JPT

 

Vol. 59 No. 3

March 2007

Company News

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

  • Wavefield Inseis A/S entered into an agreement with Weatherford Intl. Ltd. to jointly commercialize a multicomponent ocean-bottom cable system using Weatherford’s optical-sensing technology. The firm said the optical seismic array includes precision seismic measurements, lower power consumption, improved system reliability with a completely passive wet end, and lower unit cost compared with other technologies. The seafloor seismic application of optical-sensing technology was developed by Statoil and Weatherford subsidiary Optoplan A/S through a 2-year joint research and development program. First commercial full-scale installation is anticipated in 2008.
  • Shell awarded Centrilift, a division of Baker Hughes Inc., a contract for two major deepwater seabed production-boosting systems for subsea projects, one in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the other offshore Brazil. The companies said this marks the first project to use electrical submersible pumping (ESP) systems in seabed vertical booster stations in the GOM. The Shell GOM Perdido Regional Development project includes five enhanced-run-life ESP vertical booster stations with Centrilift supplying the ESP equipment as well as engineering-design, qualification, and testing services. The vertical booster stations will handle production from three subsea satellite fields tied back to the Perdido spar host facility. This will be the deepest spar production facility in the world, moored in approximately 8,000 ft of water.
  • Tesco Corp. announced that it successfully used its proprietary casing-drilling technology to drill the first offshore well using the combination of industry-standard rotary-steerable systems coupled with Tesco’s retrievable casing-drilling tools and processes. The well was drilled in three stages for an operator in the Norwegian North Sea.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

  • The Board of Directors of Hydro and Statoil will recommend to their shareholders the acquisition of Hydro’s oil and gas activities by Statoil, creating the world’s largest offshore operator. Hydro’s shareholders will hold one-third of the company and Statoil shareholders two-thirds.
  • GE Oil & Gas entered into an agreement to acquire Vetco Gray for U.S. $1.9 billion from Candover, 3i, and JP Morgan Partners. Vetco Gray is a supplier of drilling, completion, and production equipment for onshore and offshore fields, including subsea applications. Vetco Gray employs 5,000 people in more than 30 countries, with key centers in Houston, Aberdeen, Stavanger, Oslo, and Singapore. Upon completion of the transaction, Candover, 3i, and JP Morgan Partners will continue to own Vetco Aibel, which specializes in design, engineering, construction, and maintenance of production facilities, process systems, and related products.
  • Superior Energy Services Inc. completed its acquisition of Warrior Energy Services Corp., a natural-gas- and oilwell services company. Under the agreement, Superior acquired Warrior for U.S. $175 million in cash and 5.3 million shares of common stock. Superior, headquartered in Harvey, Louisiana, is a provider of specialized oilfield services and equipment focusing on production, intervention, workover, well services, and rental tools. Warrior provides wireline and well-intervention services.
  • Compagnie Générale de Géophysique completed its acquisition of Veritas DGC Inc. The combined company was renamed Compagnie Générale de Géophysique-Veritas and will be abbreviated CGGVeritas.
  • WellDynamics Inc. acquired Halliburton’s reservoir performance monitoring business. WellDynamics said the move would enable it to better serve customers in both the premium and cost-effective permanent-monitoring markets with a larger support team and a history of product development.
  • PetroChina Co. Ltd. completed the acquisition of a 67% interest in PetroKazakhstan from its parent company, China National Petroleum Corp. PetroChina said the deal strengthens its growth potential in the international oil and gas market. KazMunayGas, the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan, owns the remaining 33%.
  • Atkins, Europe’s largest multidisciplinary consultancy, acquired Boreas Consultants Ltd. for U.K. £3.8 million. Boreas specializes in subsea engineering of oil and gas facilities and has offices in Aberdeen; Cranfield, U.K.; Newcastle, U.K.; and Weybridge, U.K.
  • Forest Oil Corp. entered into an agreement to acquire Houston Exploration Co. in a stock and cash transaction worth U.S. $1.5 billion plus the assumption of $100 million in debt.
  • AGR Group acquired a 51% interest in Horton Technologies Inc., a technology development company. AGR and Horton plan to design and develop a drilling and production unit for deployment in deepwater, high-pressure/high-temperature fields. AGR also acquired Upstream Petroleum Pty. Ltd., the Australia-based provider of development and production services to the upstream.
  • Schlumberger signed an agreement to acquire Reslink, the Norwegian-based supplier of advanced completion technology. Reslink specializes in the development of wire-wrapped sand screens for sandface completions and in-flow control devices and has engineering and manufacturing centers in Ålgård, Norway, and in Houston.

CORPORATE MOVES

  • Knowledge Systems, a Houston-based provider of oil- and gas-well planning software and services, will add facilities in London and in Perth, Australia.

CONTRACTS AND TENDERS

  • Roxar signed a multimillion-dollar software contract for its reservoir-modeling technology with Hydro. The 3-year agreement allows Hydro unlimited global access to IRAP RMS, its 3D software application for reservoir characterization.