Former BG chief sets up LNG business
The former chief operating officer of BG Group, Martin J Houston, has launched an LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) business. Parallax Energy announced the launch of its worldwide headquarters in Houston this week.
Gas
Ophir Energy makes Gabon gain
Oil and gas explorer Ophir Energy has signed two further production sharing contracts for blocks in Gabon. The new blocks, A3 and A4, are located near to Ophir’s existing acreage in the North Gabon basin.
Oil discovery near Gatwick
Oil has been discovered at the Horse Hill-1 well, which sits just 3km from Gatwick airport in the Weald Basin. UK Oil and Gas, which owns a 20% working interest in the development, said preliminary evaluation of the electric logs has shown an oil accumulation in the conventional Upper Jurassic Portland Sandstone.
Diamond Offshore wins charter contracts
Diamond Offshore Drilling has won a number of long-term charter contracts from US independent Hess for a pair of drillships. The Houston-based company also announced plans to retire and scrap six of its mid-water submersible rigs, including the Ocean Epoch, Ocean New Era and Ocean Whittington.
Penn West sells $355million of core assets
Penn West Petroleum has signed an agreement to sell a number of its non-core assets in Canada for $355million to a private company. The assets in south central Alberta are currently producing around 7,500BOE (Barrels of Oil Equivalent) per day.
TGS sees only slight dip in Q3 profits
Norwegian oil and gas geoscience specialists TGS have seen a slight dip in their third quarter profits compared with 2013. The company’s net revenues were $190million, $1million less since the same time last year.
PGS profits slashed in Q3
Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) has seen its profits slashed in the third quarter as it suffered from a weak seismic market and falling oil prices.
Baron Oil makes unexpected discovery in Peru
South American focused Baron Oil has won approval from state-owned Perupetro to convert its third work phase from seismic into a drilling obligation after additional hydrocarbon discoveries. The Peruvian oil and gas provider also approved the company’s Force Majeure (FM) clause, which will be invoked on Block Z-34 in the country.
Kenya campaign bears fruit for Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil has discovered hydrocarbon shows at its Kodos-1 exploration well in Kenya. It has been undertaking a series of exploration and appraisal activities in Blocks 10BB and 13T onshore in East Africa.
Companies strike merger deal
Donnycreek Energy has entered into an arm’s length agreement with Contact Exploration to merge and create a new corporation. The two companies will become Kicking Horse Energy and the merger will consolidate the interests of Donnycreek in Alberta, Canada.
BP awards contracts for $12billion LNG expansion
Oil giant BP has awarded engineering contracts for its $12billion expansion of its Tangguh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development in Indonesia. The contracts are for the onshore Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) to a number of partners including PT Tripatra Engineers and Contractors.
PetroMaroc makes “significant” gas find in Morocco
An independent oil and gas consulting firm has confirmed there is “significant” gas potential at the Kechoula structure in Morocco. GLJ Petroleum consultants carried out the evaluation work for PetroMaroc of the Undiscovered Petroleum Initially in Place (UPIIP)
BHP records 9% increase in production
Australian oil and gas giant BHP Billiton has reported a 9% increase in production during its third quarter results for 2014. Petroleum production increased by 7% to 67.4MMboe (Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent) as onshore US liquids volumes rose by 49% to 11.5 MMboe.
Interoil strikes hydrocarbons in Papua New Guinea
Well testing will now be carried out at Raptor-1 to determine the hydrocarbon type, column, flow rate and reservoir quality. Raptor-1 is 12km west of Interoil’s Elk-Antelope gas field.
JKX uncovers potential gas signs in Ukraine
JKX Oil and Gas has seen potential gas signs at the Elizavetovskoye field in Ukraine. The company said the testing of well E-303 had indicated a gross pay of 167 metres, spread over eight reservoir horizons.
Total will continue to “move forward” following death of CEO
French oil giant Total said it will continue to "move froward" following the death of chief executive officer Christophe de Margerie.
BP strikes deal for EOR technology
Oil giant BP has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s offshore company ADMA-OPCO to develop a new technology for enhance oil recovery (EOR). Senior officials from the company recently visited BP’s EOR laboratory in Sunbury and research centre in Pangbourne.
Bad weather hampers work at oilfield
Bad weather is continuing to hamper seismic recording by Greenfield Petroleum in the Gum Deniz oilfield in Azerbaijan. The company said conditions have affected work on a 3D survey over the field and the area recorded is now likely to drop to 100km due to the approaching winter season.
Speakers for Israel oil and gas conference confirmed
Energy experts from across the globe will join forces in Israel for an oil and gas exhibition. The Universal Oil and Gas 2014 (UOG 2014) is expected to be the largest event of its kind in the country, and aims to create a platform for collaboration and partnership in the Israeli oil and gas industry.
University joins carbon capture partnership
A Scottish university has joined the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) research partnership in the UK. Scientists from the University of Strathclyde will join fellow researchers within the Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) partnership, providing expertise in areas including carbon dioxide transport and environment impact analysis.
Halliburton reports profit jump
Oil giant Halliburton has boosted its income for the third quarter of the year by $1billion, which is an increase from the previous quarter. The company announced their total revenue of $8.7billion was up by 16% on the same time last year.
Platform hit by engine failure
A rig owned by Norwegian driller Songa offshore has suffered failure on one of its four engines, while undergoing survey work in Scotland.
Tethys Petroleum faces battle to remove board directors
Tethys Petroleum will face a shareholders vote to remove the majority of its directors, the company has announced. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the company will be held after the board received a requisition on behalf Pope Management LLC.
Gas talks with Russia to be held in Brussels
Gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will be held in Brussels later this month. The Russian Ministry of Energy made the announcement after a prolonged period of US and European sanctions were imposed on the country.
DOT: End of the “gold-plate” technology era
A strategy manager for French-engineering company Technip said the “gold-plating” was coming off technology design in the oil and gas industry. Scott Campbell, strategy manager for the company’s UK business unit, said the market downturn would likely remain for the next year.