|
Vol. 228 No. 03 |
PRB Energy, Inc., has acquired 13 wells, 12 gas wells and one water disposal well, and about 330,000 net acres in northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska for $11.7 million in cash. The production and future development activities are in the Niobrara formation. The acquisition also includes about 159 drilling locations, as identified by 3D seismic, and also includes the license to 85 sq mi of proprietary 3D seismic and 115 mi of proprietary 2D seismic.
Kentex Petroleum, Inc., announced a letter of intent to acquire Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., a Nevada exploration and development corporation. The corporation's primary assets are two leaseholds in the Williston basin. The corporation also controls about 22,000 acres (net) in Sheridan County, Montana (Sheridan stacked pay), and about 3,600 acres (net) in Mountrail County, North Dakota (Bakken shale).
St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. has closed a $250-million acquisition of oil and gas properties in the Permian basin. Development of these properties will be assisted by ExL Petroleum, LP, a Midland, Texas-based private company.
Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc. completed its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Oil & Gas Rental Services, Inc., a Louisiana-based corporation that provides rental tools to offshore and onshore E&P companies. The purchase price consisted of $291.0 million in cash and 3.2 million shares of Allis-Chalmers common stock. Included in the acquisition were Oil & Gas Rental Services' facilities in Morgan City, Louisiana, and Victoria, Texas.
The well construction technology firm Caledus has purchased Aberdeen-based Brunel Oilfield Services UK Ltd (BOS). Brunel's main product is Ezee-Glider 2000, an engineered polymer thermoplastic casing and liner centralizer, which Caledus plans to integrate into its TD SOLUTIONS business, and distribute the product line more widely in the global oil and gas market. The company will also invest in new mould tooling to introduce several new sizes.
Superior Energy Services Inc. has acquired Warrior Energy Services Corp. for about $175 million in cash and 5.3 million shares of common stock. Headquartered in Harvey, La., Superior is a provider of specialized oilfield services and equipment. It employs more than 4,200 people in over 70 locations worldwide. Warrior provides wireline and well intervention services to E&P companies. Its wireline services focus on cased-hole wireline operations, and well intervention services are primarily hydraulic workover or snubbing services.
Compagnie Générale de Géophysique has completed the merger between a subsidiary and Veritas DGC Inc. The combined company is Compagnie Générale de Géophysique-Veritas, (CGGVeritas). According to the merger agreement, holders of Veritas stock will receive $85.50, or 2.0097 shares of
CGGVeritas stock per share.
Roxar AS has signed a joint venture agreement with SONAR Ltd. of Nigeria to provide reservoir management and optimization solutions. The joint venture will be called Roxar-SONAR. A service center has been set up in Lagos, Nigeria, to provide sales and local customer support across Nigeria and West Africa, and to serve as a training center for Roxar's software portfolio and as a base for the company's consultancy services.
InterMoor Inc., an Acteon company, plans to construct a new 22-acre facility and expand services at their Port of Fourchon, Louisiana, location. The new facility will include more than 1,200 ft of bulkhead waterfront dock space, a warehouse, office, training center and living quarters. Construction is scheduled to be complete in November 2007. The facility will include three cranes to support the yard, so the company will be able to market heavy-lift services.
J-W Operating Co. has realigned the Excell Services Inc.'s wireline division into a single operating unit, named J-W Wireline Co. The new name will better reflect its expertise in cased-hole wireline services. The realignment combines Bran-Dex Wireline Services, Sterling, Colorado; ADI Wireline Inc., Fort Morgan, Colorado; Mosley Wireline Service LLC, Haughton, Louisiana, and Marshall, Texas; Heritage Wireline Services Inc., Tyler, Texas; and Downhole Wireline Specialists in Oklahoma. Also, J-W Operating Co. subsidiary J-W Power Co. acquired Midessa Compression LP, headquartered in Odessa, Texas.
IHS Inc., a global provider of integrated oil and gas information, software and consulting services, acquired Geological Data Services Inc. (GDS) of Addison, Texas, a provider of interpreted subsurface data �formation-tops� covering the Permian basin, US Mid-continent and Rocky Mountain regions. The GDS dataset provides correlated data for more than 640,000 wells. The GDS tops will be integrated with the IHS E&P data and software.
Hydro, based in Oslo, Norway, has signed a software licensing agreement with Seismic Micro-Technology, Inc. (SMT) of Houston for SMT's entire suite of KINGDOM geophysical and geological software products. The agreement has a value of about $2 million during the initial three-year period, with optional extension phases.
The Well Control School has opened a new training facility in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The new facility offers instructor-led and computer-based well-control training.
Wavefield Inseis will perform a 3D seismic survey offshore Libya for China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Expected to take one and a half months, the data will be acquired by Wavefield Inseis' M/V Geowave Commander. Wavefield Inseis' second offshore Libya contract win in less than one month, the survey for CNPC will cover 850 sq km and is located within block 17-4 of the Pelagian basin, at a water depth of 200�400 m. The seismic vessel was built in 1998 and converted by Wavefield Inseis. It has eight streamers and is adapted to large-scale exploration 3D surveys.
SNS07
Industry leaders discuss UK's current and future energy sources
The Southern North Sea Conference and Exhibition (SNS07), sponsored by the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR), took place in early February. The event represented a coming together of the North Sea's veteran gas industry leaders with the renewable energy industries. Both sides are aware of the shared common ground in the cause of the UK's future energy supplies. John Best, chief executive of EEEGR, said that the meeting had achieved its aim of bringing the contrasting energy sources onto one platform and highlighting the need to work together for a common purpose.
 |
Malcom Webb |
Malcolm Webb, chief executive of the UK Offshore Operators Association, stressed that oil and gas supports multi-billion-pound industries, employing hundreds of thousands of people, and these still have a massive role to play. And, he said that with substantial investment and support, it could remain that way for the foreseeable future. However, he warned that the industry needed a �fit-for-purpose� fiscal and regulatory regime, more encouragement for the supply chain, continuing innovation, new blood and more training. He said the UK industry has already extracted 36 billion boe, all without taxpayer money, and there was another potential 26 billion bbl to come. The southern North Sea remains the �jewel in the crown,� Webb said, producing some 70 million cu m of gas in 2006, a third of the UK total needs. But he acknowledged there would be an energy gap in the future, which must be met with a combination of domestic and imported oil and gas, and with renewables.
Maria McCaffery, chief executive of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), told the conference that there should be cooperation, not conflict, between the diverse offshore industries. �We all want to provide domestic energy that is safe, clean and competitive,� she said. �And you [in the oil and gas industry] have 40 years experience of doing that. Today's generation of impassioned engineers need to do for the offshore renewables industry what their forebears did to bring ashore the first oil and gas.� Many of BWEA's 420 members are corporate entities that encompass the oil and gas industry as well.
David Edwards, chief executive of Lowestoft-based SLP Engineering, said that the energy industry must be seen to offer exciting and long-term careers if it is to recruit more engineers. �Unless we can do something quite radical as an industry, we all know that the engineering skills we have will not prove sufficient.� Skills must come from the shop floor as well as from universities, he said, and careers in oil and gas should be transferable to the renewables industry. Also the work should be �internationalized��taking on work overseas but bringing the skills back home�and more long-term contracts are needed to give the industry longevity.
|
