Business news for the week of 13 June 2008

Schlumberger acquires IES
8 June 2008—Schlumberger announced it has acquired Integrated Exploration Systems (IES), the Aachen, Germany-based supplier of advanced petroleum systems modeling software and services for the exploration and production (E&P) industry.

IES specializes in the modeling of the generation, migration, and entrapment of oil and gas using the industry-leading software PetroMod. This technology is used to estimate undiscovered hydrocarbons in frontier basins and to enable oil and gas companies to mitigate risk in exploration prospects.

In order to help meet growing global demand for hydrocarbon resources, oil and gas companies are looking more toward exploration.

There are 40 employees in IES, most of whom are in Aachen, Germany.  The Aachen location will become a Schlumberger Center of Excellence for Petroleum Systems Modeling.   

IHS Unveils EnerdeqDesktop International
9 June 2008—IHS Inc. announced the release of IHS EnerdeqDesktop v1.5 for international markets. This software provides access to multiple data sources, including IHS data, company proprietary data and data from third-party suppliers.

Enerdeq Desktop provides a combination of browsing, querying and mapping functionality. These functions allow clients to quickly and efficiently search the entire IHS international database, build complex queries, and inspect specific oil and gas information. It gives clients the power to perform searches and screening analysis using the information they find, enabling them to make better business decisions.

“Version 1.5 provides the industry with a robust way of quickly manipulating an exponentially large database, whether it be public or proprietary,” said Phil Rooney, product marketing manager for Enerdeq Desktop International.

Other key functions within the new Enerdeq Desktop include data filtering, multi-layer inspect, multi-window operation, clear mapping symbology, and mapping annotation.

CGGVeritas brings Gabon into Play
June 2008—The Government of Gabon has responded to the upsurge in exploration interest in west central Africa by announcing a new Licence Round for 2009. This new Round, due to be launched shortly by the Ministere des Mines, De L'Energie, Du Petrole, Des Hydrocarbures, Des Ressources et de la Promotion Des Energies Nouvelles, is expected to be for the offshore deepwater areas, with particular emphasis on the pre-salt targets in the southern area of Gabon. Pre-salt targets are currently creating a considerable amount of interest following the recently announced successes in deepwater offshore Brazil. CGGVeritas has announced a contract with the Direction Generale des Hydrocarbures (DGH) to acquire a new extensive non-exclusive 2D survey in Gabon's highly prospective waters, to be completed in 2008.

Gabon is a country with proven hydrocarbon resources and in recent years has seen an increase in licensing and exploration activity, encouraged by sustained high oil prices and growing worldwide demand. Gabon has a well-established oil and gas industry and was producing significant amounts of oil in the 1970s with production peaking in 1997 at 371 000 barrels per day. By 2003 this had fallen to less than 290 000 barrels. However, reserves have doubled since 1996 and are now estimated at 2.6 billion barrels, giving significant statistical support to those promoting the region's potential.

GE Energy announces new operation center in Calgary
10 June 2008—GE Energy’s Oilfield Technology business will relocate its Canadian operations from the existing NE Calgary site to an expanded 36 000-sq ft facility in Calgary to allow for its continued growth, announced Jim Junker, chief operating officer of the Oilfield Technology business.

The operation center will be co-located in the facility with GE Energy’s Transmission and Distribution business. The Oilfield Technology operations of Wireline and Drilling Tools product lines incorporates the acquisition of Sondex in late 2007, and now includes the new open-hole formation evaluation products. The center will provide design and manufacturing, machining services, materials and parts warehousing, and a customer service support section.

The relocation process will begin in the third quarter and be completed by the fourth quarter of 2008.

EMGS launches Clearplay
10 June 2008—Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) announced the launch of Clearplay, a fully integrated EM system. Clearplay provides end-to-end EM services and products in support of hydrocarbons exploration.

The Clearplay portfolio consists of three key offerings, Clearplay Find, Clearplay Test, and Clearplay Evaluate, each of which provides a range of benefits primarily aimed at improving exploration efficiency and performance, reducing finding costs, and reducing risk. Fundamental to the proposition of the system is its ability to reveal information that is intimately linked to the presence of hydrocarbons. Integrating Clearplay with the traditional exploration workflow enables a clearer and more complete understanding of the subsurface.

Geoinformation to aid in mapping of Greece’s national forests
11 June 2008—Geoinformation SA announced a new three-year collaboration with WWF Greece, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Forestry and Natural Environment and the Lab of Forest Management and Remote Sensing. This project will map the forests of Greece on a national scale using Landsat satellite imagery acquired during the summer of 2007. For this project, the team will utilize two ERDAS IMAGINE® add-on modules, IMAGINE DeltaCue and the Beta release of IMAGINE Objective.

The project will unfold in three phases: phase one is the mapping of forest coverage for the year 2007, phase two establishes the same data for years 1987 and 1997, while phase three includes the assemblage of forest coverage maps annually from 2008 forward. In addition, the team will also work on near-real time fire mapping, using imagery acquired close to a forest fire event for the summer periods of 2008 and 2009

The final product is expected to be a transferable product-service for all Forest Service Departments, as well as other Greek Governmental Organizations.

Schlumberger announces new contract with Hess
13 June 2008—Schlumberger announced it has signed an agreement with Hess Corporation to provide geological, geophysical, reservoir engineering, economics, drilling, and production software. The agreement also includes data management services and enhanced application and workflow support for Hess worldwide.

Under the agreement, Hess will deploy GeoFrame reservoir characterization, Petrel seismic to simulation, ECLIPSE reservoir simulation, and Merak project economics as well as OFM and Drilling Office software.