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Vol. 58 No. 11

November 2006

Company News

Emerging Technology

  • Chevron Corp. is opening energy technology centers in Aberdeen and in Perth, Australia. The centers will provide research, development, and technical services for the company’s worldwide operations. Chevron Energy Technology Co. will operate the centers, which are expected to open in early 2007, through assigned local legal entities. Approximately 100 technology professionals will be employed at each site. The Aberdeen and Perth facilities will complement existing major technology centers operated by the company in California and Texas. Those centers provide research, development, and technical support to Chevron’s upstream, downstream, global gas, and emerging energy businesses around the world.
  • The first North Sea oil well employing Ability Subsea’s advanced riserless mud-recovery technology was drilled successfully by Total on the Jura West 3/15-10 prospect. The well was drilled using Transocean’s 714 semisubmersible rig in 113 m of water. The technology was developed as a means of recirculating and reusing drilling fluids. Benefits of the technology include cost savings from reduced operating time and reduced environmental impact from avoided discharges to the sea.

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG) and Veritas DGC Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby CGG will acquire Veritas in a part-cash, part stock transaction. The value of the transaction is approximately U.S. $3.1 billion.
  • Geotrace signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tigress Geosciences, based in Marlow, England. Tigress is a pioneer in subsurface data integration and is a provider of subsurface data integration software.
  • Dutch multinational oilfield services company Fugro acquired Rovtech Ltd. of Aberdeen for U.K. £34.5 million. Rovtech is a provider of remotely-operated-vehicle (ROV) services to the oil and gas industry and specializes in inspection, repair, maintenance, and rig support. Rovtech operates 34 ROVs in the North Sea, the Caspian Sea, and in Southeast Asia.
  • FMC Technologies has acquired certain assets of Galaxy Oilfield Service Ltd., based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Galaxy supplies high-temperature equipment used in the thermal production of Canada’s oil sands. The acquisition will allow FMC Technologies to expand its heavy-oil-extraction capabilities.

Contracts and Tenders

  • Total signed an agreement with Japanese energy company Inpex to acquire a 24% interest in Block WA 285-P, located in 250 m of water offshore northwestern Australia. The block contains the Ichthys gas field, discovered in 2000. Six wells drilled between 2000 and 2004 confirmed the find’s rich gas and condensate potential. The Ichthys development plan consists of an integrated field/liquefaction facility scheduled to come on stream early in the next decade.
  • Sonangol Pesquisa e Producão S.A. signed a letter of intent with Aker Kvaerner for supply of a subsea production system at Block 4/05 in the Gimboa field offshore Angola. The total contract value for Aker Kvaerner is U.S. $68 million. The scope of work covers project management, engineering, manufacturing, testing, delivery, and installation support for the Gimboa subsea production system.
  • Energy Resource Technology Inc.,  a wholly owned subsidiary of Helix Energy Solutions, acquired a 100% working interest in the Typhoon oil field (Green Canyon Blocks 236/237), the Boris oil field (Green Canyon Block 282), and the Little Burn oil field (Green Canyon Block 238) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from Chevron, BHP Billiton, and Noble Energy Inc. Production from the Typhoon and Boris fields has been shut in since the Typhoon platform was damaged by Hurricane Rita in September 2005.
  • Petris Technology Inc. established a strategic alliance with EPIS, a provider of information to the Chinese market. This alliance will add the geoscience, integration, and information technology expertise of EPIS to complement Petris products and services in China.
  • McDermott Intl. Inc. won a contract from ExxonMobil Middle East Gas Marketing Ltd. to provide engineering, procurement, construction, and installation services for two wellhead platforms and pipelines as part of the Al Khaleej Gas Development Phase 2 Offshore Expansion Project in Qatar.
  • Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has entered an exploration joint venture with Chevron on approximately 200,000 net mineral acres that Chevron owns within the Delaware basin in west Texas. The acreage overlaps and extends westward from Anadarko’s existing leasehold, which includes the Haley natural gas field. Anadarko will serve as operator and earn up to a 100% working interest in the Chevron-owned acreage. Chevron will retain royalty interests on its mineral acres and hold an option to take up to a 25% working interest in each well.
  • Total awarded Cameron a contract for the supply of an all-electric subsea production system for a multiwell subsea development in the North Sea. The supply includes all-electric subsea trees and an all-electric control system for the two-well K5F development located in the K5 Block of the Dutch Sector. Deployment is planned for mid-2007, with production to start in
    late 2007.

General

  • The Intl. Coiled Tubing Assn. has broadened its mission to include all well-intervention techniques and has changed the name of the organization to the Intervention and Coiled Tubing Assn.