Companies in the news

Nexen Inc. agreed with Shell Exploration and Production Co. to jointly explore a 1,044 sq mi area of the Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico for natural gas in Niocene reservoirs. At press time, the first well slated to be drilled under the agreement is a test of the Fergana prospect on South Trimbalier 239 and 248 Blocks, about 115 mi south of New Orlelans in 210 ft of water. Nexin will earn 40% interest in Fergana.

Newpark Resources, Inc., has completed its acquisition of Rome-based Ava, S.p.A., a privately owned drilling fluids provider. The transaction was valued at euro 7.5 million to be paid in 6.0 million in cash and 170,704 shares of Newpark common stock.

iXEA and OCEANO Technologies reached a definitive agreement to merge the two firms.

At the company’s annual general meeting in St. James, Barbados, shareholders of Transocean Sedco Forex, Inc., voted to change its name to Transocean Inc.

Marathon’s Bræmar gas and condensate field in the North Sea is unlikely to go onstream as scheduled in 2002. Development options are still being discussed. Bræmer will probably be developed as a single subsea well tied back to Marathon-operated East Brae platform. Recoverable reserves are estimated to be nine million bbl of condensate and 115 Bcfg of gas. Marathon will operate with a 26% interest in the field.

Ødegaard is opening an office in Stavanger, Norway, marking an expansion of the company’s services to the Norwegian oil industry. Meanwhile, Odegard and Rock Solid Images opened their seismic inversion center, based at Rock Solid Images’ Houston office. A full range of seismic reservoir characterization data products and software are now available to North American customers.

Kværner Oilfield Products became a part of Aker Kværner, a new group created through the merger of Aker Maritime and Kværner Oil & Gas.

Helmerich & Payne agreed to spin off its oil and gas division to its shareholders and combine it with Key Production Co., Inc.

Landmark Graphics Corp. and Accenture opened the industry’s first real-time Asset Management Center (AMC) in Houston.

Magic Earth, Inc., has won the Texas Railroad Commission "Chairman’s Award" for its strong commitment to improving the Texas environment and its innovative use of exploration for energy sources.

CMS Oil and Gas Co. signed a definitive agreement with XTO Energy of Fort Worth, Texas, for the sale of its coalbed methane holdings in the Powder River basin of Wyoming and Montana for $101 million. CMS will realize a $20 million pre-tax gain on the transaction.

Friede Goldman Halter, Inc., sold the assets of Friede Goldman Newfoundland, its Canadian subsidiary located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador Canada, to Peter Kiewit Sons Co. Ltd.

Victor Equipment Co. opened a new and improved Customer Care Center within its Denton, Texas, headquarters to route information requests regarding all Victor products and tech support. Design of the 10,000-sq ft, state-of-the-art ergonomic facility improves employee interaction and facilitates information sharing.

Mariner Energy, Inc., sold its 25% working interest in the "Falcon" discovery and surrounding prospects in deepwater Gulf of Mexico for $48.8 million to Pioneer Natural Resources Co. Pioneer will operate the project.

Devon Energy Corp. agreed to sell its Indonesian operations to PetroChina Company Ltd. for a total cash consideration of $262 million, including working capital. Devon will receive approximately $250 million upon closing plus an additional $12 million upon successful completion of certain events.

Donald E. Bently formed Bently Pressurized Bearing Co., which has developed a new bearing technology allowing machinery engineers greater ability to control machine condition and behavior.

Epoch Well Services acquired Bengal Development Corp. The resulting firm will offer petroleum software spanning operations from well planning to accounting.

DMG Information, the business division of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc, acquired RMSI from Risk Management Solutions, Inc. RMSI and RMS will operate as separate entities within the overall DMG Information companies.

BP completed its transaction with Alfa Group and Access-Renova to expand its stake in the Russian oil and gas producer Sidanco from 10% to 25%.

Helix Well Technologies acquired Aberdeen-based Reservoir Development Services Ltd. (RDS) from Brovig ASA. The new entity will operate under the name Helix RDS.

Harken Energy Corp. completed its acquisition of 2.7 Bcfe proved reserves in the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana from Republic Resources, Inc. Included is a significant amount of proprietary processed 3-D seismic data relating to the 35,000 gross acres. In exchange, Harken issued 2,645,500 shares of its common stock.

MODEC Inc. agreed to acquire the assets of Friede & Goldman Ltd.

Premier Oil PLC plans to drill two new wells in Pakistan’s Kirthar National Park mid-2002.

Unit Corp. acquired 20 drilling rigs and related equipment for 7.5 million shares of its common stock. Depth capacities range from 12,000 to 25,000 ft.

Nexen Inc. announced its 2002 capex budget of $1.24 billion, down 10.1% from its $1.38 billion for 2001. About $250 million will be for exploration programs in the Gulf of Mexico, Colombia, Yemen, Nigeria and Canada. A further $910 million will be invested in development projects. Budget includes an investment of $525 million to sustain and boost output by 6%. Production is expected to average about 345 MMcfgd and 226,000 bopd. An additional $385 million will be invested in new development projects coming onstream in 2003, including the Gunnison and Aspen fields in deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the Guando field in Colombia, the Syncrude expansion project and the Long Lake and Meadow Creek SAGD projects. These projects should add between 80,000 and 100,000 boe as early as 2006.

LeTourneau Ellis Williams Co. (LEWCO) has opened $1 million pump-testing facility on its site in Houston, Texas. The full load testing facility enables LEWCO to conduct full-load testing on pumps before shipping to customers. Testing can be conducted up to 3,000 hp or 7,500 psi on pumps that are driven by AC or DC electric motors. LEWCO is also making the facility available for the testing of other pump brands, if requested and available.

Photo shows Atwood Oceanics senior project engineer, Jim Nowotny, with its 2,200-hp mud pump, being tested at 7,500 psi in LEWCO’s new testing center.

Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) agreed to sell its 29.5% equity interest in Equistar to Lyondell Chemical Co. Oxy will then own about 21% of Lyondell. Oxy will receive 30 to 34 million shares of Lyondell (depending on stock price at closing) with warrants to purchase an additional 5 million shares at $25/share, and a payment to equal 7.38% of Equistar’s cash distribution for 2002 and 2003 of up to a total of $35 million in cash or stock.

Technigaz and Zachry Construction Corp. signed a strategic agreement known as Technigaz-Zachry. The marketing and technical agreement covers the design and construction of onshore LNG import projects and tanks, as well as offshore Gravity Base Structure terminals in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean.

Vanco Equitorial Guinea Ltd. was awarded a 10% interest in a production-sharing contract for the offshore Corisco Bay Block N in the Rio Muni basin.

Magnum Hunter Resources hired 81 of the former 141 employees of Prize Energy Corp., including 39 involved in field operations. Included in the new staff additions are seven petroleum engineers, two geologists, five landmen and seven accounting personnel. With these additions, Magnum Hunter now has 194 full-time employees.

Slickbar Products Corp., manufacturer of floating containment booms and other oil spill response products acquired Advance Motion Control of Cheshire and will be Slickbar’s fourth division.

Saipem, an Eni company, agreed with Bouygues Construction SA to acquire its majority stake in Bouygues Offshore S.A. at the price of Euro 60/share. Bouygues board has approved the offer.

Remington Oil and Gas Corp. announced its year-end 2001 proved reserves of 13.9 million bbl of oil and 112 Bcfg or 195 Bcfe, a 29% increase from 151 Bcfe at year-end 2000 and a 253% replacement of 2001 production of 28.8 Bcfe.