Oil and Gas Industry News













East Africa Shines as Oil Exploration Bright Spot
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -East Africa has become a promising new frontier for oil exploration and major multinationals are jostling for the rights to search for black gold.
Houston American Energy's Stake in Colombia May Pay Off
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Houston American Energy may soon reap big rewards from its well-established presence in Colombia.
Azerbaijan's $6B Chirag Oil Project Sanctioned
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -The $6 billion development plan is the next major step in the ongoing development of the ACG field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
Chevron Drives Upstream Growth with LNG Projects
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Chevron enters the decade with an upstream portfolio of major capital projects that uniquely positions the company for future growth, executives said today at a meeting with financial analysts in New York.
International Oil Cos Must Keep Frontier Spirit - BP Executive
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Ever since national oil companies began asserting their muscle, international oil companies have stayed relevant by pushing back the frontier of hydrocarbon exploration, a BP executive said Tuesday.
Land Rig Review: Land Rig Utilization Trends
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -
Musings: Gas Shales May Change More Than U.S. Energy Markets
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -G. Allen Brooks takes a look at the impact of North American gas shale developments on the domestic natural gas industry.
Oil Pares 8-Week High; Steadies above $81
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -NYMEX crude oil futures maintained a bullish price tag above $81 a barrel Tuesday, despite a stronger dollar and forecasts for an additional build in crude stocks.
Saudi Aramco to Invest $90B in O&G Projects to 2015
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -"Global demand for petroleum will recover very strongly" as population and living standards grow," Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih said Tuesday.
Austin Exploration Encounters Oil at Mississippi Well
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -After encountering oil at the Ellislie Plantation #1 well in Mississippi, Austin Exploration is evaluating core samples and will work towards the production casing and completion of the well.
MSI Wraps Up Major Buried Array Installation in Williston Basin
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -MicroSeismic has completed installation of a Buried Array system in the Williston Basin's Sanish Field for Whiting Oil & Gas Corporation.
OEG Teams With TPS to Advance in AU's Northern Territory
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Oil services group OEG Offshore has expanded into Australia's Northern Territory through its link-up with a Darwin-based fuel handling equipment specialist.
RWE, SOCAR to Jointly Explore in Caspian Sea
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -RWE and SOCAR signed a memorandum of understanding for hydrocarbon exploration and development in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
TGS Continues 2D Seismic Offshore Indonesia
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -TGS confirmed the continuation of its multi-client 2D seismic acquisition program in offshore Indonesia.
Gulf Keystone Confirms Kurdistan Oil Discovery
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -An oil test has successfully confirmed Bijeel-1 as a discovery well on the Akri Bijeel block in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
KFG Petroleum to Spin Bit in Fayette Field This Week
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -KFG Petroleum has staked location to drill a south offset to Spring Hill No. 1 well in the Fayette Field, Jefferson County, Mississippi.
Krescent's BP America A-740 #1 Well Reaches TD
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -The BP America A-740 #1 well has reached total depth on the Hercules Prospect in Texas.
Krescent Spuds McMillan Well on Aquarius Prospect in Texas
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -the McMillan WMRU A-415 #1 well commenced drilling on the March 6, 2010 and is currently drilling ahead.
Leed Deems Ship Shoal A-6 Well a Commercial Success
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Leed Petroleum reported that the evaluation of its recently drilled A-6 well at Ship Shoal Block 201 in the Gulf of Mexico is complete and has tested at a combined rate of 2,153 boepd.
NZ Crown Minerals Spotlights Offshore Sweet Spot
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -A report commissioned by New Zealand's Crown Minerals spotlights the Reinga Basin as one of the most prospective frontier basins in the region.
Signature Sees Significant Potential at South Texas Asset
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Signature's exploration team believes the multiple Frio sands identified at its South Texas asset could contain significant gas and condensate reserves and proposes to drill one to two wells to test the Frio zones.
Statoil Ups Ante in Ultra-Deepwater St. Malo Development
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Statoil has increased its working interest in the Union-operated St. Malo development to 21.5% by exercising its preferential rights on a proposed sale of Devon's share in the development.
Talisman Gets Go-Ahead to Drill North Sea Well
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Talisman has received consent to conduct exploration drilling in the southern North Sea using the Transocean Winner semisub.
Black Dragon Updates on EOR Operations at Humble Project
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Black Dragon's Chairman and CEO Mr. Scott D. Smith announced perforations are completed and internal tubing has been set on four of the five wells on the Humble Project.
CNOOC, Total to Divvy Up Ugandan Oil Assets
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -CNOOC and Total are each expected to acquire a third of Tullow's oil assets in Uganda.
Oilsands Quest Evaluates Axe Lake Oil Sands Development
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Oilsands Quest is evaluating the potential to develop its Axe Lake oil sands discovery in northwestern Saskatchewan using typical steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology.
CEPA Applauds Federal Govt Changes to Pipeline Projects
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association applauded the federal government's decision to eliminate red tape in pipeline projects which are federally regulated, and replace them with simpler processes that offer improved environmental protection.
Fayetteville Express Pipeline to Transport Shale Gas in Late 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -"The start of construction on FEP marks an exciting milestone for us as this project will ensure that our customers have strategic takeaway capacity out of the Fayetteville Shale," said Luke Fletcher, VP of ETP Interstate Pipeline Division.
FMC Reels in Subsea Contract for Eni's Marulk Field
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -FMC Technologies has signed an agreement with Statoil for the manufacture and supply of subsea production equipment to support the Marulk field, located in the Norwegian Sea.
OPEC's Oil Output on the Rise - Platts Survey
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -OPEC's crude oil production rose to 29.31 million barrels per day (b/d) in February, an increase of 60,000 (b/d) from an estimated January level of 29.25 million b/d.
