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Victoria’s gas appliance bans rob consumers of choice and competition

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Victoria’s proposal to phase out some gas appliances in existing connected homes and businesses ignores the fundamentals of the energy transition and robs consumers of choice and competition.

Australia’s oil and gas industry today welcomed news that homes and businesses would not have to replace popular gas stovetops with electrical appliances under the state’s net zero road map.

However, the sector has called for the State Government to reverse a new edict forcing residents and businesses to switch gas heating and gas hot water appliances to electric at significant cost.

Australian Energy Producers Victorian Director Peter Kos said gas had been a critical, popular and reliable fuel for millions of Victorian homes and businesses for decades.

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New Zealand Sanctions Gas Import Terminal and Commits to Rescinding Exploration Ban ASAP

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The New Zealand Parliament passing a law facilitating construction of a LNG terminal to provide a flexible fuel supply for shortages in dry years has been accompanied by a pledge to rescind the Labour Party’s 2018 ban on new fossil fuel exploration.

In spite of the new National-led Government’s determination to revitalise the New Zealand gas sector, it will take years for any new supply to come online which has complicated the issue of where the yet to be constructed regasification terminal will be located.

The crisis came to a head after soaring electricity prices due to a shortage of local gas and low water levels in hydro dams forced some businesses to close, sending costs to an all-time record high of $55/gigajoule in early September.

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Norge Transocean

OMV Makes new Gas Discovery Offshore Norway

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OMV Norge, a Norwegian subsidiary of Austrian OMV, has made a new gas discovery in a wildcat well off the coast of Norway with the Transocean semi-submersible rig Norge.

OMV, is the operator of PL 1194, and drilled the wildcat well 6605/6-1 S in the Norwegian Sea targeting the Haydn/Monn exploration prospects, which led to a discovery with estimated recoverable volumes between 30 and 140 million boe.

Located 300 km west of Norway in water depths of 1,064 meters, the gas discovery is located approximately 65km from the Polarled pipeline and the Aasta Hansteen field.

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PESA Lunch Digests the Year in Review and Ponders Future ones to come

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The PESA WA Branch hosted a successful luncheon on August 15, 2024, at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth.The event began with welcoming remarks from Matthew Docherty, followed by a significant announcement from PESA President Helen Debenham, who proudly revealed the winner ofthe 2024 Survey. This annual survey is a testament to PESA’s dedication to recognizing excellence and innovation within the petroleum exploration and geosciences field.

The highlight was a presentation by Adam Craig, Principal Advisory at RISC Advisory.

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Graforce gas flaring

Premium energy basins: Focus on Emissions Reduction as Oil and Gas Demand Persists

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Despite the accelerating energy transition, oil and gas will remain central to the global energy mix for the foreseeable future as the key hydrocarbon sources continue to satisfy global primary energy demand, which is projected to exceed 650 exajoules (EJ) in the coming years. Rystad Energy estimates that by 2030, more than 75% of total demand will be met by fossil fuels, with emissions climbing as a result. A significant portion of these emissions will originate from upstream activities, particularly hydrocarbon extraction and gas flaring.

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SA/NT Serves up a Smorgasbord of ‘Highly Recommended’ Lunches with lots to Chew Over

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Under the brilliant leadership of the PESA SA/NT Branch Vice President, Paul Strong, 2024 has seen the regular monthly lunchtime meetings continue with a smorgasbord of topics which are highly recommended for other branches and webinars.

July 2024 – Markus Häring,who recently returned to Adelaide to retire, spoke on Exploration for radioactive waste repositories near urban areas.  Safe long term storage of nuclear waste is required even in countries without nuclear power plants. Switzerland produces about one third of its power with nuclear energy.

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Viridien Commences Next-Generation Sparse OBN Project in the Gulf of Mexico

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Viridien has announced the start of the Laconia 3D OBN multi-client seismic program in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Covering 330 OCS blocks in the Garden Banks and Keathley Canyon protraction areas, the project is supported by industry funding. Acquisition started in July 2024 with the delivery of initial products scheduled for Q2 2025.

To improve the resulting images and subsurface information, Viridien said this survey will record extra-long-offset full-azimuth OBN data and utilize the Sercel TPSTM (Tuned Pulsed Source), an innovative environmentally friendly low-frequency marine seismic source.

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Melbana Energy talks Amistad-1 success to sell-out crowd

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Melbana Energy’s Duncan Lockhart presented to an enthusiastic crowd of energygeoscientists (and prospective Melbana Energy shareholders) at the PESA (Qld) Branch’sMay 2024 technical luncheon and Annual General Meeting.

Duncan presented the results of Melbana Energy’s Amistad-1 discovery well, whichrecovered oil from three separate reservoirs and flowed >1900bopd from Unit 1B in 2023.Duncan also walked the luncheon attendees through the company’s next planned steps inCuba, including plans for a 400km 2 3D seismic survey and potential paths to market for therecovered resource.

Word of the substantial interest in Melbana Energy’s talk spread quickly, with Duncan quicklybeing approached by enthusiastic members of the PESA NSW Branch to take hispresentation on the road.

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Ford Goes back to the Fossil Fuel Future Putting Dorado in the Spotlight

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Ford’s announcement in August that it would be shifting its focus from all electric vehicles to hybrid models has changed the gears of the world’s energy dynamics with other carmakers hinting at the possibility of adopting similar strategies.

“As the global leader in pickup trucks, we are future proofing this valuable franchise across all sizes with hybrid, electric and other electric propulsion giving individual customers and businesses choice based on how they used their trucks,” explained Ford President and CEO Jim Farley.

In the process, Ford will reduce its annual capital expenditure on electric technology from 40% to 30% with hybrid vehicles delaying the carmaker’s next generation electric F-150 by 18 months to 2027, when the first all-electric Ford Ranger is set to be launched.

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Queensland’s Kat Gioseffi receives PESA Meritorious Service Award

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PESA (Qld) Branch committee member and Santos Geologist, Katherine (Kat) Gioseffi, was the successful recipient of a PESA Meritorious Service Award (MSA) for 2024 in recognition of her unwavering passion for energy geoscience and her dedication to increasing society participation among early-career graduates.

Kat, who received her MSA at the Australian Energy Producers Conference and Exhibition in Perth in May, was nominated by the PESA (Qld) Branch in recognition of her steadfast pursuit of recruiting and retaining students and young career professionals to the upstream resources industry.

Kat commenced her support of PESA in 2014 as a student member, during which time she was the QUT recipient of the John Draper Award in recognition of her high academic achievement in the fields of sedimentology and stratigraphy.

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