Companies in the news

TotalFinaElf became operator of the Tempa Rossa oil field in the Bassilicata region of southern Italy with its purchase of Eni’s 25% interest in the Gorgoglione Concession. Development of this field is slated for next year with initial production in 2006.

Mohr Engineering and Testing’s groundbreaking ceremony for its new 33,000 sq ft facility in the northwest corner of Houston was on June 2. It will offer improved testing capabilities, state-of-the-art equipment and spacious conference and meeting rooms.

Shell Oil Co. Foundation donated $50,000 to the Colorado wildfire relief effort. Shell presented $25,000 each to the Colorado State Forest Service and the American Red Cross at a state capitol news conference with Colorado governor Bill Owens.

Dynamic Oil & Gas, Inc., and its Calgary-based junior independent partner announced the terms of a farmin agreement with a U.S. independent producer. Drilling two wildcats, will earn Dynamic the right to earn a net average working interest of 35% in a two block concession in the Cypress area of the foothills of northern British Columbia about 20 mi northwest of Fort St. John. It comprises about 5,120 acres.

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. closed its sale of the East White Point field in south Texas to Peoples Energy Production for about $10.5 million. Current production from the properties is about 1.8 MMcfd.

Schlumberger acquired Canadian-based A. Comeau and Associates Ltd., a provider of electrical engineering products and services for artificially lifted wells.

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co., a subsidiary of TGS-MOPEC Geophysical Co. ASA, agreed to acquire A2D Technologies for $22 million in a combination of cash and shares.

Landmark Graphics Corp., in cooperation with IBM and Intel, established a technical Center of Excellence in Stavanger, Norway, at PetroData’s state-of-the-art data management, application and e-business hosting facility.

Kerr-McGee Corp. approved the development for its discoveries on Block 04/36 in Bohai Bay, China. It is subject to approval by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and Kerr-McGee’s partners China National Offshore Oil Corp. and Sino-American Energy Corp. Plans call for exploitation of CFD 11-1, CFD 11-2 and CFD 2-1 fields using a centrally located, leased FPSO facility, along with fixed platforms that will act as drilling locations for the dry wellheads. It will be located in 75 ft of water, about 50 mi from shore. Capacity for the FPSO will be about 60,000 bpd and 1-million bbl storage capacity.

RBI Gearhart acquired a U.S. matrix PDC manufacturer and renamed it PDC Gearhart, allowing RBI to participate in the PDC market.

Lafayette, Louisiana-based C & C Technologies, Inc., opened a new Singapore office.

HORNBECK-LEEVAC Marine Services, Inc., changed its name to Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. LEEVAC Marine, LLCC was changed to Hornbeck Offshore Transportation, LLC.

Garland, Texas-based Altronic Controls, Inc., acquired Gas Technologies, Inc. of Weston, FL. Altronic is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Altronic, Inc. of Akron, Ohio.

Paramount Resources Ltd. completed its purchase of the issued and outstanding shares of Summit Resources Ltd. following its bid announced on May 12.

Puma Energy Inc. signed an E&P agreement with Indusmin Energy Corp. in West Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia. Puma and Indusmin will work exclusively together for 60 days toward reaching a joint operating agreement to explore and develop the Malinovetske field in the West Ukraine, in addition to promoting other interests in the Ukraine and Georgia.

As part of its rationalization program, Eni agreed to sell its 45% stake in the Al Khalij producing oil field offshore Qatar.

Norsk Hydro was offered operatorships and equity in the highest ranked areas in the 17th concession round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The Fles Nord blocks are located in the Voring basin.