AUSTRALIA’S Po Valley has announced the sale of its interest in two onshore Italian oil exploration licences for $1.69 million. The company said it is selling its 85% share in the fully awarded large oil exploration licence, Cadelbosco di Sopra, and 100% of the immediately adjoining small oil exploration licence, Grattasasso, to a private oil and gas company backed by a private equity fund based in London. Both licences are located northwest of Modena in the Emilia Romagna Region.
Industry
Polarcus announces broadband 3D project in Asia Pacific
Polarcus has received a letter of award for a broadband 3D marine seismic project in Asia Pacific. The project is due to commence in the fourth quarter and will run for approximately one month. Polarcus did not reveal which country the operation will be conducted in or for which client. It is also not certain which vessel the company will deploy. The vessel which is believed to be in the region, however, is the Polarcus Naila, which previously operated in Malaysia.
CGG starts CWAZ survey in Gulf Of Mexico
CGG has announced the start of acquisition of its first Complementary Wide-Azimuth survey, known as AC CWAz, a BroadSeis™ 3D multi-client program in southern Alaminos Canyon, Gulf of Mexico. Extending over 130 OCS Blocks and covering Great White and the recent Whale discovery, CGG said AC CWAz is supported by industry funding and complements its existing surveys in the area by adding azimuth and offset coverage to the historic wide-azimuth data. “All the data will be combined and reprocessed using the latest 3D deghosting, Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI), especially Reflection-based FWI (RFWI), and Tilted Transverse Isotropy (TTI) imaging technology.
Senex secures Surat Basin lease
The Palaszczuk Government in Queensland has announced that it is “moving rapidly to boost gas supplies for industry” with confirmation that a Queensland company is the preferred tenderer for a Petroleum Lease on land in the Surat Basin released to supply the domestic market. Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dr Anthony Lynham said he was very pleased to see emerging gas producer Senex secure the rights to supply such a critical resource for our market. “The Palaszczuk Government is leading the nation with practical measures to increase domestic gas supplies and support local jobs,” the Minister said.
CGG STARTS ESPIRITO SANTOS IV SURVEY OFF BRAZIL
CGG has announced the start of work on Espirito Santo IV, a large BroadSeis™ 3D multi-client survey in the deep and ultra-deep waters of the Espirito Santo Basin offshore Brazil. The Oceanic Champion is acquiring the survey which is expected to take seven months and will cover 10,300 sq km and be processed at CGG’s Rio de Janeiro Subsurface Imaging center. ‘The high-end broadband sequence will include the latest 3D deghosting, Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI) velocity modeling and Tilted Transverse Isotropy (TTI) imaging. Fast-Track PSDM products will be delivered six months after completion of the acquisition,’ CGG said.
Giant Ichthys Venturer FPSO is moored
The INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project’s floating production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO) has been safely moored in the Ichthys Field, 220 kilometres off the north coast of Western Australia. INPEX announced that the 336-metre long FPSO, named Ichthys Venturer, longer than three soccer fields and designed for 40 years of operations without being dry docked, had reached Australia in mid-August and was moored on August 24.
AGL to sell gas assets to China
AGL Energy Limited is selling its North Queensland gas assets to a consortium comprising Chinese gas distribution company Shandong Order Gas Co and Australia energy investment company, Orient Energy. The assets comprise AGL’s 50% interest in each of the Moranbah Gas Project Joint Venture and the North Queensland Energy Joint Venture and AGL’s participation rights in the ATP1103 exploration licence located in the Bowen Basin. The Chinese investor backed Orient Energy is believed to also have acquired gas assets in the Roma region of Queensland from Santos last year.
Woodside brings Persephone online
Woodside has brought its Persephone project online six months ahead of schedule. This was announced by BP, one of six partners with a 16.67% interest in the project along with BHP, Chevron, Shell, Mitsubishi-Mitsui and Woodside. BP said production from five of seven major upstream projects targeted for production in 2017 were now online, with Juniper, offshore Trinidad, and the Woodside-operated Persephone the latest to begin production. This followed the start-ups of the first phase of the West Nile Delta development in Egypt, the Trinidad Onshore Compression project and the Quad 204 redevelopment in the UK.
Magseis goes back to black in second quarter
Norwegian ocean bottom Seismic services provider Magseis returned to profitability in the second quarter of 2017 as revenues rose to $19.4 million from work done in Saudi Arabia and Norway. The company said its survey for Saudi Aramco with the Artemis Athene vessel in the Red Sea, as well as OBN work for ConocoPhillips in the Eldfisk field, off Norway, had booted revenue substantially compared to prior year’s 2Q revenue of $7.7 million. Magseis posted a profit of $3.3 million for the quarter, compared to a net loss of almost $4 million a year ago.
‘Don’t kill the golden gas goose’
The latest Reserve Bank Statement on Monetary Policy, which highlights the key role LNG exports are playing in Australia’s economic growth, deserves more attention in the polarised political debate about the east coast gas market. APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts said the statement confirms how significant LNG exports are to sustaining economic growth in Australia. The RBA found: “LNG exports are expected to contribute almost ½ percentage point directly to annual GDP growth.” “The Queensland LNG industry has delivered huge, ongoing benefits to regional communities as well as the national economy,” Dr Roberts said.