Drilling & production

Xstrata plc has announced that it has approved the US$ 1.36 billion development of the Ravensworth North opencast mine in the in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia.

CNOOC has acquired a 50% interest in Exoma’s Queensland portfolio of coal seam gas and shale gas exploration blocks; it will contribute AU$ 50 million towards exploration costs as part of the agreement.

Husky Energy Inc. has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Husky Oil China Ltd., has signed a Heads of Agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), specifying the key principles of cooperation for funding and operation of the Liwan 3-1 deep water gas field development.

The series of exploration successes for RWE Dea in Norway continues. Having already made a major gas discovery in the Zidane licence area in mid-September, the semisubmersible drilling rig Bredford Dolphin just made another discovery in the Titan prospect (PL 420), with a promising oil discovery.

Osyka Corporation has found its recently acquired interests in the Placedo East field in Texas to be gas-productive.

Cuadrilla Resources has found shale gas after drilling 4000 ft down into the Bowland Shale formation in Lancashire, Northern England.

NextEra will purchase four Canadian solar projects from First Solar once they have been built, the four solar projects will be capable of developing 40 MW of electricity a year.

The Zubair oil field in Iraq has had its production raised by 10% to 200,000 bpd of oil, putting the consortium that runs it on target to reach 1.2 million bpd of oil in six years time.

Iran LNG and Venezuela have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI), which will see Iran export LNG to Venezuela, which may then be exported onto Argentina and Cuba.

Riversdale Mining has confirmed that it has held takeover discussions with Rio Tinto.

FLSmidth has made an offer to acquire ESSA Australia Ltd, corresponding to an enterprise value of DKK 170 million.

Fraser Bomford, AKE, examines the risks of living and working in Pakistan, especially for foreign expatriates who have become a target in recent years.

Walter Energy will acquire Western Coal Corp. for C$ 3.3 billion (US$ 3.3 billion) to create a leading, publicly traded, pure-play met coal producer with total coal reserves of approximately 385 million t and a significant and growing production profile in Canada, the US and the UK.

API comments on the recent US tax recommendations.

Grain LNG, owned by National Grid Plc, has completed a capacity expansion plan worth £310 million. The terminal can now handle 20% of the UK’s annual gas demand.