Shell, Technip-Samsung JV Seal Prelude FLNG Deals
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Shell signed two contracts with the Technip-Samsung consortium for the Prelude floating LNG project off the coast of Western Australia.
Suncor Reports Oil Sands Production for February
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Suncor Energy's oil sands production during February averaged approximately 211,000 barrels per day.
Vegas O&G to Prep Fourth Al-Amir Appraisal for Production
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -The Al-Amir SE-5 appraisal well has been successfully drilled and production tested in the Al-Amir Development Lease in the onshore North West Gemsa Concession in Egypt.
Clayton Williams Reviews Drilling Ops, Ups 2010 Capex
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Clayton Williams Energy provided a review of its ongoing developmental drilling programs in the Permian Basin and Austin Chalk, two of its core oil-producing areas, for 2009 and its outlook for 2010.
Crosslands Energy Mulls Oilfield Service Acquisition
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Crosslands Energy announced it has been negotiating to acquire a 20-year old Texas-based oilfield services company which also has some interests in oil and gas production.
EnerMech Builds 2 Bulk Storage Units at Aberdeen HQ
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -EnerMech has invested 300,000 in constructing two bulk storage buildings at its Aberdeen headquarters.
Genoil Shuffles Board of Directors
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Genoil announced recent changes to its Board of Directors.
Missing AGL Executive Found Deceased in New Orleans
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Sequent Energy Management President Douglas N. Schantz was found deceased yesterday after apparently falling accidentally into the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
OQI Welcomes New Chief Reservoir Engineer
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -OQI has hired Allison Aherne as its new chief reservoir engineer. Additionally, OQI has recently added to its technical staff in geophysics, geology and reservoir engineering.
OTC Recognizes Expro's Wireless Safety Valve System
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Expro has won an Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) "Spotlight on New Technology" award for its innovative FlowCAT Wireless Safety Valve System.
Schlumberger Snaps Ups Seismic Services Provider
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Schlumberger has acquired Nexus Geosciences, which will become a part of the WesternGeco business unit.
Spectrum Upgrades 3D Depth Imaging Technology
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Spectrum has upgraded its seismic data processing technology with Tsunami's 3D anisotropic Kirchhoff Pre-Stack Depth Migration and 3D Grid Tomography model building software.
Tidewater Promotes New Executives
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -Tidewater promoted Matthew A. Mancheski to Vice President-Chief Information Officer and Chief Strategic Planning Officer and Jeffrey M. Platt to Chief Operations Officer.
2H Offshore Appoints New VP of Engineering
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -2H Offshore has named Mike Campbell Vice President of Engineering.
Adira Energy Strengthens Executive & Technical Team
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Adira Energy announced that Mr. Ohad Marani has been appointed Co-Chairman, Moshe Polity has been appointed as Chief Geophysicist and Greg Embery has been appointed Vice President of Geology of the Company.
BP Alaska Awards Supply Chain Mgmt Services Contract
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Advanced Supply Chain International and BP Exploration (Alaska) have signed a new contract for supply chain management services.
Cobalt Taps Ocean Monarch for North Platte Prospect
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Cobalt has executed a Rig Assignment Agreement with Anadarko providing for the assignment to Cobalt of Diamond Offshore's Ocean Monarch semisub.
Denbury, Encore Get Green Light to Merge
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Denbury Resources and Encore Acquisition Company jointly announced that they have received the requisite stockholder approval to merge Encore with and into Denbury.
Energy & Technology Signs MOU to Establish UAE Facility
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Energy & Technolog has signed an MOU with GIBCA Petroleum Services to establish a facility in the UAE in the near future.
Ferguson Modular Welcomes New Chief Operating Officer
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Ferguson Modular has appointed a new Chief Operating Officer to lead its Accommodation Support Vessel (ASV) division.
FMC's Offshore Technology Shines at OTC
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -FMC Technologies has received the 2010 Spotlight on New Technology Award by the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).
Friendly Energy Exploration Spins Off Drilling Subsidiary
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Friendly Energy Exploration has created a wholly owned subsidiary called Friendly Energy Drilling Inc.
Jacobs Bags Service Contract for Canadian LNG Facility
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Jacobs Engineering Group received a two-year contract from Canaport LNG for the provision of maintenance and related services at the company's LNG Terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
Petrobras Contracts Deep Sea Supply's Vessels
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Deep Sea Supply announced that the vessels Sea Otter and Sea Marten have been awarded 3 years time charter contracts with Petrobras for operations in Brazil.
RigNet Sets Up Shop in Marcellus Shale Region
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -RigNet recently opened a service center in Williamsport, Pennsylvania under the management of RigNet's onshore area manager, Ricky Begnaud.
Saudi Aramco Awards Service Contract to PCS
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -PCS was awarded a three-year, multi-million-dollar contract to provide casing & tubing running services as well as pick up and lay down services for Saudi Aramco.
Skymira Implements RIS for Nat. Gas Construction Services Co
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Skymira has commenced implementation of a Remote Information System for J. Irwin Company, a natural gas construction services firm based in Paige, Texas.
Sonatrach to Deploy Pipeline Software from Energy Solutions Int'l
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Energy Solutions International announced that Sonatrach will deploy PipelineManager and PipelineStudio advanced software applications on three 549-km parallel pipelines transporting natural gas in the Hassi R'mei and Oued Saf Saf pipeline corridor.
Triton Unveils New Subsea Technology at Oceanology
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Triton Group will unveil a trio of new developments at the Oceanology conference and exhibition in London today.
Woodside: Pluto LNG Workers Unexposed to Asbestos
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 -Woodside reported that workers at the Pluto LNG Project near Karratha have not been exposed to asbestos, despite some claims to the contrary.