RIGZONE Industry News Thursday March 14, 2002	  	 RIGZONE     	home  | news  | search  | maps  | data  | jobs  | market  | store     	In This Issue	     	 Current Oil and Gas Industry News T! op Stories for the Past 7 Days Featured Events and Conferences What's in Store - Books & More Featured Employment Opportunities Surplus Oilfield Equipment For Sale Worldwide Offshore Rig Utilization Oil & Gas Prices   	 Industry Headlines	    	 Venezuela Oil Minister Predicts No Change on OPEC Output  Venezuelan Oil Minister Alvaro Silva said he doesn't see a change in OPEC output when oil ministers meet Friday in Vienna.   	 Landmark Graphics Releases SpecDecomp  Landmark Graphics Corporation has released SpecDecomp(TM), a new, innovative reservoir imaging and interpretation technology solution. SpecDecomp provides greater resolution of reservoir boundaries, heterogeneities and thickness than previously possible with traditional broadband seismic displays. For more information click here . 	 Exploration	     	 TotalFinaElf Acquires Block 34 in Oman  TotalFinaElf has signed an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with the Oman Ministry of Petroleum, taking a 100% interest as operator in Block 34. Tartan Commences 170 Well Dril! ling Program in California  Tartan Energy Inc. announces a 170 development well, shallow reserve drilling program to commence in April 2002. In-Depth Systems Successfully Uses RFID Technology for Marathon Well  In-Depth Systems, Inc. has successfully proven its RFID technology for firing the perforation guns to complete a Marathon well in Alaska.   	 Production	     	 Iran and Greece Ink Natural Gas Trade Agreement  Greece and Iran signed an agreement to extend an existing natural gas pipeline to both import gas for Greece's domestic use and to transfer gas to Italy via an underwater pipeline.  UAE Extends Dolphin Bid Deadline  The Unite! d Arab Emirates' Offsets Group has extended the deadline for bids for a 24.5 percent stake in the inter-Gulf Dolphin gas project. Shell Receives Approval for Goldeneye  Shell has received approval from the UK government to develop its Goldeneye field in the North Sea.   	 Company & Financial News	     	 Premier Oil Focuses on Exploration  Premier Oil intends to shift its focus to the exploration and then sale of promising projects, while scaling back on production and development. Goodrich Sells Interest in Burrwood/West Delta 83  Goodrich Petroleum Corporation has sold a 30% interest in its Burrwood and West Delta 83 fields in Plaquemines Parish,! Louisiana, for $12 million.   	 Last 7 Days Top Stories	     	 Parker Drilling Awarded Sakhalin Drilling Project  Parker Drilling Company has been awarded new contracts to build and operate a rig to drill extended reach wells to offshore targets from a land-based location on Sakhalin Island, Russia. Talisman Hits Offshore Trinidad  Talisman Energy Inc. has announced its Kairi-2 appraisal well in Trinidad has tested oil. PDVSA Employees Increase Protests  Dissident employees of PDVSA decided to intensify their campaign in protest of recnet senior management changes. Weatherford Ac! hieves Milestone  Weatherford's Completion Systems division has successfully deployed its first Expandable Liner Hanger in YPF Maxus' Cinta E-11 well offshore Indonesia. Newfield Hits in Gulf of Mexico  Newfield has made two discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico and expects production from these discoveries to commence by the end of this year. Aker Kvaerner Launches New Company  Today, Kvaerner launched a new company to be known as 'Aker Kvaerner' which will supply products, services, technology and solutions to the global oil and gas industry. Trinidad & Tobago Government