IN an opening address in Adelaide at the first session of the four day Australian Geoscience Council Convention, Geoscience Australia Chief Executive, Dr James Johnson, said geoscience was providing immense value to society, from the economic benefits of resource development through to GPS positioning, underpinned by the science of geodesy. “It is important that we, as geoscientists, act as ambassadors for our science, to raise awareness of the general public on how geoscience benefits society. Even Earth observations from space are becoming increasingly important in monitoring environmental change and in natural resource management,” Dr Johnson said.
Industry
Significant UK shale gas development “still a long way off”
Following the announcement that Cuadrilla Resources will start fracking operations at its shale gas exploration wells in Lancashire, leading industry commentators still view hydraulic stimulation at an embryonic phase in Britain. Will Scargill, Senior Oil & Gas Analyst at data and analytics company GlobalData, said of the development: ‘‘Although beginning fracking is an important step for Cuadrilla, we’re still a long way from shale gas playing a significant role in the UK energy sector.
USA soars to top of the oil producing pops
The United States surpassed Russia in crude oil production for the first time in two decades, both in June and August 2018, new figures show. The United States already exceeded Saudi Arabia in oil production back in February 2018, a first in more than 20 years, according to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency expects that U.S. crude oil production will continue to outdo Russian and Saudi Arabian production for the remaining months of 2018 and through 2019. According to the US Department of State, increased U.S.
Jadestone satisfies conditions for Montara acquisition from PTTEP
Jadestone Energy has satisfied all conditions precedent to its proposed acquisition of the Montara oil project, offshore Australia, from Thailand’s PTTEP. The independent oil and gas producer announced on Friday that the transaction was expected to complete within 10 days. PTTEP announced its decision to divest its 100% stake in the Montara field to align with the company’s business strategy aimed to focus on the operations and projects in strategic locations back in mid-July.
YPP monthly lunch informal networking series
PESA WA’s Young Petroleum Professional Chapter (YPP) launched its new Lunch Social Catch-up Series, with the first catch-up kicked off on Friday 14 September at Cloisters Food Hall in Perth CBD. In attendance there were nine young professionals, who are very aspiring individuals with experience ranging from freshly graduated to over 5 years in the industry, giving a great range of knowledge and opportunities for the new professionals to discuss career progression and gain insight from the more seasoned within the group. Various companies in the industry were represented in this gathering: TGS, Santos, Discover Geoscience, Murphy Oil, Chemostrat and Carnarvon.
Cairn evaluating FPSO tender bids for SNE
Cairn Energy is assessing tender responses for the FPSO facility and subsea infrastructure for its SNE field development, offshore Senegal, ahead of the front end engineering and design (FEED) phase planned for the fourth quarter of this year. Cairn, as operator, has a 40% working interest in three blocks offshore Senegal (Sangomar Deep, Sangomar Offshore and Rufisque Offshore) alongside partners, Woodside 35% WI, FAR 15% WI, and the Senegal National Oil Company, Petrosen 10% WI, which has the right to increase its equity to 18% on development.
PESA WA Branch Evening Lecture Series
In addition to the successful PESA WA Branch Technical Luncheon Series held this year, the Evening Lecture Series has been going very well too. Our Evening Lecture Series is a great platform for networking over canapes and drinks accompanied by a technical talk in a very relaxed environment. The event usually starts around 5.30pm at The Georges Hotel. The first evening lecture that PESA WA hosted this year was on 17 April with Chris Cubitt as the guest lecturer. His topic was on the “Drill cuttings, core, wireline and seismic – a match made in heaven!
PESA WA August Luncheon – Evolution of “Tres Hombres”
PESA WA Branch hosted Chris Hurren from BHB Billiton, with special gratitude to our four technical series sponsors, to talk our members through the evolution of the large mid-crustal “Tres Hombres” structure within the northern Beagle Sub-basin, offshore WA. Three enigmatic circular structures in the outer part of the Beagle sub-basin, known as the three brothers, or possibly named after the album of the same name by ZZ Top, have attracted passing interest and quite a bit of head scratching in the past based on some rather sparse 2D seismic lines.
Oil and gas fuels Australia’s growth and exports
New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data highlights the important contribution the oil and gas industry and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are playing in supporting the ongoing growth of Australia’s economy. Oil and gas extraction value-added figures increased by 10.8 per cent in 2017-18 compared with 2016-17, to reach a record $30 billion, according to ABS figures from Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, Jun 2018.
Oil Spill Response achieves first air transport of fully-assembled capping stack
Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) has reached another important milestone in the development of its subsea capping and containment response capabilities – successfully completing an air transport test flight of a fully assembled subsea capping stack for the first time. OSRL said the newly demonstrated capability has the potential to significantly reduce capping stack mobilisation times, and represents the realisation of a key objective for the company and all those involved in its Subsea Well Intervention Services (SWIS).