CGGVeritas completes survey

CGGVeritas has announced the completion and delivery of the Fast-Trax 3-D prestack depth migration (PSDM) from its first wide-azimuth (WAZ) 3-D multiclient program covering 476 lease blocks in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico. Data will be available for the upcoming Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale in March.

KOC selects Geolog

Earth Decision Sciences FZ-LLC, an affiliate of Paradigm, has reached a major agreement with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for the purchase of Paradigm Geolog petrophysical analysis software licenses to be used for companywide petrophysical E&P operations. This contract extends the mutual commitment Paradigm and KOC have to support consumers with available energy.

Mirage gets certification

Ultera Systems Inc., a provider of high-performance virtual tape libraries, has achieved full certification from ARAM Systems Ltd. under which the Calgary-based company will support the Ultera Mirage Data Recorder (MDR) with the ARAM Aries system. The MDR is designed for real-time data acquisition in mission-critical operations where repeating the test becomes cost- or time-prohibitive. It eliminates problems associated with traditional tape drives by replacing tape drives and cartridges with two high-performance disk drives in removable canisters.

EMGS to perform scanning survey

Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) announced today that it will perform an extensive multiclient electromagnetic (EM) scanning survey to search for commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Krishna-Godavari basin, ahead of India's 7th New Exploration Licensing Policy round (NELP 7). At 772 sq miles (2,000 sq km), the survey is the first of its kind.

The survey is fully pre-funded by India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Limited (ONGC). Processed data will be available for licensing to other potential bidders during India's biggest yet auction of offshore blocks, which concludes in April 2008. EMGS will perform the survey in cooperation with India's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

RIL gets Shell, BP contracts

Reservoir Imaging Ltd (RIL), a 4-D seismic software services consultancy based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has announced the award of major contracts from Shell UK Ltd and BP for projects in the North Sea during 2008. The company will be advising on the implementation of all aspects of these 4-D seismic surveys from initial design and planning through to quality control (QC), either on board the vessels or remotely from onshore.

Drilling

New facility in Dubai

Baker Hughes has opened a major new facility in Dubai, UAE. The new center serves as a resource for the company’s growing business in the Middle East and the entire Eastern Hemisphere. It is located on a 25-acre site in the Techno Park at the Jebel Ali Free Zone, the Baker Hughes complex includes the Middle East Asia Pacific (MEAP) Region Headquarters and the Eastern Hemisphere Education Center, as well as an operations building and a manufacturing plant. More than 800 full-time employees will work at the site.

Ultra-Deepwater drillship secured

Pride International, Inc. is continuing the expansion of its deepwater fleet following a multiyear contract award from a subsidiary of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) for the construction and operation of an advanced-capability, ultra-deepwater drillship in support of Petrobra’s international exploration and development drilling projects. The ultra-deepwater drillship will be constructed on a fixed-price basis with an expected delivery date of the first quarter of 2011. The multiyear drilling contract allows Petrobras to elect a firm contract term of at least five-years and up to seven years by the end of January of 2010. The contract also provides for a fixed daily rate and a performance bonus of up to 17% within a five year term or 15% in a six- or seven-year term. Estimated revenues for the contract are expected to range from US $916 million to $1.24 billion, and include the operating day rate. The full amount of the performance bonus and other contractually guaranteed payments are will range from $41 million to $49 million. The new drillship is the company’s third ultra-deepwater drillship construction project following previously announced decisions in 2007 to construct one unit and to purchase from another party a second unit in the early stage of construction. It is designed for drilling depths of up to 12,000 ft (3,660 m) with a total vertical drilling depth of up to 40,000 ft (12,200 m).

Production

White Rose contract awarded

Aker Kvaerner will support Husky’s operation of White Rose FPSO offshore Canada. The five-year contract is worth US $75 million with options for 15 renewals of one year each. The work includes engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance support to the White Rose FPSO in addition to modifications, campaign maintenance services, field development studies and planning and subsea support.

Industry record set

According to petroleum economist Karr Ingham, author of the Texas Petro Index, the state’s exploration and production economy rose to new heights in 2007. Total production grew by 8.1% last year with a rig count that approached 900, which was more than a 10% increase over 2006. Higher oil prices are credited for the boost although most drilling in the state, 63% of completions, were for natural gas. Total production value for oil and gas in the state was nearly US $65 billion in 2007. Additionally, employment in the exploration and production arena rose 10% over the previous year.

