Exploration

A summary of two environmental issues within the oil industry.

Dana Petroleum has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dana Petroleum Norway AS, has been awarded interests in nine offshore blocks under six new production licences (PL) by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. announced that the Lucius sidetrack appraisal well, located in Keathley Canyon Block 875 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, has encountered almost 600 net ft of high quality oil pay with additional gas condensate pay in thick subsalt Pliocene and Miocene sands.

Gazprom will delay the start up of its Shtokman gas field by three years, and plans to export half its output as LNG to Europe.

Two of the latest announcements from Africa.

Chevron Australia Pty Ltd has announced successful drilling in the Greater Gorgon area in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia. The Yellowglen-1 exploration well is located in the WA-268-P permit area approximately 250 km northwest of Onslow.

A brief overview of two of the latest refining projects

An overview of the North American natural gas industry

The Norwegian energy ministry has awarded Wintershall Norge ASA working interests in four new exploration licenses in the current licensing round, APA 2009. They comprise two new licenses in the Norwegian North Sea, one license in the Norwegian Sea and one license in the Barents Sea for the BASF subsidiary.

In my last column of 2009, I ended on a positive note cautiously claiming that all sectors across the energy supply chain were beginning to see signs of a recovery. Let’s take a look at some of the sectors in more detail.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee has announced the opening of bidding for six new petroleum exploration blocks across the Reinga Basin off the northwest coast of New Zealand.

After 30 years as Fairfield Industries, the seismic data acquisition and technology company has officially changed its name to FairfieldNodal. According to the company the new name was chosen because it better reflects its expertise across the full spectrum of nodal technology.

EXCO Resources, Inc. confirmed that its Marcellus Shale exploration and production activities, including drilling, are proceeding as planned with no interruption of its 2010 business goals.

An overview of recent developments in carbon capture and storage

DNV has recently established the Greater China Offshore Committee. Mr Zhou Shouwei, Vice General Manager of CNOOC and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, accepted DNV’s invitation to be the Chairman of the committee.