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Vol. 227 No. 5 |
Geoscience software and services provider Paradigm will invest in OpenSpirit Corp., a software company focused on integration solutions for upstream applications and data. Paradigm shares the common goals of vendor-neutral infinite data and application integration with OpenSpirit, and will participate on its board of directors. The addition of Paradigm contributes to the delivery of rapid geological, geophysical and petrophysical data modeling access among the industry’s major data repositories (Schlumberger – GeoFrame and Finder, Landmark – OpenWorks and Paradigm – Epos) and provides application interoperability. More than 30 software vendors have licensed the OpenSpirit developer’s kit. Also, over 1,500 oil company end-users in more than 50 countries use the framework to speed up critical work flows and enhance geotechnical analysis.
Schlumberger will pay $2.4 billion for Baker Hughes’ stake in WesternGeco, the venture that provides seismic data to oil and gas companies. Net proceeds from the sale, estimated at $1.8 billion, will be used by Baker Hughes to buy back stock. Schlumberger is continuing with plans to move its US headquarters from New York City to Houston in late 2006 in order to bring its corporate staff closer to its largest operations. The company said it will continue to maintain corporate offices in Paris and in The Hague in the Netherlands.
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Production has begun from Woodside Petroleum’s Chinguetti oil project offshore Mauritania, West Africa. The hook-up, testing and commissioning of the floating production storage and offloading facility, Berge Helene – about 90 km southwest of the capital Nouakchott – has been completed, and over the coming weeks production is expected to increase steadily. The project has a maximum production rate of about 75,000 bpd. Chinguetti is operated by Woodside Mauritania Pty. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary.
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Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc. has acquired Rogers Oil Tool Services, Inc., based in Lafayette, Louisiana, for about $13.7 million, which includes $11.3 million in cash, $1.6 million in common stock and a $750,000 three-year promissory note. Included in the purchase price were all the company’s patents and proprietary technology, fixed assets with an appraised fair market value of about $10 million and working capital of about $3 million. Rogers provides service for tubing tongs and casing tongs and rents and sells specialized automated power tongs to the snubbing and well control markets.
Varel International has opened a new office in the Barnett Shale region. Located in Haslet, Texas, just north of Fort Worth, the office will provide all sales and service functions for customers operating in the region. More than 100 rigs are currently operating in the Barnett Shale, one of the most significant gas plays in the US. The company has been active in this market for more than six years.
Global Geo Services (GGS) and Rock Solid Images have entered into a multi-year agreement under which Rock Solid Images will develop multi-well rock-physics and seismic model studies to be marketed by GGS in conjunction with their regional seismic programs. GGS produces 2D and 3D non-exclusive seismic data, and also develops non-exclusive programs and provides seismic services at multiple centers around the world through its wholly owned subsidiary Spectrum Energy and Information Technology Ltd. Rock Solid Images provides solutions for seismic reservoir characterization, and specializes in the integration of surface seismic and borehole data to build seismic-scale models of reservoir properties.
Emerson acquired Bristol Babcock from FKI plc of Loughborough, England, for $121 million. To be renamed Bristol, it becomes part of Emerson Process Management and adds measurement and control products, technologies, and services. Bristol has manufacturing facilities and offices in the US, UK and Canada, with additional offices in Mexico, the Middle East, Australia and China.
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd signed a letter of intent with Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd. to jointly develop and manage a major new repair and construction facility in the port of Ras Laffan, Qatar. The new facility will be suitable for repair and maintenance of very large LNG carriers and a wide range of other vessels, for conversion of tankers to Floating Production Storage & Offloading and Floating Storage & Offloading systems, and the construction of specialized small ships. The yard will also be suitable, with some additional investment, for the fabrication of structures for the offshore oil and gas industry, such as jackups, process modules and decks, jackets, wellhead decks, flare booms, etc. Completion of the first phase of development is scheduled for 2009.
Enerplus Resources Fund has opened a new US office in Denver, Colorado. The office will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Sleeping Giant project in Montana, and managing the development of the company’s land base in the Williston basin. The Sleeping Giant project produces over 10,000 boepd of light sweet crude oil and natural gas from the Bakken formation. This property was acquired in 2005 through the purchases of Lyco Energy Corp. and Sleeping Giant LLC. Enerplus also owns 120,000 net acres of prospective undeveloped land in the Williston basin.
IHS Inc. has acquired nearly 140,000 South Texas well logs from Nixon Digital Logs, LLC. These will be integrated into the company’s log database. This acquisition, combined with the company’s existing well log data coverage in Texas Railroad Commission Districts 1 through 4, results in one of the largest single sources of log data in this oil and gas province, which accounts for nearly 10% of total domestic production. The IHS inventory nationwide equals over 1.3 million logs.
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