BHP lets Falcon go to Fugro

BHP Billiton has agreed to sell its Falcon airborne geophysical technology to Dutch company Fugro.

BHP said it would retain exclusive use and priority access to the technology for minerals exploration until March 2010. Execution of the sale agreement will be completed by March 2008. The Falcon technology, jointly developed by BHP Billiton and Lockheed Martin, is deployed on aircraft operated by Fugro Airborne Surveys. It has been used for petroleum-related work in Australia, Papua New Guinea and other parts of the world too. BHP have a long and productive relationship with Fugro Airborne Surveys and through this agreement they will continue to use Falcon technology through a world class geophysical service provider, focusing efforts on discovery of new mineral deposits.

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Langsa write-off for Modec

Japanese floating production giant Modec is expecting to book a loss of 2.5 billion yen ($22 million) by writing off its investment in Indonesia's offshore Langsa oilfield.

The Tokyo-based company said Langsa is the only project in the world in which Modec holds the concession. Stable production of oil continues at between 1000 barrels per day and 2000 bpd. To cover for the write-off loss, Modec plans to sell some of the securities it holds, and expects to book a net gain of 700 million yen ($6 million) on both a consolidated and non-consolidated basis. Modec will focus on floating production systems, which shows solid growth, and will continue to expand its businesses as a global leader in this field. The Langsa field has a chequered past, and is currently operated by a joint venture between Indonesia's Medco and Japan's Mitsui, who lease a small floating production vessel from Modec.

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China striving to become global shipbuilding giant

On September 8, 2007, "New Asia", the first 8530TEU ultra large container ship independently designed and manufactured by China, was delivered in Shanghai.

This indicates that China has made great breakthrough on the road of independent design and construction of high-tech ships. The ultra large container ship made in China will show more prominent features of large size and series-oriented. 8530TEU ultra large container ship is on the mainstream of the international container ship type with the characteristic of high technology content, high value-added economy and high construction difficulty. "New Asia" is the first one of the five vessels in same type independently designed and manufactured by Shanghai HuDong-ZhongHua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd for China Shipping (Group) Company. According to statistics made by Ship Industry Management Office of Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense, in the first three quarters of this year, China's ship industry maintained a growing momentum, the production and operation developed fast, and the economic benefit was improved obviously.

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Caspian gas pipeline deal signed

Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have signed a landmark deal to build a gas pipeline cementing Moscow’s control over Central Asia energy resources.

The deal provides for the construction of a pipeline along the Caspian Sea to carry 20 billion cubic metres of gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Russia. The pact dashes the hopes of the United States and the European Union to build an alternative pipeline across the Caspian to bypass Russia. The intergovernmental accord, which follows a preliminary agreement reached in May, was signed in Moscow in the presence of the Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev. Describing the agreement as an “extremely important” one Mr. Putin said it “will make a new, important contribution of our nations to strengthening the energy security in Europe Asia and beyond.”

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Gas is the new oil for GCC countries

Gulf countries have pumped billions of dollars to develop their gas sector and are set to keep up spending within long-term plans to expand revenues and meet domestic and external demand.

Qatar, which controls the world's largest gas resources after Russia and Iran, is spearheading such projects to become the dominant liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter when it will pump in excess of 77 million tonnes within five years. The gas projects, a turnaround in the region's policy that had long neglected that sector, have already started to pay off in terms of additional revenue, attracting foreign capital and meeting local and foreign demand. Three members of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) - Qatar, the UAE and Oman - have become major gas exporters and their gas sales have largely boosted their revenues and gross domestic product.
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Penguin cruising ahead with business expansion

Penguin has taken delivery of its second AHTS, 'Pelican Quest', a 55-metre, 5,000 BHP AHTS with a bollard pull of 65 tonnes.

Internal resources and bank borrowings will fund the vessel. The 'Pelican Quest' is built to Fire Fighting Class 1 specifications for external fire fighting, and is equipped for towing and anchor handling duties, as well as transportation of materials, equipment, fuel, water, bulk cement and liquid mud. This is the second AHTS in Pelican's fleet, the first being a similar sized AHTS, 'Pelican 28', which has been on a long-term time charter in Vietnam for the past year, supporting offshore oil and gas production operations. Pelican is an experienced owner-operator of offshore support vessels with in-house expertise and experience to manage all kinds of vessels. This AHTS acquisition is a logical step forwards in the expansion and refleeting of Pelican.

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Petrobras strikes again in pre-salt

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras struck light oil with an ultra-deep water well in the offshore Santos basin.

It provided no reserve estimates. Portuguese company Galp Energia is Petrobras' partner in Block BM-S-21 with a 20% stake. The 1-BRSA-526-SPS (1-SPS-51) well was drilled in water 2234 metres deep found light oil in the pre-salt layer, said Petrobras. The well was not tested due to operational and logistics matters. Last month, Petrobras announced an estimate for recoverable reserves at its giant Tupi field in the sub-salt cluster of the Santos basin of between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels. If confirmed, that would make Tupi the world's second-largest oil find in the past 20 years after Kashagan in Kazakhstan.