Pipeline agreement drafted

Russia-based Gazprom will increase the country’s presence in Serbia as a draft pipeline has been agreed upon by the government. The deal includes a pipeline in southern Serbia along with an underground gas storage facility in northern Vojvodina province. The deal also includes the sale of the oil monopoly NIS. Gazprom offered US $595 million for 51% interest in the company.

Contract awarded for US Gulf

Technip was granted a US $300 million contract for installation of two Gulf of Mexico deepwater developments operated by Petrobras. The company will carry out engineering procurement construction and installation work on the operator’s Chinook field in the Walker Ridge area in Gulf of Mexico covering five free-standing hybrid riser systems for the Cascade and Chinook projects. The second deal includes installation of infield flowlines on the Cascade development, and two gas export flowlines. The workscope comprises welding 75 miles (120 km) of 6 and 9-in. steel pipeline, plus design and fabrication of 10 pipeline end terminations and two in-line tee-joints in addition to the installation of associated structures.

TLP hull delivered

South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries completed construction of the hull of the Shenzi TLP (tension-leg platform). The platform is scheduled for service BHP Billiton’s Shenzi field in the Gulf of Mexico. MODEC International LLC was awarded the contract for the project management, design, engineering, procurement, construction and pre-commissioning of the TLP, which is scheduled to be installed in 4,300 ft (1,311 m) of water in the second quarter of 2008. At completion the facility will be capable of processing 100,000 b/d of oil and 50 MMcf/d of gas with first production scheduled for mid-2009.

General

World decline rates slow

Peak oil moved further into the future as a Cambridge Energy Research Associates-IHS Inc. study showed the global decline rate for 400 fields producing more than 300 million b/d of oil is only 4.5%, not the 8% often cited in projections. The study also found 63% of current production comes from fields either build or on the plateau stage of their development. Those fields contribute 59% of world production. For example, Ghawar, the world’s largest field, still is on plateau even though it was discovered in 1948. Large fields build up for an average six years, plateau at 93% of maximum for seven years and decline for more than 20 years, while small fields build to three years, plateau for five years and decline for more than 14 years. In addition, OPEC fields decline at a slower rate than non-OPEC fields and limestone reservoirs (prominent in the Middle East) decline more slowly than sands. Offshore fields decline more quickly than onshore fields. The fields studied produced an average 35 million b/d of oil from 2000 to 2005, or 45% of world production.

Offshore spending climbs

Offshore spending will climb to US $248 billion in 2010 from $193 billion in 2006 as the industry boosts production from the current 43 million boe/d to 43 million boe/d, according to “The World Offshore Oil and Gas Production & Spend Forecast.” The study also showed a trend of start-up smaller companies and national oil companies concentrating on mature offshore regions, while majors go after newer fields in deeper water. Capital expenditures during the next five years will grow from $110 billion to $120 billion, powered by continued high oil and gas prices, but operational spending will climb from $83 billion to $127 billion in the same period, said John Westwood, managing director of Douglas-Westwood. West Africa should show the highest growth in operating expenditures at almost $13 billion in the period. The report renewed price escalation for oil, more demand for services and higher service sector prices. It also expected offshore E&P companies to be more vulnerable to outside economic and political events.

NOCs stake spots on top 10

Petrochina pushed ExxonMobil back to second spot in size among oil companies, while Sinopec rose from 12th to fifth place and Petrobras jumped from 11th to sixth on the PFC Energy 50 company list. The list puts Gazprom in third place followed by Royal Dutch Shell. Seventh place went to BP with Total, BHP Billiton and Chevron filling out the top 10.

Nuclear field pondered

Gazprom management committee member Bogdan Budzulyak, also in charge of the company’s gas transportation, underground storage and utilization branches suggested Russia may need to build three floating nuclear power plants to supply the giant Shtokman gas-condensate field and other fields off the Yamal Peninsula in the Barents Sea. Russian newspapers reported the remark and noted one floating power plant already is being build at Severodvink in Archangel Oblast.

GE plans Hydril purchase

GE Oil & Gas has agreed to buy Tenaris SA’s Hydril Pressure Control equipment business for US $1.12 billion. If completed, the new unit will expand the portfolio beyond the VetcoGray drilling equipment business purchased last year and the company’s existing compression business. Hydril specializes in equipment, including blowout preventers for deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications. Hydril is expected to generate US $400 million in sales in 2008 with a worldwide work force of 750 people.