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Vol. 58 No. 8

August 2006

Company News

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

  • Earth Search Sciences Inc. subsidiary Petro Probe Inc. will build a plant to recover oil and gas products from the rich oil-shale areas of the Piceance basin region in Colorado. Agreements were finalized for an unrestricted license from inventor and patent holder General Synfuels Intl. Inc. The Petro Probe in-situ oil-shale recovery system is based on a new gasification process that will operate underground.

  • Labtech Modular Engineering, part of the ABZ Group, has built the world’s first automated hydrogen sulfide gas-separation unit for the oil and gas industry. The unit was built at the company’s base in Aberdeen for M-I Swaco. It will be deployed for Agip KCO on a man-made island in the Caspian Sea. The unit allows for the safe removal of hydrogen sulfide gas from well-test flowback fluids without having to flare it.

  • Statoil and Schlumberger Information Solutions entered into a 3-year technology collaboration agreement to develop new production-optimization technologies to extend the life of oil and gas fields. In addition to developing new technologies, this agreement calls for standardizing and automating workflow processes with the ultimate goal of increasing oil recovery and accelerating production.

CORPORATE MOVES

  • Caledus, an oil and gas service company headquartered in Aberdeen, has opened a new office in Perth, Australia.

  • C&M Group, an Aberdeen-based provider of products to the offshore oil and gas industry, has opened a new office in Houston to capitalize on U.S. Gulf of Mexico opportunities.

  • Energy analysis firm Douglas-Westwood Ltd. has opened a new office in Aberdeen in anticipation of increased North Sea activity.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

  • IHS Inc., a provider of oil and gas information, software, and consulting services, acquired the assets of GeoPLUS Corp. of Tulsa. GeoPLUS has a personal-computer-based software family, Petra, which is a platform used to analyze subsurface data from existing wells.

  • Veritas DGC Inc. signed a letter of intent with Matco Capital Ltd. to sell its land seismic-acquisition business for an undisclosed amount. Veritas plans to concentrate on growing its land and marine data libraries, land and marine data processing, marine acquisition, and software and consulting services.

  • The Ability Group of Norway has entered into an agreement to acquire The Peak Group, a U.K.-based provider of well-construction services. The deal is valued at U.K. £26 million. Peak will continue to operate under its own name from its Aberdeen headquarters.

  • Marathon Oil Corp. is selling its oil exploration and production operations in western Siberia to a subsidiary of Russian oil giant OAO Lukoil in a deal worth U.S. $787 million. The fields currently produce 30,000 BOPD.

CONTRACTS AND TENDERS

  • Houston-based Fugro Robertson Inc. has been awarded a contract to provide regional high-resolution gravimetry and bathymetry for Cobalt Intl. Energy, L.P., also of Houston. Included in the contract is a regional 3D-modeling component that integrates seismic, gravimetry, bathymetry, and well data into a geological model.

  • Roxar signed a letter of intent with Vetco Gray to supply subsea multiphase meters and subsea wet-gas meters that will be deployed offshore Angola and South Africa, where Vetco Gray is supplying subsea systems.

  • Schlumberger Information Solutions has purchased the exclusive rights to market, sell, and develop products using Aspen Technology’s Asset Builder, which enables the integration of simulation models from a variety of sources. In a separate agreement, the company was granted the rights to develop, include, or embed Aspen Operations Manager, which enables analysis and visualization of production operations, in products it develops.

  • Geotrace and Wavefield Geophysical A/S signed an agreement whereby Geotrace will provide onboard data processing and quality-control services on all of Wavefield Geophysical’s fleet of 2D- and 3D-seismic vessels. Services will include prestack imaging and advanced demultiple techniques.

  • GlobalSantaFe signed a contract with Saudi Aramco to provide four jackup rigs for 4-year terms beginning in the first half of 2007. The four rigs are scheduled to mobilize in pairs in the fourth quarter of 2006 from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to a Middle East shipyard for approximately 60 days of upgrades. The agreement is the largest drilling contract ever signed by GlobalSantaFe.

  • Vetco Gray has been awarded a contract by ExxonMobil to supply subsea systems for the Mondo field in the first phase of the deepwater Kizomba C project west of Luanda, Angola.

GENERAL

  • IHS Inc. will provide access to well and production data and more of its software to Texas A&M U.’s petroleum engineering faculty and graduate students for teaching and research. In return, IHS will become a member of the Crisman Inst. for Petroleum Research, under which the majority of Texas A&M’s petroleum engineering research is conducted.

  • Aberdeenshire-based well and pipeline service company Qserv won the Intl. Safety Award (2005) from the British Safety Council for the third year in a row as a result of its zero accident rates, controlled safety policies, and commitment to health and safety at all levels in the company.

  • Schlumberger signed a U.S. $9.5 million software sponsorship agreement with Petroleum Gas U. of Ploiesti in Romania. Schlumberger will provide students and faculty access to key exploration and production software and ongoing technical maintenance.