West Perth-based Otto Energy has acquired the remaining 50% working interest in the VR 232 license located in the US Gulf of Mexico from Byron Energy. Otto announced that the lease is subject to a 12.5% Federal Government royalty and the lease rental is US$31,681 per annum. The lease expires in June 2023. VR 232 is adjacent to South Marsh Island Block 71 (SM 71) oil field and production platform, which is operated by Byron with partner Otto holding a 50% interest. The platform has capacity to produce up to 5,000 bopd from up to six wells.
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APPEA applauds NT Budget for ‘vital role of gas investment’
The Association of Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) has responded to the recently released Northern Territory Budget, saying the blueprint ‘highlighted the key role the oil and gas industry will play in the long-term growth of the Territory’s economy’. ‘Treasurer Nicole Manison recommitted to the Government’s Gas Strategy which outlines a five-point plan to develop the NT’s substantial offshore and onshore gas resources to create new jobs and opportunities for downstream gas-based manufacturing,’ APPEA said in a statement.
TGS acquires Spectrum in major merger deal
TGS will acquire Spectrum in a deal which has been announced as a merger set to create a “leading provider of 2D and 3D seismic data”. This follows an agreement of shareholders of both companies, triggering a transaction which is expected to be completed as a statutory merger pursuant to Norwegian corporate law between TGS and Spectrum. Under the terms of the agreement, Spectrum shareholders will received 0.28 shares for one Spectrum share in addition to a cash consideration of US$0.
Santos spuds appraisal well at Dorado
Santos has started drilling the Dorado-2 appraisal well in WA-437-P offshore Western Australia. Dorado is operated by Santos with Carnarvon Petroleum as a partner with a 20% interest. Carnarvon Petroleum said the Noble Tom Prosser jack-up drilling rig had been mobilized from the Corvus-2 well location to the Dorado-2 well on April 26. After arrival at the Dorado-2 location, located 2.2 km from the original Dorado-1 well, the rig had concluded the ready to operate process and had drilled the surface hole and installed the surface casing.
Shearwater set to shoot seismic at SNE field
Shearwater has won a contract to conduct a 3D seismic survey over the SNE field offshore Senegal. This was revealed in a first quarter update recently by FAR, which said the high-definition 3D marine seismic survey contract was awarded to improve reservoir definition supporting SNE well positioning and optimization. FAR said the survey was scheduled to begin in June as part of the SNE field development encompassing the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture, which is operated by Woodside and includes JV-partners Cairn Energy, FAR Limited, and Petrosen.
EMEA leads oil and gas contract awards with 569 contracts in Q1 2019
In Q1 2019, the oil and gas industry reported 1242 contracts, of which 1178 were awarded contracts, according to data and analytics company, GlobalData. EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) recorded the most contracts with 569 contracts, representing around 48% of the total awarded contracts in Q1 2019, followed by the Americas region with 366 contracts, accounting for 31% of the total awarded contracts. The company’s latest report states that the upstream sector reported 73% of the total awarded contracts, with 862 contracts.
UK Regulator Authorizes Deployment of Sercel’s QuietSea Marine Mammal Monitoring System
Sercel has announced that ‘successful deployment’ of its QuietSeaTM Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) system has been extended to the UK, following approval by the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) of its use for a seismic survey operated by CGG in waters off the Shetland Islands. QuietSea is a fully integrated PAM system that Sercel claims ‘overcomes many of the limitations of its present-day competitors. The sensors are designed to fully integrate with seismic acquisition or navigation systems, and are incorporated with the hydrophones in the Sentinel streamer.
PESA WA April Evening Talk – Rosine Riera
Rosine Riera’s talk outlining her current PhD thesis analyzing the Oligo-Miocene subtropical carbonate overburden of the Northern Carnarvon Basin was very well attended. This was PESA WA’s third evening talk for 2019 and was held at “The George” on Tuesday 30th April. Many thanks to Discover Geoscience for sponsoring the evening and to the University of Western Australia for allowing Rosine to present to PESA WA. Perth’s first cold evening for the season saw pre-talk drinks and networking at the bar welcomed by attendees.
CGG’s Dan Hampson and Brian Russell Honoured at the GSH-SEG Spring Symposium
Dan Hampson and Brian Russell from GeoSoftware, part of CGG’s Geoscience Division were honoured for their groundbreaking achievements in geophysics by the Geophysical Society of Houston and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists at their jointly sponsored 2019 GSH-SEG Spring Symposium and Exhibition in Houston. The theme of this year’s GSH-SEG Symposium, held from 16-17 April in Houston, USA, was ‘The Resurgence of Seismic Inversion’. Brian Russell spoke at the event about the ‘History of Inversion’ while Jon Downton, Senior Research Advisor for CGG GeoSoftware, gave a technical talk on the latest innovations in ‘Machine Learning Inversion’.
QLD gas delivers for local jobs
South-west Queensland natural gas from Senex Energy’s Project Atlas will fuel more than 200 Queensland manufacturing jobs in a national first. Mines and Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham congratulated gas producer Senex on sealing the first supply contract from Project Atlas with south-east Queensland manufacturer CSR Limited. In an Australian first, Project Atlas in the Surat Basin is delivering Queensland gas quarantined for sale to the Australian market only. Senex expects first gas production later this year.