SeaBird Exploration award contracts for the Aquila Explorer in South America
SeaBird Exploration Limited has been awarded two contracts for the Aquila Explorer in South America and the Far East. These contracts are back-to-back and will commence when Aquila Explorer is ending the contract with Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) in early 2009. Furthermore, SeaBird has been awarded a new contract for the Geo Mariner in the Middle East.
These contracts secure satisfactory back-log for the Aquila Explorer and Geo Mariner until the later part of Q2 2009. The total value of these contracts are in the range of US $30 million and are expected to yield average day rates in excess of our current guiding for these vessels of US $75-90,000.
SeaBird has now executed a formal contract with BP Exploration & Production Inc. for the ocean bottom nodes seismic acquisition survey in Green Canyon, Gulf of Mexico, USA, including the Hugin Explorer and Kondor Explorer, following the letter of award previously announced.
This survey will commence upon completion of the current survey in Block 17, offshore Angola for Total. Completion date for this survey is now expected to be early Q2 2009 due to ongoing improvements to the deep-water node system. BP is also a partner in block 17.
CEO of SeaBird, Tim Isden stated, “We are pleased that we are able to continue building our vessel backlog at day-rates above our guided levels, despite the turmoil in the financial markets and the drop in oil price.”
PSA Norway Checks Emergency Preparedness on Deepsea Atlantic
Source: RZ / rigzone.com
During the period of November 26-28, 2008, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) conducted an audit of technical and operational factors related to emergency preparedness and helicopter operations on the mobile facility Deepsea Atlantic.
The facility was at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd (DSME) shipyard in Goeje in South Korea. The audit was linked to Odfjell Drilling’s (Odfjell’s) application for an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) for the mobile drilling facility Deepsea Atlantic.
Background for the audit
The Deepsea Atlantic is a mobile drilling facility under construction at the DSME shipyard in South Korea. The plan is to use the drilling facility for activities on the Norwegian shelf, with StatoilHydro as operator.
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PTT Exploration oil and natural gas will acquire Coogee Resources
PTT Exploration & Production Pcl, Thailand’s only publicly traded oil and natural gas explorer, will acquire Coogee Resources Ltd., a closely held Australian oil project developer, for $170 million to expand its reserves.
The acquisition will provide PTT Exploration with “a unique platform” for expansion in Australia, the Thai company said in a filing to the stock exchange today.
PTT Exploration is seeking sources of gas overseas because some local fields have become less productive. It has about 40 petroleum projects, including gas exploration and production in Oman, Vietnam and Myanmar. The $170 million investment accounts for 2.7 percent of PTT Exploration’s total assets as of Sept. 30.
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Compton Petroleum Corporation 2009 Capital Program
CALGARY - /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Compton Petroleum Corporation (TSX - CMT, NYSE - CMZ) plans a reduced 2009 capital program focused on the exploitation of its resource plays at Niton in central Alberta and Hooker in southern Alberta.
In light of current economic uncertainty, Compton has set a 2009 capital program to be financed from funds generated from operations utilizing a budgeted average natural gas price realization of $6.82/GJ. Based upon planned capital expenditures of $161.5 million, we are targeting average 2009 production in the range of 25,000 boe/d to 26,000 boe/d which approximates 2008 production levels, excluding production from those properties sold during the year. In addition to funds generated from operations, proceeds of approximately $30 million could be realized from the planned monetization of certain mid-stream facilities.
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Brazil, oil and gas projects suspended in energy markets
From the plains of North Dakota to the deep waters of Brazil, dozens of major oil and gas projects have been suspended or canceled in recent weeks as companies scramble to adjust to the collapse in energy markets.
In the short run, falling oil prices are leading to welcome relief at the pump for American families ahead of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, with gasoline down from its summer record of $4.11 to a national average of about $1.67 a gallon last week.
But the project delays are likely to reduce future energy supplies - and analysts believe they could set the stage for another surge in oil prices once the global economy recovers.
Oil markets have had their sharpest-ever increases and their steepest drops this year, all within a few months. Now, with a global recession at hand and oil consumption falling, the market’s extreme volatility is making it harder for energy executives to plan ahead. As a result, exploration spending, which had risen to a record this year, is being slashed. Read more
Naimi Says OPEC ‘Determined’ on Oil Market Stability
Source: Bloomberg
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of more than 40 percent of the world’s crude, is “determined to bring stability to the oil market” after prices plunged more than $100 from a high in July, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said.
All members of OPEC share the goal, Naimi told reporters at a conference in Doha, Qatar, today.
Naimi spoke in Arabic and his comments were translated. He declined to answer questions in English. “I’ve said all I had to say at Oran and again in London,” he told reporters, referring to the last OPEC meeting in Algeria and a gathering of consumers and producers in the U.K.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammed al-Olaim, speaking at the same conference today, said he is “confident” of meeting production- quota cuts, adding that the oil price drop is caused by market conditions. Read more
Drop oil prices and natural gas, industry in a bind end year.
A huge drop in the prices of oil and natural gas, consumers driving less and a tight lending market have the oil and gas industry in a bind at the end of a roller coaster year.
After riding high earlier in the year with oil selling for as much as $145 a barrel and natural gas at $13.31 per MMBtu, industry officials have seen oil prices plunge 73 percent and natural gas 58 percent.
“Forty dollar oil is not good,” said Larry Wall, spokesman for the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. “If you’re a consumer buying gasoline, it’s good,” but for royalty owners who receive monthly checks for production on their property and for companies drilling the wells, “it’s very bad.
“It needs to be $60 to $75 a barrel to encourage new projects,” he said.
The latest crash, Wall said, was in 1997-98 when oil bottomed out at about $10 a barrel. He said that won’t happen again, but the price could get a little lower than it is.
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