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.
Industry
AEGC 2019 sets a new benchmark
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.
Geoscientist employment opportunities continue improvement despite June quarter slowdown
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.
Australia hits one billion barrels record production milestone
Australia hit a record in petroleum production in 2018-19 to a peak of 1,010 million barrels of oil equivalent in a milestone moment according to data compiled by energy consulstancy, EnergyQuest. This was primarily driven by record gas production, which was up 16% to 5,082 PJ as LNG export revenue soared 61% to %50 billion with production also up 22% to a record 75 million tonnes. From east to west production records were recorded with east coast gas output up 2% to 1,865PJ and coal seam gas also summiting, up 5% to 1,461PJ.
‘New WA EPA guidelines must not risk investment’
APPEA has lodged a submission to the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority’s Background Paper on Greenhouse Gas Assessment Guidance, urging national and international emissions reduction policies over ad-hoc regional measures. APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said the effective and efficient management of greenhouse gas emissions was an issue the oil and gas industry took very seriously, and APPEA and its members have been engaged constructively in policy development for more than 25 years.
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Yields More Than $159 Million in High Bids
United States Interior’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Andrea Travnicek has announced that region-wide Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 253 generated $159,386,761 in high bids for 151 tracts covering 835,006 acres in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A total of 27 companies participated in the lease sale, submitting $174,922,200 in all bids. “We are excited about the results from today’s lease sale, which show a continued upward trend for the year. The total from today’s lease sale and the March sale is the highest since 2015 for high bids,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Travnicek.
Oil and gas sector tops Forbes 2019 list of world’s largest public firms in revenue generation
Oil and gas edged past technology and communication to emerge as the top sector in the Forbes 2019 list of world’s largest public companies with a 16.2% year-on-year (YoY) growth in revenue generation, according to data and analytics company, GlobalData. GlobalData analyzed the year-on-year change in sales and profits of the top 10 sectors by sales and the geographical spread of Forbes Global 2000 largest public companies and normalized into appropriate sectors.
US oil boom breaks records
The United States leads the world in crude oil production and continues to set new records. The US produced an average 12.2 million barrels of crude oil per day in April. That marked the first time monthly oil production surpassed 12 million barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “We are in the midst of a transformational energy era with America leading the world in oil and gas production,” Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in a July 16 tweet. American ingenuity sparked the shale oil revolution, as U.S.
2019 PESA HORSTMAN FEDERAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
PESA is offering a new postgraduate scholarship to eligible students currently conducting research in a petroleum geoscience related project within Australia. The award, known as the Horstman Federal Postgraduate Scholarship, consists of an annual prize of $5000 to the successful recipient as part of PESA’s program to promote and encourage petroleum geoscience research and education in Australia.
This award is open to postgraduate research students enrolled in a PhD or Masters program at a recognised Australian tertiary institution. Research topics must have a petroleum geoscience focus and have direct relevance to the exploration, development or production of petroleum in Australia.
Meet our Bright Sparks
Bright Sparks are people that light up our industry in ways you won’t expect. Read the unique stories of the extraordinary individuals powering our homes, towns and cities, every day. Find it here: www.bright-r.com.au/brightsparks Included in the initial group of Bright Sparks are the following 14 individuals, including several PESA members: Ishtar Barranco Mendoza, Senior Geologist Barrow Island & North West Shelf, CHEVRON (WA) Yazan Arouri, PhD Candidate – Petroleum Engineering, AUST.