Wants to Increase Royalties  The Trinidad and Tobago government wants to renegotiate an increase in gas royalties with BP which would dramatically increase state revenues. SA Five Engineering Wins Upgrade Contract Bluewater Energy Services B.V. has awarded a contract to SA Five Engineering for the upgrade of the FPSO Glas Dowr. BHP Awards Contract for Angostura Development  BHP awards CSO Aker Engineering the FEED contract for development of its Angostura project offshore Trinidad. Ensco 7500 Will Experience Downtime During 1Q 2002  The semisub, Ensco 7500, will spend approximately 30 days in the shipyard during the 1st quarter of 2002 for repairs to her hull. PDVSA Employees Begin Work Delay  Monday PDVSA employees started a work slowdown aimed at operations, a spokesman for protesting executives and workers said. DONG To Bring Two Fields Onstream in 2003  Two new oil fields in the Danish part of the North Sea, Nini and Cecilie, are expected to go on stream in the summer of 2003.   	 The SGI Energy Summit 2002 - Visualizing the Future   Hear what leaders of top corporations, crucial software providers, and key policy makers have to say about the impact of advanced technology on the future of our industry. This summit promises to fish for all the critical answers to this industry's future success. To learn more, click here! 	 	 Upcoming Oil & Gas Industry Events	     	 Mar. 17 	Oil Field Chemistry Symposium - 13th International 	Geilo	 Mar. 20 	LNG North America 	Houston	 Apr. 2 	e-Business in the E&P Industry - Targeting the Value 	Houston	 Apr. 7 	CORROSION/2002 	Denver	 Apr. 9 	2002 SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference and Exhibition 	Houston	 May. 1 	Nigeria Oil & Gas 2002 	London	 May. 6 	Offshore Technology Conference 2002 	Houston	 May. 21 	Oil and Gas in the Gulf of Guinea 	London	 Jun. 23 	Ocean Mechanics and Arctic Engineering 2002 	Oslo	 Aug. 27 	ONS 2002 Conference and Exhibition 	Stavanger	 list your conference 	view upcoming events    	Click here to go to Baker Hughes  AADE  Horizon Offshore  HoverDril  	 !  promote your company    Reservoir Engineering Handbook  Applied Reservoir Engineering, Volumes 1 & 2  Production Operations, Volumes 1 and 2  	 more products  	featured equipment:	 Dreco 1000 UE Land Rigs	   	 Ideco DIR 805  	 more equipment  	featured jobs: 	 -	Chemical Systems Engineer 	 -	Senior Reservoir Engineer 	 -	Sr. Planning Engineer 	 more hot jobs >> 	 featured candidates: 	 -	Workover Recompletion Consultant 	 -	Domestic & International Drilling Consultant 	 -	Drilling & Workover Operations - Applications Eng. 	 search for candidates >>  	Drillships:	 To 5000': 	57.1%	! (8/14)	 +5000': 	96.0%	(24/25)	 Semisubs:	 2nd Gen: 	66.7%	(48/72)	 3rd Gen: 	82.0%	(41/50)	 4th Gen: 	94.7%	(36/38)	 5th Gen: 	85.7%	(6/7)	 Jackups:	 To 200': 	56.1%	(37/66)	 200' MC: 	50.0%	(12/24)	 200' MS: 	19.0%	(4/21)	 300' IC: 	89.6%	(86/96)	 +300' IC: 	94.4%	(51/54)	 Severe Env.: 	85.7%	(18/21)	    	 view complete utilization report  	Light Crude Oil: 	$24.14/BBL  (-1.47%)	 Brent Crude Oil: 	$23.89/BBL  (0.80%)	 Natural Gas: 	$2.80/MMBtu  (-7.59%)	 Unleaded Gasoline: 	$0.79/gal  (-1.25%)	 prices from: 	3/13/2002	 change since: 	3/12/2002	    	 Promotional Opportunities Become a Sponsor, feature your job opening or, advertise your upcoming industry conference. Click here  for more information, send your press release to info@rigzone.com  or call us at 281-345-4040.  Member Services If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by clicking here  or by logging in to Rigzone and updating your profile. You can also change the format you receive (HTML or Text) and your email address by logging in and updating your account. Click here to log in .