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Vol. 59 No. 1

January 2007

Company News

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

  • The Houston Technology Center and Gulf Coast Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization awarded a U.S. $1.5 million grant to NanoComposites Inc. to commercialize its proprietary process for the functionalization of carbon nanotubes. In 2007, NanoComposites will begin producing elastomers for seals used in oil and gas drilling operations.

  • Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada, the Canadian Assn. of Petroleum Producers, and the Small Explorers and Producers Assn. of Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding to boost research and technology development in Canada’s petroleum sector. The agreement is expected to improve the identification of industry R&D needs, enhance communication between industry and government on R&D needs and opportunities, and offer a new mechanism for funding research and technology-development projects. Since its inception in 1996, the Petroleum Technology Alliance has facilitated the launch of 206 research projects in oil and gas.

  • Rival Technologies Inc. has planned a new series of tests for its TRU Technology, already under provisional patent. TRU Technology assists in the processing of bitumen into higher-quality crude oil. The company hopes the technology will attract operators involved in the Canadian oil-sands market

  • AMEC, an international project management and services company, announced the first application of a patented liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) processing technology for management of British thermal units by natural-gas-liquids extraction, called Alpha Simplex. First installation will be on a Texas-based LNG regas facility. The process, which can be incorporated into any LNG receiving terminal, employs a configuration of conventional cryogenic gas-processing equipment to recover ethane and heavier hydrocarbons from LNG. The technology currently is being considered for Gulf of Mexico offshore LNG receiving facilities that are in conceptual development. Application of the technology reduces the size and complexity of the offshore facilities.

  • C&C Technologies’ autonomous underwater vehicle C-Surveyor III is scheduled for delivery to the Gulf of Mexico in October 2007. C&C and Kongsberg Maritime recently performed sea trials in Norway. The new vessel will include a multibeam echosounder, chirp side-scan sonar, chirp subbottom profiler, conductivity-temperature-depth system, and a methane detector.

  • Electromagnetic Geoservices was awarded a contract by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to deploy its proprietary seabed-logging-survey technology as a first step in determining the oil and gas prospectivity of the Troms II area offshore northern Norway. The firm’s technology will determine whether seabed logging, in combination with other exploration methods such as marine seismic acquisition, can help map the complex geology of the Troms II region.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

  • Cameron formed a joint venture with Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Corp.’s Electro-Mechanical Div. for the supply of subsea multiphase pumping systems. The joint venture will operate as Cameron/Curtiss-Wright EMD LLC.

  • Sercel, a subsidiary of Compagnie Générale de Géophysique, acquired all outstanding shares in Vibration Technologies Ltd. (Vibtech). Vibtech, founded in 1996, has pioneered the use of advanced wireless technologies for seismic recording.

  • Statoil acquired Plains E&P’s working interest in two U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater discoveries and one exploration prospect. The assets are in the Greater Tahiti area and include the Shell-operated Caesar discovery, in which Statoil will have a 17.5% working interest; the Chevron-operated Big Foot discovery, in which Statoil will have a 12.5% working interest; and the Chevron-operated Big Foot North prospect, in which Statoil will have a 12.5% working interest.

  • Enventure Global Technology has acquired Houston-based Triad Pipe & Steel, a supplier of specialty oil-country tubular goods. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

  • Petro-Canada has agreed to purchase a 90% stake in Marathon Oil Corp.’s production-sharing contract in the Ash Shaer and Cherrife natural-gas fields in central Syria for U.S. $46 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Petro-Canada is obligated to develop and produce an estimated 80 MMcf/D of natural gas from the Ash Shaer and Cherrife fields, with first gas expected to be delivered in 2010.

CORPORATE MOVES

  • Varel Intl. opened a regional office for the U.S. midcontinent area in Oklahoma City. The office will provide sales and service for customers operating in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

  • Acteon, a U.K.-based oilfield service company, launched a new company, InterMoor do Brasil, with offices in Rio de Janeiro. The company will offer specialized mooring and rig-relocation services.

  • Wellbore Energy Solutions (WES) launched a wellbore-cleanout-tool rental/services company. WES is an oilfield service company specializing in the rental of wellbore-cleaning equipment throughout the Gulf Coast region and international markets.

CONTRACTS AND TENDERS

  • FMC Technologies Inc. has been chosen to supply a subsea gas-production system for Petrobras’ Mexilhão field offshore Brazil. The scope of supply includes six subsea trees, two subsea manifolds with multiplexed controls, and related subsea systems. Deliveries are slated for 2008.

  • Halliburton Intl. Inc., Russia, has been awarded a U.S. $59 million contract by Rosneft-YNG for hydraulic-fracturing services at the Priobskoye field in Siberia. The work includes providing services for 327 wells. Halliburton will execute the project in 2007.