JPT

Vol. 59 No. 5

May 2007

Company News

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

  • Mexican state oil company Pemex and Brazil’s Petrobras have widened a technology-sharing agreement that will help Mexico develop deep and ultradeepwater drilling expertise. The expanded agreement will give Pemex access to technological know-how for deepwater drilling and development, as well as specialized worker training.
  • IBM opened a USD 2.6 million Oil Sands Centre of Excellence in Calgary. The facility aims to help producers test and use new technologies that will lower costs and make oil recovery easier, more efficient, and more intelligent. The center is the fifth IBM facility focused on the global oil and gas industry to open in the past 2 years. This center will make available a variety of technologies, including radio-frequency identification, 3D data visualization, and software integration.
  • A new research center at the University of Alberta developed through a partnership between Imperial Oil and Alberta Ingenuity will try to find more efficient, economically viable, and environmentally responsible ways to develop Canada’s oil-sands resources. The Imperial Oil-Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Oil Sands Innovation will invest USD 15 million in research over the next 5 years and recruit more than 50 faculty, graduate students, and researchers. The facility will encourage interdisciplinary research and apply the emerging tools of nanotechnology to the oil sands.
  • Abu Dhabi Future Energy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created the Masdar Inst. of Technology in Abu Dhabi to find ways that Abu Dhabi can use oil income to develop a more sustainable, renewable energy sector and an economy based on green energy expertise.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

  • Norson Group sold its process, pipeline, and umbilical business to BJ Services for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will allow BJ to add a range of services to its current portfolio to service the growing subsea sector.
  • Aker, Aker Kværner, Aker Yards, and DOF Subsea have established Aker Oilfield Services Aker companies will have 75% ownership, and DOF Subsea will have 25%. Aker Oilfield Services will target the growing market for increased-oil-recovery services for subsea wells.

CORPORATE MOVES

  • Halliburton will open a corporate headquarters office in the United Arab Emirates. The new headquarters will focus on expanding customer relations with national oil companies as it concentrates on expanding its business in the Eastern Hemisphere. The company will continue to maintain a corporate office in Houston.
  • Knowledge Reservoir opened a new office in Midland, Texas. The company is also expanding its presence in the Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions with the opening of offices in Muscat, Oman, and in Kuala Lumpur.

CONTRACTS AND TENDERS

  • Petroleum Development Oman awarded SNF a multiyear contract for the engineering and construction of a polymer-flooding project aimed at boosting oil recovery from the Marmul field in south Oman. SNF will be the primary contractor of a group of companies that includes Bahwan Engineering Co., Mott MacDonald, and PetrecoCameron.
  • Woodside Energy struck a deal with Korea National Oil Corp. to explore for oil and gas in the East Sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Woodside Energy will conduct joint surveys in Blocks 8 and 6-1. Block 8 is east of Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province, while Block 6-1 is offshore Pohang. 
  • Technip has been awarded a contract by BHP Billiton for the flowlines, risers, and subsea-structures installation for the development of the Shenzi field. This field is located in the Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico in 4,300 ft of water.
  • BJ Tubular Services has been awarded a contract by Hess Indonesia to provide a series of rigless conductor-installation operations offshore Indonesia. The contract requires BJ Tubular Services to carry out these services on 14 wells located offshore in Block PSC of the Pangkah Development.
  • Shell has secured two exploration permit areas, AC/P41 and W06-12, off the northwest coast of Australia. Shell will be operator of AC/P41 and hold 50% equity, with Nexus Energy  holding the other 50%. The AC/P41 is 200 km off the northern coast of western Australia in the northern part of the Browse basin and covers approximately 1900 km2. The W06-12, in the Greater Gorgon area, was secured in partnership with operator Chevron (50%), with Shell and ExxonMobil both holding 25%. The W06-12 permit area in the Carnarvon basin covers approximately 3100 km2 and lies approximately 100 km off the coast of Western Australia.
  • FMC Technologies signed a USD 55 million contract with Statoil to supply subsea systems for the Alve project in the Norwegian Sea. Alve is a tieback project to the Norne floating production, storage, and offloading vessel.
  • YPFB and Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding to create a coordination committee to identify projects that could be developed jointly. The two companies are interested in developing Bolivia’s gas reserves throughout the hydrocarbons chain.
  • Weatherford signed a licensing agreement with Hydropath and ClearWell Intl. Weatherford will own the exclusive rights to a patented chemical-free treatment technology designed to prevent scale and paraffin deposits in the wellbore and associated surface equipment.
  • Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG) signed an agreement to buy a 15% stake in two Norwegian Sea gas fields from Exxon Mobil Corp. for USD 360 million. PGNiG said it plans to invest USD 600 million to develop the Skarv and Snadd fields, which contain an estimated 35.8 billion m3 of gas. The project is operated by BP, while partners include Statoil, Shell, and Hydro.