12 streamer seismic vessel over the PSC TL-SO-15-01 block. The PSC block is located approximately 50km southeast of Timor’s island eastern tip, within exclusive Timor-Leste maritime borders, midway between Timor and the Greater Sunrise gas-condensate field and covered by modern broadband 2D and 3D seismic surveys.
Katalyst announces well data coup
Katalyst Data Management in the United States has announced today that it signed its first major well data project. The well data project is essentially a “paper to digits” project involving the scanning and classification of physical well files associated with over 20,000 wells in the US Lower 48. This marks the first major well data project for Katalyst, who began providing geological data management solutions in 2016 after nearly 30 years focusing primarily on seismic data management. The well data volumes will be digitally stored and managed via Katalyst’s web-based subsurface data management solution iGlass. The hosted PPDM 3.
Schlumberger urges stockholders to reject TRC Capital overtures
Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) has been notified of an unsolicited “mini-tender” offer by TRC Capital Corporation to purchase up to 2 million shares of Schlumberger common stock, representing approximately 0.14 percent of Schlumberger’s shares of common stock outstanding. Schlumberger said in a media release that TRC Capital’s offer price of $65.63 per share is approximately 4.3 percent below the closing price per share of Schlumberger’s common stock on June 16, 2017, the last trading day before the commencement of TRC Capital’s offer.
CGG donates Software Suites to China University
CGG GeoSoftware has donated its Jason®, PowerLog® and InsightEarth® software suites, encompassing all aspects of seismic reservoir characterization, to the Geoscience and Technology Institute of China University of Petroleum (East China). CGG said in a media release that ‘the donation will enhance scientific research and expand students’ theoretical and practical knowledge of quantitative reservoir characterization and inversion techniques.’ Dr. Xinwei He, China Operations Manager, CGG GeoSoftware, said: “This significant new donation strengthens our ties with China University of Petroleum (East China) which is recognized as an important training base for high-level petroleum and petrochemical professionals in China.
DUG builds one of the world’s largest supercomputers
To be at the top of your game in any sport, you need plenty of skill and lots of muscle,” DownUnder GeoSolutions proudly proclaimed as it announced it was building one of the world’s largest supercomputers. DUG is rolling out a series of muscle-building upgrades to its global seismic processing centres, including Perth, Kuala Lumpur, London and Houston; an expansion that the company says will see its Intel-supported processing capability grow and likely exceed its competitors, based on petaflops (PF) per geo. Details of its global expansion, and its progress, will be released as it becomes available during 2017.
McMahon opens new chapter with DataReSource
DataReSource has expanded its exploration and geophysical research capacity by appointing senior geophysicist Andrew McMahon to the team. Andrew joins DataReSource after stints at the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Geoscience Australia, Paradigm and Schlumberger. DataResource said the extensive skills Andrew has acquired and developed, most notably through his work with Geoscience Australia, would enable him to have an “insightful, well-developed and refined perspective in locating difficult to find or lost datasets. His unique and vast contact network in the oil sector also makes him a valuable addition to the DataReSource team.
Sercel launches new WTU-508 Node
CGG announced that Sercel has launched the WTU-508 high-performance X-Tech® node as an extension of its 508XT land seismic acquisition product range. CGG said the new node offers even greater flexibility for all types of survey operations, such as complex small-scale urban surveys or high-productivity mega-crews. Fully integrated into the existing 508XT platform, it reinforces the new paradigm created by the 508XT in land seismic acquisition. 'The WTU-508 is an easy-to-use smart autonomous land node. Users need only to connect the geophone for the WTU-508 to record its position and start collecting seismic data.