World Mining Exploration News

Repsol has been awarded exploration rights in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area, allowing the company to move forward with its plans to increase oil and gas finds and production in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

Repsol has successfully bid for three blocks, two in the Central Ridge/Flemish Pass and one in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin. The company was partnered by Husky Oil and Petro-Canada in the winning bids.

Over the period of the 2008-2012 strategic plan, Repsol aims to spend E9.3 billion on its upstream business, of which E4.8 billion will be spent on identifying and developing new exploratory areas.
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North Carolina should consider whether it would receive money from oil exploration off its coast and how it would balance an oil industry with its coastal tourism economy, speakers at a conference said today.

Carteret County commissioners recently passed a resolution supporting oil and gas exploration off North Carolina’s coast, prompting local economic development officials to hold a conference on the topic to get further information.

“If states like North Carolina decide to do this, make sure you’re going to get revenue,” said Sidney Coffee, a former coastal adviser to Louisiana’s governor. Currently states receive 50 percent of the revenue from mineral leases on land but typically do not receive any payments for offshore drilling. Under current federal law, North Carolina would not receive any share of the lease revenues for drilling in federal waters.
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Marathon Oil Corporation today announced the completion of the sale of its non-operated interests in the Heimdal infrastructure, related producing fields and associated undeveloped acreage offshore Norway. Centrica plc, the parent company of British Gas, acquired the interests for a total value of $416 million, which includes a $375 million purchase price and $41 million in associated Norwegian asset tax pools, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2008.

The sale of these non-core Norwegian assets is part of Marathon’s ongoing review of its global asset portfolio and the Company’s goal to achieve $2 – $4 billion in gross proceeds by mid-year 2009.

Under the terms of the sale, Centrica acquired Marathon’s 23.8 percent interest in the Heimdal field, as well as its 46.9 percent interest in the Vale field; a 20 percent interest in the Byggve field; a 20 percent interest in the Skirne field; and a 50 and 20 percent interest in the Peik and Heimdal East discoveries, respectively. (more…)

The development of deepwater oil fields off the coast of Brazil may be delayed as the credit crisis makes it harder to finance projects, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said.

Developing Brazil’s offshore fields may involve investing $100 billion, for which financing from foreign banks is needed, Khelil, who is also Algeria’s oil minister, told reporters in Vienna today. Petroleo Brasileiro SA Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli on Oct. 20 said some of the company’s projects may be delayed because of the international credit crunch.

“Lots of companies are not going to get any financing for developing fields,” Khelil said. Crude oil prices have more than halved since rising to a record $147.27 on July 11 and that drop may also affect some projects. Canadian oil-sands projects require prices of $90 a barrel and ultra-deepwater drilling needs oil at $70 a barrel to be viable, according to Khelil. (more…)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed Friday to give broad access to his country’s oil riches to five Russian companies, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said.

The deal came after a meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and Chavez in Orenburg, where the Venezuelan leader reiterated his support for Russia’s actions in last month’s military conflict with Georgia.

It also came a day after the announcement of a $1 billion loan for Venezuela to buy Russian military hardware.

State-controlled Gazprom and Rosneft, as well as private companies Lukoil, TNK-BP and Surgutneftegaz, plan to pour “tens of billions of dollars” of investment into Venezuela, Shmatko said.
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Democrats in Congress gave up their attempt to maintain the current prohibition on exploration for oil and gas in federal waters off the East and West coasts and much of the Gulf of Mexico.

That’s no guarantee of sensible policy next year, when the Democrats expect to control Congress again. They already are boasting that they will renew the drilling moratorium. With enough senators – and that’s still a big if – Republicans can filibuster a renewal attempt and thus maintain momentum.

The drilling ban was supported for a quarter-century by members of both parties who saw it as politically popular. President George H.W. Bush reinforced it with an executive order (rescinded by his son) prohibiting exploration leases in the affected waters. When Republicans controlled the House from 1995 to 2007, they made no attempt to ditch the moratorium. Funny how months of $4 gasoline can change minds. (more…)

Shell Oil (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it found “moderate damage” at some of its Gulf of Mexico offshore production platforms in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

“We were able to get personnel on some of the platforms and found some amount of moderate damage, which is being assessed,” the largest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico said in a press release issued late Sunday.

The company said its restart of crude oil and natural gas production from its Gulf platforms will depend on required repairs as well as the readiness of pipelines and refineries to handle the production.
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Recovering minerals from the sea has long had a vague, but elusive attraction. After all, the science of hydrometallurgy is based on the chemistry of recovering metals from solution, and it is well-known that the sea contains huge tonnages of dissolved metals.

In reality, however, with the exception of near-shore diamonds and construction aggregates the economics have never panned out, as anyone with a memory that goes back to the 1970s and 1980s will recall. With earlier concepts of recovering gold from seawater having been proven to be unworkable, considerable sums were then spent on evaluating deep-sea manganese deposits, with the idea of scooping up enriched nodules that would form a sort of pre-prepared concentrate. That, too, came to nothing, although in hindsight, the techniques and equipment used proved valuable in terms of advancing deep-sea exploration.
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