Marine seismic acquisition firm Polarcus has been awarded a 4D marine seismic acquisition project offshore West Africa. Polarcus announced the contract award but did not disclose financial details or reveal who the client was. The marine seismic player said that the project is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2017 and it would run for approximately one month.The project represents Polarcus' second in West Africa since the start of 2017. In early January it announced a letter of intent for an offshore broadband 3D marine seismic acquisition project in the region.
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TGS back to black in fourth quarter
Multi-client geoscience data provider TGS returned to profit during the fourth quarter of 2016, reversing a substantial loss compared to the corresponding quarter of 2015. TGS reported a profit of US $23.9 million for 4Q 2016, as opposed to a US$121.5 million loss in the prior-year quarter. The company’s revenues increased to US$164.7 for the quarter, significantly up from US$131.7 million in Q4 2015. TGS said its backlog had decreased by 65% to US$51.2 million, compared to 4Q 2015, mainly as a result of high production on the Gigante projects offshore Mexico which was completed during the quarter.
PESA to fly exploration flag at AOG.
PESA will be hosting track sessions at the Australian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference (AOG) at the Perth Convention Centre on Friday, February 24. Under the theme of, Exploration for oil and gas: New techniques and concepts, chair Andres Gongora, Immediate Past-President WA Branch, will facilitate discussion after three leading industry professionals have made their presentations. Ralf Opperman, director OPPtimal Resource Solutions, will open the session at 2.30pm with his presentation entitled, A new dimension in fault recognition from seismic implications for the exploration and development of resources. At 3.
Statoil strikes gas near Valemon field.
Statoil Petroleum has made a gas discovery after drilling an exploration well at the Valemon field in the North Sea, two years after Valemon came on stream. “This is an important discovery for the further development of Valemon,” Gunnar Nakken, Statoil’s senior vice president for the operations west cluster, which covers the company’s Bergen-operated fields, said. "These new reserves can be put on stream immediately and will add considerable value. The discovery proves that there are still good opportunities in the North Sea, an area we know well, and its infrastructure is extensive," says Nakken.
Spectrum starts 6,000km Multi-Client 2D survey in Potiguar Basin
Spectrum, in partnership with BGP, has announced the commencement of a 6,000 km Multi-Client 2D survey offshore Brazil in the Potiguar Basin. The new acquisition program is an extension of Spectrum's 2013 Potiguar phase 1 survey as the company said it continues to add to an extensive equatorial margin database offshore Brazil, which now totals more than 110,000 kilometers of modern 2D data and 11,300km2 of new 3D broadband data. The survey ties the Pitu discovery - announced by Petrobras in December 2013 in block POT-M-855.
Now Greenpeace targets Amazon exploration
Greenpeace has launched a new campaign targeting exploration operations in Brazil with that stated intention of protecting the newly discovered Amazon coral reef, which was discovered in April last year. The environmental activist group charged that the reef, which could be a new marine biome comprising about 9500km2 of formations, primarily giant sponges and rhodolith, would be threatened by oil exploration. Total and BP, which was also in the activist crosshairs before it abandoned its planned $1 billion exploration in the Great Australian Bight, have flagged the mouth of the Amazon River for exploratory drilling.
Hess write down puts Equus in limbo
US Independent Hess Corporation has taken the decision to write down the full value of the Equus development by $933 million. The New York-headquartered company has revealed its focus will switch to the Bakken Shale, the Valhall field in Norway and the Liza field, offshore Guyana, leaving Equus and joint venture partner Woodside with the challenge on how to expedite the Western Australian offshore discovery. Sixteen wells were drilled in the prospect over the past six years, resulting in 14 gas discoveries in WA-70, WA-390-P and WA-474-P.
Oil price signals a hopefully happier 2017
THE oil industry welcomed the start of a new year a lot more upbeat than a year ago, with recovering crude oil prices over 80 per cent higher than in the corresponding 2016 period. Although there were doubts that OPEC and other nations would fully follow through on agreed cutbacks to further stimulate the price of oil, crude started the week on January 16 with Brent trading at US$55, US West Texas US$52 and Tapis at US$56.
WGP Group wins Conoco seismic contract for North Sea
Marine seismic service provider WGP Group , a subsidiary of Thalassa Holdings, has won a contract from ConocoPhillips to acquire seismic data in the North Sea. The two month shoot on the Eldfisk field is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2017. The Eldfisk oilfield was discovered in 1970 and approved for development in 1975. Production started in 1979 and the field also contains some gas. Eldfisk is one of the largest fields on the Norwegian continental shelf and the second largest of three producing fields in the Greater Ekofisk area.
APPEA red flags continuing trend of falling exploration
APPEA says the results from the latest rounds of bidding for offshore petroleum exploration acreage, released recently, confirm a deepening problem for Australia. “The results announced today will surprise and alarm people across the industry. With just one bid in the first round of releases in 2016, offshore exploration is in dire straits,” said APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts. “We are witnessing something more fundamental than just a passing, cyclical downturn. Offshore exploration has been in steady decline for many years, despite strong commodity prices until recently. “We are already feeling the effects of this decline.