Oxane Materials names Clay Border V.P. of sales

Oxane Materials, a Houston-based marketer and manufacturer of Advanced Ceramic Proppant, has announced the addition of Clay Border as V.P. of sales. In his role, Border will lead Oxane’s sales team, focusing on field performance and return utilizing the company’s proprietary proppant.

Oxane' s patented proppant travels deeper and more uniformly into oil and gas formations, while affording a more conductive channel for flow to the wellbore. As a result, more hydrocarbons are produced at a more rapid rate, relative to wells propped with commodity proppants.

Previously, Border was managing director for Donovan Capital, an energy-focused investment bank that provided merchant bank, advisory and capital raising services to private upstream energy companies. He was also V.P. within the securities division of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., an energy investment banking and research firm based in Houston. Before entering the securities industry, Border was a technical sales engineer for a division of Emerson Electric and Reliance Electric (acquired by Rockwell Automation).

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

Smaller companies to dominate Shale, Pemex unit Director says

Smaller companies will probably dominate development of Mexico’s shale gas deposits as Pemex focuses on shallow water and onshore projects, according to the independent director of one of the state owned company’s units.

Pemex, will probably focus on businesses with higher margins to maximize profits, leaving room for smaller companies in shale, Mario Gabriel Budebo, a director of Pemex Gas and Basic Petrochemicals, said to Bloomberg Mexico Economic summit.

“It’s not the large companies that have the agility and the cost structure to exploit shale gas,” said Budebo,a former deputy energy minister. “It’s an area for new players.”

Emilio Lozoya, Pemex’s CEO, on March 3 invited the world to explore for shale deposits in its recently opened energy sector.The crude production monopoly the company has held since 1938 ended on December 20,2013.Pemex aims to attract as much as $1 trillion in energy investment during the next decade to exploit the biggest proven oil reserves in Latin America after Venezuela and Brazil,he said.

A “big chunk” of investment in the sector may come from Asia, said Kent F. Moors, executive chair of the Global Energy Symposium.Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said in an interview that Mexico’s government is working with China to have the world’s second largest economy increase its investment across industries.

Videgaray helped shepherd the laws last year that opened the nation’s state-controlled oil industry to private drillers.

Victor Herrera, Latin American managing director at Standard & Poor’s, said in a December 20,2013 interview that pipeline and shale gas investment could come “very quickly.” Shale and natural gas are the “low-hanging fruit” of the energy reform and may be explored as soon as the second half of this year by foreign companies, according to Herrera.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

Anadarko plans to drill up to 25 deepwater wells in 2014

Anadarko Petroleum is planning to drill up to 25 deepwater wells in 2014, the company’s chairman, president and CEO has said. The comment came as the company revealed its 2014 capital expectations and guidance.

“We expect this capital plan to enable us to increase year-over-year ' same-store' sales volumes by 6 to 7 percent. Driving this year-over-year growth is an expected increase in our oil production of approximately 40,000 barrels per day,” said Al Walker.

"During 2014, Anadarko expects to drill up to 25 high-potential deepwater exploration/appraisal wells. Additionally, we plan to continue accelerating value through active portfolio management and monetizations, as demonstrated by the recently announced divestiture of our non-operated assets in Bohai Bay, China, and the closing of our sale of a 10-percent working interest in Mozambique' s Offshore Area 1 to OVL."

Total 2014 capital investments are expected to be $8.1 to $8.5 billion, excluding capital investments associated with Western Gas Partners, LP, a separate publicly-traded entity controlled by Anadarko and included in its consolidated financial statements.

More than 80 percent of Anadarko' s 2014 U.S. onshore capital investments will be allocated toward oil and liquids-rich opportunities. The company expects to increase its total U.S. onshore year-over-year same-store sales volumes by more than 10 percent to more than 625,000 boe per day for full-year 2014, including an approximate 50,000 barrels-per-day increase in liquids volumes. Much of this growth is expected to be driven by the company' s Wattenberg Horizontal program in Colorado, its Eagle Ford shale development in South Texas, and other liquids-rich growth plays, including the Wolfcamp shale in West Texas and the East Texas/North Louisiana area.

The Wattenberg Horizontal program generates the strongest returns in Anadarko' s U.S. onshore portfolio and is expected to achieve significant growth in 2014. The company plans to operate approximately 13 rigs in the Wattenberg field during the year and drill more than 360 wells.

Anadarko also is accelerating its operated activity in the Wolfcamp oil play where it has evaluated about 20 percent of its approximate 600,000-gross-acre position. The company has already identified more than 1,000 drilling locations in this de-risked area of the Wolfcamp, with significant additional upside as it evaluates the remaining acreage and potential stacked-pay intervals. In 2014, the company expects to operate eight to 10 rigs, with plans to drill more than 80 wells.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Anadarko is on schedule to achieve first oil from its 80,000 barrels-of-oil-per-day Lucius development late in the second half of 2014. The company' s Heidelberg development also remains on track, with spar construction more than 75-percent complete and first oil expected in 2016.

Anadarko' s 2014 deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration/appraisal program is focused on building upon the tremendous success achieved in the Shenandoah basin in 2013, which is emerging as one of the largest oil accumulations ever discovered in the Gulf. Appraisal activity at the Coronado, Yucatan and Shenandoah discoveries in the Shenandoah basin highlights the company' s six-to-eight-well Gulf program in 2014.

