Latest News

Woodside plans to abandon three wells

12/05/2020 Posted by Dale

NOPSEMA is assessing a decommissioning plan submitted by Woodside for subsea infrastructure no longer required for production from the Echo Yodel field located in the Dampier Sub-Basin in permit WA-23-L.

The plan, which was was submitted on April 17, make provision for Woodside to permanently plug for abandonment purposes the Yodel-3 and Yodel-4 production wells and the Capella 1 exploration well via the deployment of a mobile offshore drilling unit.

Plugging for the three wells is expected to take about 20 to 60 days per well to.

DUG onboard processing contract with Polarcus extended to include DUG McCloud

11/05/2020 Posted by Dale

DUG has announced the signing of a three-year contract with Polarcus to utilise hardware and software for data processing and seismic acquisition quality control (QC) onboard Polarcus’ fleet of seismic vessels.

DUG said it will provide workstations, storage, processing nodes, and software onboard Polarcus vessels.

"This marks the sixth year of Polarcus’ commitment to DUG technology for the provision of data processing and QC services," DUG said.

Further, Polarcus also signed a three-year agreement to leverage the DUG McCloud platform to significantly enhance their Priority Processing and imaging offering to E&P clients.

"DUG McCloud is a customer-focussed and collaborative cloud solution that encapsulates DUG’s high-performance computing (HPC) environment. T

Jobless Geos climb in first quarter, but COVID impacts limited

11/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Australian geoscientists reported a deterioration in employment in the first three months of 2020. Fears, however, that the coronavirus pandemic would have a deep and dramatic impact on employment, have not as yet materialised.

Unemployment amongst Australia’s geoscientists increased to 10.0% at the end of the March 2020 quarter compared to 7.3% at the end of the 2019 December quarter. Under-employment amongst self-employed geoscientists increased from 13.1% to 18.1% for the same period.

Australian geoscientists reported a deterioration in employment in the first three months of 2020.

Queensland Government supports exploration

07/05/2020 Posted by Dale

APPEA has welcomed the announcement by Queensland Resources Minister Anthony Lynham of a range of measures to support exploration as the industry confronts challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

These measures announced will provide for relief and flexibility to support explorers. It also encourages innovative exploration activities through a direct grant process.

The package provides companies with the ability to continue to operate now, and respond quickly when the health crisis abates, and Australia’s economy recovers.

APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said this package would particularly help smaller exploration companies that continue to play a critical role in the identification and development of new energy resources.

WA research streamlining the study of Earth’s earliest life forms

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

A new publication summarising more than 50 years of geoscience research on Western Australia’s microbialites is setting a new standard for the study of some of Earth’s oldest fossils. Created by microbes, some of these fossils date back to the Archean period, around 3.5 billion years ago.

Eminent scientist and retired Chief Paleontologist from the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA), Dr Kathleen Grey, worked with Professor Stanley Awramik from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to develop GSWA Bulletin 147 Handbook for the study and description of microbialites.

This handbook sets a benchmark for universal terminology and descriptive methodology for the study of microbialites, which includes stromatolites like those from the Shark Bay World Heritage site.

Blue Energy urges action to stave off East Coast gas shortage

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Debt-free Blue Energy has urged the state of Queensland and the Federal Government -- in spite of COVID-related upheavals and oil price haemorrhaging -- not to lose sight of an impending domestic gas shortage in 2023 and the urgency of infrastructure projects to stave off this famine.

Blue Management said it has been in active discussions with representatives of both Federal and State Governments to highlight the need for national energy infrastructure projects to ensure timely and reliable delivery of energy to domestic East Coast manufacturers and gas users.

“This is in light of the projected long-term East Coast domestic gas shortfall commencing in 2023, as identified by the latest AEMO GSOO March 2020 report.

Polarcus wins Asia Pacific survey

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Oslo-listed marine seismic services company Polarcus has signed a contract for a survey in the Asia Pacific region, the Oslo-listed marine seismic services company announcing that the deal is for an XArray marine seismic acquisition project.

As per custom, Polarcus did not disclose the identity of the client nor any financial value associated with the deal.

Polarcus said the survey would start in June this year and would last for approximately one month. The company did not reveal which vessel would be deployed for the project.

The latest award comes at a precarious time for offshore seismic contractors which were recently flagged by Norway’s Rystad Energy as the most vulnerable in the oil and gas supply chain due to the fallout of historically low oil prices and the COVID-19 crisis.

Melbana seeks new partners for Beehive

04/05/2020 Posted by Dale

Melbana Energy is back in the hunt for new suitors to partner its aspirations for WA-488-P offshore northern Australia after Santos’ option to farm into the prospect lapsed.

Containing the potentially significant Beehive prospect, the permit is located in the Bonaparte Gulf in some coveted real estate between Blacktip, a producing gas field, and the Turtle and Barnett oil discoveries, which are undeveloped.

The permit carries an obligation to drill an exploration well by December this year and Melbana said its data room had been piqued by results from a 3D seismic survey and work conducted on rig selection and well permitting.

CSIRO study finds hydraulic fracturing fears unfounded

27/04/2020 Posted by Dale

An independent and authoritative review by Australia’s leading scientific agency, the CSIRO, provides further evidence there are no negative impacts of hydraulic fracturing that can’t be managed by robust regulation and high industry operating standards.

The study conducted by the CSIRO’s Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance, found the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract coal-seam gas in Queensland has little to no impact on groundwater, waterways, soils or air quality.

APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said the CSIRO field study backs up over a dozen independent scientific inquiry that have confirmed that properly regulated, hydraulic fracturing is a safe practice.

Santos gets green light for Bedout Sub-Basin

27/04/2020 Posted by Dale

NOPSEMA has approved Santos' application for a 3D seismic marine survey in the Bedout Sub-basin offshore Western Australia.

The approval was granted on April 9, 2020.

The Keraudren Extension 3D Marine Seismic Survey area is located approximately 45km from Bedout Island, 56 km from the mainland and 141km from Port Hedland.

The survey data will develop regional geologic models to assist an exploration permit retention strategy and potential locations of future drilling of exploration and development wells and the seismic survey vessel will sail on pre-determined lines towing streamers with hydrophones to determine the structure and composition of geological formations below the seabed.