Indeed, some of the only bright sparks on the ASX were the partners in the Sellicks, Acrasia (both in the Cooper Basin) and Huinga (NZ) wells. Late news yesterday was that a drill stem test from the Sellicks well flowed at a rate of 1700 bopd. Cooper put on 30% for the day.
Testing the Acrasia-1 oil discovery flowed 700 bopd for Stuart and Beach, giving them some firm idea of production rates. Santos have agreed to buy all test production.
And in Huinga, the partners will test a gross 250 plus metre oil column which is heartening after spending so long on the well.
In the courts, the Greymouth lads continue their efforts to muscle in on what was Indo Pacific's sole risked Goldie discovery. Perhaps they haven't heard about Jenni Lean's (literal) negotiation by shotgun style - forewarned is forearmed, fellas.
Santos' takeover of Esenjay in the US has come up trumps with a deep well drilled on the latter's former property flowing gas.
Safety in the oilfield has tragically been in the news again. A chopper carrying 11 people went down with no survivors in the North Sea in calm conditions. Catastrophic engine failure is suspected. A Petrobras refinery exploded in Brazil, killing two. Elsehwhere, rigs in the North Sea and Indonesia were shut down after fires - no injuries were reported in either incident. Shell have picked this point in time to start feuding with the North Sea regulator over safety issues.
Elsewhere, suppliers ABB and ICS are going to team up to develop new generation safety shut down systems.
Commencing production recently was Unocal's North Pailin field in Thailand, in which Worley and Clough played significant roles.
Wind energy has been leading the renewables front with developments in New Zealand and South Australia. Novera Energy are calling for tenders for an Eyre Peninsula propolsa and NZ's Genesis Power are expanding their Hau Nui facility.
EnergyDevelopment's SWERF burner in Whytes Gully, NSW, has a newly engineered char gas burner which the company hopes will end its emissions problems. Amadeus plan to issue shares in its subsidiary Virtual Control Systems to its shareholders, ahead of a possible float.
