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Geo students scoop epic Paris prize

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THE city of Light became a dream come true for two geoscience students who had never met before this year’s ASEG-PESA-AIG Conference, but teamed up to win a trip to Paris to attend next year’s 79th Geophysical Conference . On her first visit to Adelaide, 22-year-old Perth honours student in petroleum geology, Victoria Seesaha, and 22-year-old Dennis Conway, who is doing a geophysics PHD at the University of Adelaide, pulled off a stunning one point win in the student quiz night...

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Past reflects promise of exciting exploration future

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PESA President Steve Mackie drew on the archives of exploration history in Australia to strike a note of optimism in sobering times at the opening of the ASEG-PESA-AIG Conference in Adelaide. Addressing delegates at the opening of the 25th conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Dr Mackie said the event theme, Interpreting the Past, Understanding the Future, was appropriate when it came to reflecting previous legacies of discoveries in Australia. “Going back 60-years the...

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MEO sets spud target date for Cuba

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MEO Australia is targeting early 2017 as a spud date for Cuba’s Block 9, taking its cue from Canada’s Sherritt International’s identifications in adjacent Bock 10, as it ponders a high impact exploration well in New Zealand and seeks to complete farm out processes in Australia. The Melbourne-based explorer said following assessment of the Lower Sheet play, continuing assessment of the remaining two plays, the Upper Sheet and Shallow Tertiary plays, was progressing as planned....

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Light at the end of jobless tunnel for Geos?

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The jobs outlook for Australia’s geoscientists has shown the first small signs of improvement in two years with the number of professional geoscientists in Australia seeking work or unable to secure satisfactory self-employment, falling in the June quarter compared with the preceding period. This is the first sign of any improvement in the sector – hard hit by the retreating mining resources boom – since September 2014 but the outlook remains dire with higher numbers looking to...

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BP wins deadlines extension for big Bight plan

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NOPSEMA has granted BP an extension to lodge a third and final environmental plan to drill the Stromlo-1 well in the Great Australian Bight. The submission is now expected to be lodged by August 31 and BP now faces a race against time to begin drilling the Stromlo-1 well in the calmer seas of summer following assessment of the supermajor’s game plan and safeguards by the offshore regulator. BP’s plan will have to be watertight as the $1 billion exploration program it hopes to expedite...

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Woodside goes on African safari in Senegal.

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Woodside has bought ConocoPhillips’ exploration stake in Senegal, acquiring a 35% stake in the SNE and FAN deepwater oil discoveries and the option of becoming operator, for US$430 million. The deal gives the Perth-based company exposure to a potential 560 million bbl oil discovery, which Woodside appears to have picked up for a significant discount at about US$2.30 per barrel to the US$7 per barrel valuation of RBC Capital Markets. Melbourne-based FAR Energy, which holds a 15% stake in...

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BP invests in Bunker facility for Bight program

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BRITISH Petroleum has signalled its commitment to Australia by announcing a multi-million dollar investment in infrastructure establishing a new fuel bunkering facility in Port Adelaide’s inner harbour. BP and Flinders Ports said the $8 million facility would support operations for BP’s planned $1 billion Great Australian Bight program which, subject to approval will see the first two wells drilled from late 2016, by providing safe, efficient and simultaneous refuelling of vessels and...

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UKOG secures two-year retention for Horse Hill-1

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UK Oil & Gas has retained its leases for the ‘Gatwick Gusher’, in southern England, which will enable the London-based company to continue production testing of the eagerly watched Horse Hill-1 oil discovery. The Horse Hill partners, also encompassing UK Oil & Gas Investments and Solo Oil, have retained PEDL137 and PEDL246 lease areas for a further two years by the UK Oil and Gas Authority. Horse Hill-1 has flowed 40 deg API of sweet crude at 1360 bopd from two bands of fractured...

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PESA WA Branch – 2016 Meritorious Service Award

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This year the WA Branch is proud to announce that four members have been awarded the Meritorious Services Awards (MSA) for their contributions to Western Australian Basins Symposium (WABS). Their efforts are reflected in a series of volumes that capture geological features of hydrocarbons findings in WA as well geological concepts currently used for exploration in WA basins. The recipients of this year's PESA MSA are Dr Myra Keep, Dr Don Poynton, Ed Kopsen and Dr Steve Moss. It is also...

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CGG wins prestigious award in Paris

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CGG Processing Manager Singapore, Joe Zhou, has won the EAGE 2016 Guido Bonarelli Award in recognition of the best oral presentation for his paper entitled ‘Unlocking the full potential of broadband data with advanced processing technology, a case study from NWS Australia’. The paper was co-authored with Peter Chia from Shell Australia and Jingyu Li, Henry Ng, Sergey Birdus, Keat Huat Teng, Phan Ying Peng, Jason Sun and He Yi from CGG and presented during the 77th EAGE Conference &...

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