PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: WesternGeco expands wide-azimuth surveys 11/04/2007
In August WesternGeco announced an expansion of its multiclient, wide-azimuth survey in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as a result of underwriter demand for high-quality subsalt imaging and optimized data re...

PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Schlumberger acquisition expands geophysical solutions 11/04/2007
and#8194;In July, Schlumberger announced the acquisition of Geosystem, a Milan-based provider of land and marine electromagnetics and seismic imaging services. Electromagnetics is a subsurface measureme...

Conoco cancels Chukchi, Beaufort seismic 03/04/2007
Company pulls MMS permit applications for 2007 open water program, will likely buy 3-D seismic data from Shell
ConocoPhillips Alaska has abandoned plans to shoot three-dimensional seismic offshore northern Alaska, the company told federal officials in mid-February when it asked them to discontinue work on seis...

Shell building legacy 02/25/2007
Alaska 2007 program takes shape; environment, communities high priorities
A flurry of government regulatory filings and announcements in February provides the most visible sign that the clock is ticking towards 2007 field activity in Shell's exploration program for offshore...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Shell plans four Beaufort wells in '07 11/12/2006
Two wells at Siv Ullig, two at another location north of Camden Bay; seismic planned in Chukchi, Beaufort
Rick Fox, Shell's new asset manager for Alaska, said in late February 2006 that Shell was "ambitious about Alaska." He wasn't jesting. The mega-major returned to Alaska in March 2005 and shortly ther...

Shell plans 4 Beaufort wells in '07 10/29/2006
Two wells at Siv Ullig and two at another location north of Camden Bay; seismic planned for the Chukchi and Beaufort
Shell is moving ahead with its exploration plans for the northern Alaska outer continental shelf. At the National Marine Fisheries Service's annual Arctic Open Water Peer Review Meeting on Oct. 24 She...

MMS issues Chukchi seismic permits 07/02/2006
On June 20, the U.S. Minerals Management Service issued seismic survey permits for the Chukchi Sea to Shell Offshore, ConocoPhillips Alaska and GX Technology. A permit for Shell to shoot seismic in th...

Schlumberger buys rest of WesternGeco 04/30/2006
Acquisition of Baker Hughes' 30 percent interest in $2.4 billion deal puts Schlumberger firmly at top of seismic industry
Schlumberger will be firmly at the head of the world's largest seismic company based on Baker Hughes' agreement to sell its 30 percent minority stake in WesternGeco to the oilfield services giant for...

Setting the stage for Arctic offshore oil, gas exploration 04/30/2006
With oil prices at record levels and companies champing at the bit to find more oil reserves, plans to shoot seismic offshore Alaska's Arctic are picking up speed. Shell, ConocoPhillips and Houston-ba...

Shell on fast forward 03/05/2006
Purchases Arctic drilling platform, doing geotechnical boring at Hammerhead
Rick Fox, Shell's new asset manager for Alaska, wasn't kidding when he told Pac Com attendees in late February that Shell was "ambitious about Alaska." The mega-major returned to Alaska in March 2005...

Busy times for seismic crews in Alaska's Arctic 02/19/2006
Only WesternGeco has vessel availability for Alaska OCS work; PGS and Veritas land crews continue active programs
Interest in shooting seismic offshore Alaska is heating up. ConocoPhillips has announced plans to conduct seismic surveys in the Chukchi Sea and Petroleum News has already reported that Shell will sho...

Shell actively working Hammerhead, aims to drill first Beaufort well in '07 10/23/2005
Shell is actively working the Hammerhead prospect it acquired in the U.S. Minerals Management Services' Beaufort Sea sale earlier this year, geologist Tom Homza, Shell's Anchorage office manager, said...

PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: WesternGeco to conduct high resolution survey offshore Malaysia 08/21/2005
Sabah Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd. has contracted WesternGeco to conduct a high-resolution survey covering approximately 100 square kilometers over Shell's St. Joseph field, offshore Sabah, Malaysia. West...

PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Kuwaiti firm upgrades seismic contract with WesternGeco 04/17/2005
Kuwait Oil Co. has upgraded its seismic service contract with WesternGeco to the Q-Land technology. With the change, 3D seismic will use a 30,000-channel Q-Land system instead of the 6,000-channel con...

Bullish on upstream 01/30/2005
Gould says business climate most favorable for oil industry since 1970s
Schlumberger, first of the major oilfield services companies to weigh in with 2004 fourth-quarter earnings, says the current business climate for the upstream industry is the most favorable the compan...

PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: People plus technology make winning formula for oilfield services company 01/16/2005
Oilfield services giant Schlumberger will start 2005 with a new general manager in Alaska. Eric Larson returns to his home state, where he was formerly the company's coiled tubing drilling manager. Si...

Pioneer negotiating risky, potentially lucrative deal offshore West Africa 07/18/2004
Company has MOU with Nigeria's Chrome Energy subsidiary for joint evaluation of block in Joint Development Zone between Nigeria and The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
U.S.-based exploration and production independent Pioneer Natural Resources, with a goal of expanding its growing position in West Africa, is tiptoeing into an unexplored area of the Gulf of Guinea wh...

PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: WesternGeco completes first Q-marine survey in Danish sector of North Sea 06/20/2004
WesternGeco said June 8 that it has completed acquisition of a Q-Marine seismic survey for the Danish Oil and Natural Gas Co. over the Siri field in the North Sea. The 128-square-kilometer, high-resol...

Service firms on the rise 05/02/2004
Schlumberger's 2004 profit jumps 87%, Baker Hughes up 90%
Rig oilfield service companies Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, BJ Services and Smith International checked in with strong to superlative earnings for the 2004 first quarter, another encouraging sign for a...

Thunder Hawk prospect could hold up to 400 million barrels 04/25/2004
A Thunder Hawk is hovering near the largest and perhaps most dynamic oil and gas discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, the BP-ExxonMobil Thunder Horse complex in deepwater Mississippi Canyon. After two yea...

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS: seismicVision: Schlumberger develops new logging-while-drilling system 12/21/2003
Schlumberger Oilfield Services said Nov. 10 that it has developed a new logging-while-drilling system that acquires and transmits seismic data in real time without interfering with normal drilling ope...

WesternGeco troubles parents 11/02/2003
Seismic joint venture between Baker, Schlumberger drags both into red
The world's largest seismic company, a joint venture between oilfield service titans Baker Hughes and Schlumberger, continues to struggle with minority partner Baker Hughes apparently looking for a wa...

Canada chases juniors 09/14/2003
Funds Arctic geoscience programs for Mackenzie and Beaufort Sea
The Canadian government plans to pump C$7 million over the next two years into geophysical projects in the Northwest Territories in anticipation of stepped up exploration spending. Natural Resources...