Feature Articles

Now Greenpeace targets Amazon exploration

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Greenpeace has launched a new campaign targeting exploration operations in Brazil with that stated intention of protecting the newly discovered Amazon coral reef, which was discovered in April last year. The environmental activist group charged that the reef, which could be a new marine biome comprising about 9500km2 of formations, primarily giant sponges and rhodolith, would be threatened by oil exploration. Total and BP, which was also in the activist crosshairs before it abandoned...

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Hess write down puts Equus in limbo

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US Independent Hess Corporation has taken the decision to write down the full value of the Equus development by $933 million. The New York-headquartered company has revealed its focus will switch to the Bakken Shale, the Valhall field in Norway and the Liza field, offshore Guyana, leaving Equus and joint venture partner Woodside with the challenge on how to expedite the Western Australian offshore discovery. Sixteen wells were drilled in the prospect over the past six years, resulting in...

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Oil price signals a hopefully happier 2017

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THE oil industry welcomed the start of a new year a lot more upbeat than a year ago, with recovering crude oil prices over 80 per cent higher than in the corresponding 2016 period. Although there were doubts that OPEC and other nations would fully follow through on agreed cutbacks to further stimulate the price of oil, crude started the week on January 16 with Brent trading at US$55, US West Texas US$52 and Tapis at US$56. While rising US oil production was putting a brake on crude prices...

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WGP Group wins Conoco seismic contract for North Sea

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Marine seismic service provider WGP Group , a subsidiary of Thalassa Holdings, has won a contract from ConocoPhillips to acquire seismic data in the North Sea. The two month shoot on the Eldfisk field is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2017. The Eldfisk oilfield was discovered in 1970 and approved for development in 1975. Production started in 1979 and the field also contains some gas. Eldfisk is one of the largest fields on the Norwegian continental shelf and the second...

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APPEA red flags continuing trend of falling exploration

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APPEA says the results from the latest rounds of bidding for offshore petroleum exploration acreage, released recently, confirm a deepening problem for Australia. “The results announced today will surprise and alarm people across the industry. With just one bid in the first round of releases in 2016, offshore exploration is in dire straits,” said APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts. “We are witnessing something more fundamental than just a passing, cyclical downturn. Offshore...

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CGG delivers new gen systems to ONGC

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CGG announced that its equipment business, Sercel, has delivered four of its new-generation 508XT land acquisition systems to two seismic companies recently awarded survey work in India by ONGC and Oil India, as part of a new national seismic program commissioned by the Indian government. The two Indian clients purchasing the 508XT are Advent, a new seismic company, and Alphageo, a long-standing player. Both companies will use the systems to conduct two surveys each in India. Given the...

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Seabird sets sail for South America

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SeaBird Exploration has announced that it will provide one of its vessels for a 2D seismic project in South America. In a short statement, the marine seismic surveyor said it had signed an agreement to despatch the vessel for a 2D seismic survey which is expected to commence in late December, 2016 and will have a duration of approximately 45 days. The company said it would deploy the Northern Explorer for the project, but did not release further details.

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CGG delivers record survey offshore Morocco

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CGG has announced what the company described as “near real-time imaging results” for a 4,200 sq km BroadSeis 3D marine seismic survey acquired offshore Morocco. CGG said it had delivered the “very-fast-track (VFT) RTM PSDM volume to the client only four days after the last shot”. The Paris-headquartered geoscience company said the result was a “technical feat (that) crowned an excellent operational performance by the crew of the CGG Geo Caspian who worked in a safe, collaborative...

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Senex announces Cooper Basin drilling program

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The current drilling program will comprise a multi-well oil campaign including exploration, appraisal and development opportunities, and a high impact unconventional gas exploration well. The first two wells of the campaign are located on the producing Worrior and Spitfire fields. Worrior-11 (ex PEL 93: Senex 70% and operator, Cooper Energy 30%) is a development well targeting oil accumulations in the lower Birkhead and Hutton horizons. The well is due to be spudded in mid-December. The...

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CGG delivers data sets for Gabon South Basin

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CGG has released the final processed depth volumes (Kirchhoff and RTM PreSDM) from the company’s recent 3D BroadSeis™ multi-client survey in the highly prospective Gabon South Basin. As technical consultant to the Gabonese Republic’s Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons, CGG acquired the broadband seismic survey of over 25,000 km2 to support Gabon’s 11th Licensing Round. The seismic survey is part of an integrated geoscience program that will also include reviewed, resolved and...

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