Business news for the week of 25 September 2008

Past news briefs

Spectrum and Fugro announce joint acquisition
19 September 2008—Spectrum and Fugro announced a joint proposal to undertake a multiclient, long-offset, 2D seismic survey off the west coast of India. The proposed survey, which will be completed prior to the onset of the 2009 monsoon season, comprises approximately 12 000 km of seismic data in the underexplored west coast. It will be conducted in conjunction with the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, India.

Fusion appoints vice president of operations
19 September 2008—Fusion Reservoir Engineering Services appointed John D. Rogers as vice president of operations. He will be responsible for the daily operations of all FRESI projects and services. Rogers previously worked at the Houston Advanced Research Center, Noble Corporation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Amoco Production Company. Rogers holds a BS and PhD in chemical engineering from NMSU and an MS in petroleum engineering from Texas Tech University.

CGGVeritas joins the 2008 Lapérouse expedition
22 September 2008—CGGVeritas will take part in the 2008 Lapérouse expedition. The resources that CGGVeritas provides will be adapted to meet the specific objectives of the expedition.

Geophysical surveys will be made prior to archeological excavation work to assist with locating the camps of survivors of the Lapérouse expedition, which completely disappeared in 1788. The CGGVeritas crew will deploy several geophysical techniques, including ground-penetrating radar, surface-wave seismic tomography, and electromagnetism.

APS Technology announces Wave Propagation Resistivity tool
22 September 2008—APS Technology announced WPR, a compensated geometry, dual-frequency (400 kHz and 2 MHz), dual-spacing formation evaluation tool, designed for logging-while-drilling and measurements-after-drilling services in all well types.

WPR operates in all mud types including oil-base and salt-saturated and provides real-time resistivity with flexible transmission formats. High-resolution data are stored in downhole memory which can be retrieved and processed during trips. Downhole storage in the WPR is 32 MB, with an additional 32 MB in the MWD tool. Memory fill-rate of downhole WPR + Gamma data is 8 MB or less in 120 hours, which can be downloaded in about 10 minutes during a trip.

Geotrace launches E&P tool
22 September 2008—Geotrace will introduce a new E&P software solution designed to save time and money for small and medium-sized oil companies.   

This new data management tool, TIGRESS Live!, supports the entire exploration lifecycle with an integrated, real-time framework similar to those available to the majors.

The software sifts data from the available sources such as existing physical and digital archives, interpretation systems and geo-streaming services, and loads it via Geotrace’s drop box technology. Production reporting, well performance, and analysis data are available, updated, and distributed in real time.

Schlumberger introduces StimMORE diversion technology
23 September 2008—Schlumberger has released its StimMORE fluid diversion service for diverting fracture treatments along a wellbore in cemented or openhole completions. Used in combination with the StimMAP LIVE hydraulic fracture stimulation diagnostics service, which delivers microseismic data while the fracture treatment is pumped, StimMORE allows real-time optimization of fracture treatments.
 
The StimMORE service can be used in most well geometries and is ideally suited to horizontal wellbores, both cased hole and open hole, up to a maximum temperature of 121°C (250°F).

BOS and SIP partnership
23 September 2008—Bergen Oilfield Services announced a partnership with Seismic Image Processing to boost the knowledge level and manpower of the growing BOS DP service.

SCAN Geophysical completes seismic shoot for PDVSA
25 September 2008—SCAN Geophysical ASA announced the recent completion of a 2500 km² towed-streamer 3D program for Petroleos de Venezuela SA in the Mariscal Sucre area, where conditions are known to be challenging for marine operations.

The M/V SCAN Resolution, towing four streamers and dual sources, completed the job which is the largest 3D program ever acquired in this region of Venezuelan waters.

The Resolution will commence another contract for PDVSA, the previously announced 3500 km² 3D acquisition program in the Dragon Norte region, the largest job ever for SCAN.