Latest News

Iran’s giant oil discovery brings “little material benefit” under sanctions

11/11/2019 Posted by Dale

The discovery of a massive oil field in Iran will deliver little in the way of tangible spin-offs for the second largest country in the Middle East, according to international analysis of the discovery.

The discovery made world headlines recently, but according to data and analytics company, GlobalData, the country is facing challenges reaping the full-benefits of the yield.

Will Scargill, Managing Analyst, Oil and Gas at GlobalData, commented: “Limits on investment and exports due to sanctions mean that the exploration successes at the Namavaran field can’t translate into material benefit.

“Iran already has a large number of projects holding billions of barrels of resources that it cannot fully-realize, and this just adds to that list.

PESA SA/NT Geology of Wine Field Trip – September 2019

08/11/2019 Posted by Dale

By Dr. Simon BrealeyAs is becoming traditional, stalwart devotees of the terroir of the McLaren Vale Wine Region (yes, it’s a bona fide appellation) gathered under a darkening sky in late September to receive the wisdom and tasting notes of Professor Alan Collins of Adelaide University.

Picking up stragglers as we headed south on the 40-minute drive we examined the beautifully-produced geological maps kindly provided by the Dept. Mines (or whatever they were called last week) and met old friends and new.

First stop was on Chapel Hill Road to examine the staggeringly profound unconformity between the Umberatana Group (circa 650 million years old) and the Pleistocene Pirramimma Sandstone of the Seaford Formation (born yesterday).

Matt Canavan Minister of Resources Northern Australia

Matt Canavan lauds NT survey as a potential gamebreaker

05/11/2019 Posted by Dale

Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Matt Canavan, has welcomed a new seismic survey probing for gas and mineral resources in the Northern Territory’s Barkly region.

The 820km survey is in an area where little exploration has previously taken place and is being hailed as a potential ‘missing link’ between Mt. Isa and the Betaloo sub-basin.

Mr Canavan described the Beetaloo as a sub-basin with potential to deliver 178,000 Petajoules of shale gas, a bigger basket than any conventional gas resources on the North West Shelf.

“It’s exciting to have a region that could promise the same potential resources,” Mr Canavan said.

Polarcus set for West Africa seismic project

04/11/2019 Posted by Dale

Polarcus has continued its offshore West African safari by announcing another 4D marine seismic acquisition project in the region.

The seismic service provider said the project duration would be approximately two months and is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2019, after a scheduled class docking.

Polarcus did not provide further details about the project and had worked on a seismic project in the same area offshore West Africa earlier this year.

TGS starts Midnight survey and reveals go to plans for Malvinas

04/11/2019 Posted by Dale

On the same day last week that TGS announced the commencement of its Midnight 3D seismic survey to “further solidify its core position in the Inga/Fireweed area” of British Columbia, Canada, the seismic services provider revealed it would also conduct a new 3D multi-client project offshore Argentina.

The Norwegian company said the British Columbia survey merges into TGS’ existing onshore Canadian seismic data coverage in the condensate region of the Montney basin and straddles a large area where drilling activity is incentivized by deep-well royalty credit.

When completed and processed by TGS, the Midnight 3D project will result in 168km²of high-quality 3D seismic data.

No tequila toast for Cairn’s first offshore Mexico well

04/11/2019 Posted by Dale

Cairn Energy has hit a dry well in the first well of its drilling program offshore Mexico, where the exploration target of the Alom-1 well on Block 9 failed to prove hydrocarbons, the UK-based independent oil and gas company said.

The company said the well would now be permanently plugged and abandoned after data collected and preliminary analysis had indicated over 500m of “high quality water bearing sands across multiple targets”.

“This information will help Cairn calibrate the seismic data and geological models and is being integrated to improve Cairn’s understanding of the petroleum system offshore Mexico,” the company added.

Norway tops oil and gas discoveries in Q3

28/10/2019 Posted by Dale

Of the 38 global oil and gas discoveries made in the third quarter of 2019, six were located in Norway, according to analytics and data company, GlobalData.

This was followed by Colombia with five discoveries, Egypt and Trinidad with four each and Guyana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with three each.

The company’s latest report, Q3 2019 Global Oil and Gas Discoveries Review – South America and Europe Dominate with Highest Number of Discoveries in Quarter, notes that 21 of the discoveries made in the quarter were conventional oil discoveries, while 15 were gas.

Searcher Seismic Northern Basins Press Release

Searcher completes Northern Basins Prospectivity Study in PNG

28/10/2019 Posted by Dale

Searcher Seismic has announced the expansion of its modern offshore data library with the completion of its Northern Basins Prospectivity Study in Papua New Guinea.

Searcher, in conjunction with Discover Geoscience, has compiled the Northern Basins Prospectivity Study following its successful acquisition of the Solomon Sea Broadband Non-Exclusive 2D seismic survey in 2017.

Searcher said the study offers the industry a detailed understanding of the basins and hydrocarbon potential of the region, with extensive coverage of the Cape Vogel, Bougainville and New Ireland Basins.

The Northern Basins Prospectivity Study contains an assessment of the Sequence Stratigraphic Framework, with Chronostratigraphy unified with that from Searcher’s Gulf of Papua Prospectivity Study.

Natural gas is powering Queensland’s economy

28/10/2019 Posted by Dale

The natural gas industry contributed around $55 billion to Queensland’s economy over a seven-year period, according to a new report released recently by Lawrence Consulting.

In reaction to the findings, APPEA said the report underlines the importance of the sector for jobs and economic wealth creation for the state, particularly in regional areas such as Gladstone, Toowoomba, Roma, Chinchilla and Dalby and highlights that Brisbane is the state’s biggest gas town and relies on the industry for jobs and spending.

Almost $5 billion was spent on wages state-wide during the period with the industry employing around 4600 full-time employees, according to the Economic Impact of Queensland’s Petroleum and Gas sector 2011-18 report.

Beharra Springs into life with a gas discovery

28/10/2019 Posted by Dale

BEACH Energy has reported a new gas discovery at the Beharra Springs Deep-1 well in the Perth Basin and told the ASX that it had delivered a net gas pay of 36 metres across the Kingia sandstone.

Beach, operator and 50% interest holder in the licence with Mitsui E&P holding the balance, said the Kingia Sandstone reservoir was comparable to Waitsia-4 and preliminary interpretation had indicated reservoir porosities of up to 21%.

Wireline activities are continuing, after which the well is expected to be completed for production testing over the coming weeks.

The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,170 metres and intersected a 65-metre thick reservoir interval of the Kingia Sandstone at a depth of 3,935 to 4,000 metres, with estimated net gas pay of 36 metres.