Oil Search completes acquisition of Pac LNG' s interest in PRL 15

Oil Search reported completion of its acquisition of the relevant Pac LNG Group Co holding a 22.835% gross interest in Petroleum Retention License 15 (PRL 15), containing the Elk/Antelope gas discoveries in Papua New Guinea. The purchase was funded by a placement of 149.39 million fully-paid, ordinary shares to Papua New Guinea, which was completed.

Peter Botten, Oil Search' s Managing Director said Oil Search' s entry into the PRL 15 JV provides the company with the opportunity to play a key role in determining the optimal commercialization route for the Elk/Antelope resource, which is the largest undeveloped gas resource in Papua New Guinea.

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

New South America to install first ever wetland access system in Colombia

New South America, a subsidiary of New South Access &  Environmental Solutions, will install its emtek wetland access cystem on an oil and gas project site in Colombia for HOCOL, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol. The emtek system provides the safe, fast access through an environmentally sensitive wetland, protecting crews and equipment as well as natural resources.

The system protects environmentally sensitive wetlands as it floats on the vegetation, while the traditional use of stacking timber mats or Dura-base mats will crush root systems and can damage a wetland beyond repair and, require a great deal more mats. The emtek system is half the weight and twice the strength of traditional wood mats.

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

Oxy drops after California drilling ban

Occidental Petroleum Corp. fell the most in seven months after a Los Angeles-area city imposed a moratorium on new drilling.

The unanimous vote by the Carson, California, city council on March 18 imposed a 45-day hold on oil and gas activity and also halted negotiations on development of about 200 wells until Los Angeles-based Occidental completes the spinoff. Carson is the third local government in the state since September to seek restrictions on drilling.

Occidental fell 3.9% to $91.44 as of 12:25 p.m. in New York after earlier sliding the most on an intraday basis since July. It was the worst performer on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

“There are too many unknowns and too much of a chance of something bad happening if the city allows fracing or other similar techniques,” Albert Robles, the Carson council member who proposed the moratorium, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “I don’t think these techniques have ever gotten enough scrutiny.”

California Governor Jerry Brown has introduced new regulations to govern the practice of hydraulic fracturing. The Democrat has stopped short of a statewide ban.

Occidental in 2011 filed applications to build a production facility that would consist of as many as 202 wells pinpointing oil reservoirs at depths of as much as 13,500 ft, according to a March 18 report to the Carson city council.

The company assured city officials in a March 10 email that it would not use fracing in the project or any techniques commonly used to stimulate production in old wells. Occidental also said that establishing a broad moratorium would run afoul of state law. An Occidental spokeswoman didn’t return a call and email seeking comment.

The Los Angeles City Council last month unanimously approved a motion to impose a moratorium on fracing that will still require a final vote to go into effect. Santa Cruz County approved a temporary moratorium on fracing in September.

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

DNV GL launches risk-based shale development verification service

DNV GL has launched an independent verification service based on the provisions of its Recommended Practice for risk management of shale gas developments and operations (RP), regulatory requirements and other publicly available standards.

The new service will be used as a tool to help assure stakeholders that an independent assessment can assist in preventing incidents, reducing operational costs and limiting the environmental footprint of shale gas developments. Best practices measured in the assessment process include environmental, occupational and process safety, human factors, well integrity, and other elements that may help address the low probability, high consequence incidents under review today.

The verification process determines whether a comprehensive, transparent risk management approach related to risk identification and mitigation has been implemented to allow sustainable shale gas project development or expansion.

The verification service may be used by operators, regulators, insurance companies, banks and other oil and gas stakeholders to frame the risk dialogue, based on international approaches to risk identification, mitigation and monitoring best practices.

DNV GL’s verification protocol will issue a conformance statement for all or part of the RP provisions and applicable publicly available standards and regulations.

“As shale gas and liquids development are experiencing exponential growth in North America, a wide range of operational risks have been realized, including gas flaring, fugitive emissions, rail transport incidents, water management, fracing chemicals, explosions, fires, infrastructure limitations, occupational risks, and asset integrity issues,” said Elisabeth TØrstad, CEO of DNV GL Maritime and Oil & Gas. “Industry can gain stakeholder acceptance only by implementing best practices and proactive risk management.”

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