In 2014, Anadarko expects to realize a full-year' s benefit of oil production from the El Merk project in Algeria. El Merk, which recently achieved net production of more than 30,000 barrels per day, is expected to contribute to at least a 30-percent year-over-year increase in sales volumes from Algeria during 2014.

In Ghana, Anadarko and its partners have awarded major contracts and are advancing development of the TEN complex, which is expected to achieve first oil in 2016. In Mozambique, the company' s 2013 appraisal and exploration activities increased its estimated recoverable natural gas resources to a range of 45 to 70-plus Tcf in Offshore Area 1, up from the previous range of 35 to 65-plus Tcf. The company' s 2014 program in Mozambique is focused on advancing the development toward first LNG cargoes in 2018.

The company' s international exploration/appraisal program includes 15 to 18 planned deepwater wells, primarily in East and West Africa.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

Capstone receives microturbine orders from Horizon Power Systems

Capstone Turbine Corporation, a clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced that it has received orders for 50 Capstone C65 microturbines for oil and gas production in the U.S.

Horizon Power Systems, Capstone' s exclusive oil and gas distributor for the Eagle Ford, Permian, San Juan and Wattenberg shale plays, secured the orders. The orders will bring the total fleet to more than 550 microturbines in operation in Horizon' s area of responsibility, and will serve various stages of oil and gas production, including powering central processing stations, well-head operations and flare reduction.

Capstone manufactures low-emission, durable and highly efficient microturbines for around-the-clock production and optimized wellsite performance.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

API continues focus on rail safety

The oil and natural gas industry continues to work collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Transportation, and America' s railroad industry, to improve rail safety. To highlight actions being taken following a recent meeting with the Secretary of Transportation, API President and CEO Jack Gerard released the following statement:

"Safety is always our top priority. We are working closely with the regulators and the railroad industry and looking in a holistic way at how to prevent accidents, mitigate impacts if they occur, and support emergency response.

"While nearly all rail shipments reach their destinations without incident, our common goal should be zero rail incidents. All options must be considered to reach this goal. Prevention efforts should examine issues like track maintenance and Positive Train Control (PTC). Our mitigation efforts are looking at topics like tank car design and crude oil testing and classification. And a review of emergency response is examining ways to improve training and communications for emergency responders.

"We are committed to using the best science, research and real-world data to make measurable improvements to safety. A holistic approach based on sound science and data will ensure that any changes to existing standards and practices achieve real safety improvements and do not shift risk to other areas. It is critical that our actions actually improve safety and reduce risk."

API said it is taking the following actions to improve safety in a collaborative and holistic way:

API has assembled top experts to develop a comprehensive standard for testing, classification, loading and unloading of crude oil based on the best available science and data. PHMSA has committed to participate in this effort aimed at ensuring crude oil is packaged and shipped safely and appropriately. API' s standards are accredited by the American National Standards Institute, the designated standards authority in the U.S., and the same organization that accredits similar programs at several U.S. national laboratories.

API continues to work with PHMSA and other representatives from the Department of Transportation to share information and expertise on crude oil characteristics.

API has helped to lead the effort to improve tank car design. Our industry has been building next generation tank cars since 2011 that exceed federal standards. These new cars make up nearly 40 percent of the crude oil tank car fleet and will be 60 percent by the end of 2015. API is engaged in a holistic, data-driven examination with the railroads and railcar manufacturers, as to whether additional design changes would measurably improve safety without shifting risk to other areas.

API is working with the railroads to enhance emergency response training through Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response. Known as TRANSCAER, this organization is a voluntary national outreach effort that assists communities in preparing for and responding to incidents.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

Petrofac awarded $1.2 billion Khazzan gas processing project in Sultanate of Oman

Petrofac, the international oil and gas services provider, has been awarded a contract by BP, worth approximately $1.2 billion, for the central processing facility (CPF) for the Khazzan gas project in the Oman sultanate.

The scope of work will include engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the central processing facility (CPF) at the Khazzan field.  The CPF will include two process trains, each having a capacity of 525 MMcfgd.  The project also includes an associated condensate processing system, power generation plant, water treatment system and all associated utilities and infrastructure.  The project is expected to be completed in 2017.

Subramanian Sarma, Managing Director of Petrofac' s Onshore Engineering & Construction business, commented:  “Petrofac has executed a large number of projects for BP across many aspects of our business and we are delighted to be supporting them on this pioneering project at Khazzan, the largest new upstream project in Oman."

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

CGG completes airborne geomapping of Benin

CGG and the Benin Ministry of Energy, Mining and Petroleum Research, and Renewable Energy Development (MERPMEDER) have announced the completion of an onshore country-wide airborne geophysical survey of the Republic of Benin.

The survey program was commissioned by the Government of Benin to enhance the development of Benin’s natural resource sector, including both petroleum and mineral resources.

Altogether approximately 160,000 line km of magnetic and radiometric data and 16,000 line km of FALCON Airborne Gravity Gradiometer data were acquired from May to October 2013. The airborne data has been processed and is currently in the final stages of geological interpretation at CGG’s interpretation center in Perth.

All products from the program, including a Natural Resource Prospectivity report and updated geological maps, will be placed on the Benin Government’s open-file system. Visitors to the PDAC show in Toronto can view the data on CGG booth 203.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.