RIGZONE Industry News Friday February 1, 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	    	 South Africa Opens Up Deepwater Acreage  Petroleum Geo-Services ASA and Petroleum Agency SA have announced a joint co-operation agreement to promote deepwater exploration acreage offshore South Africa.   	 advertisement	 Welcome to the world of Thuraya, where communication knows no boundaries. Thuraya provides mobile satellite telephony to 99 countries throughout Europe, North and Central Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Sub-continent. With a combination of cellular and satellite phone capabilities bolstered by GPS and data features, Thuraya provides the total communications solution you've been looking for.  Click for more...   	 Exploration	     	 McMoRan Successful at Mound Point #2 Well  This well confirms McMoRan's exploration concept for the Mound Point area which is one of the largest geologic structures in the shallow waters offshore Louisiana.   	 Production	     	 Allseas Awarded Engineering Contract by Burlington  Burlington Resources has awarded a 55 million pound engineering contract in its Rivers Fields natural gas venture in the Irish Sea.  Phillips Norway Solicits Bids for Ekofisk Work  Phillips has decided to solicit bids for the modification work in the Ekofisk Area. Petronas-led Consortium Bids for Sumatra-Singapore Pipeline  A Petronas-led consorti! um has submitted a bid for a stake in the $500 million Sumatra-Singapore natural gas pipeline. DONG and POGC Reaffirm Pipeline Commitment  Today, DONG and the Polish gas company, POGC, have signed a protocol about the further co-operation regarding the establishment of a gas pipeline, BalticPipe, between Denmark and Poland. Statoil Develops Different Approach To Seismic Logging  Statoil has developed technology for the use of electromagnetic waves in the search for oil and gas.   	 Company & Financial News	     	 Noble Drilling Reports 2001 Results  Noble Drilling Corp. said its fourth-quarter earnings rose as income from international markets sta! yed above year-earlier levels, offsetting a downturn in drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko Plans to Spend $2 Billion in 2002  Anadarko Petroleum Corporation said that its board of directors has approved an initial capital spending budget of $2 billion for 2002 this is down from the $3.3 billion approved for 2001. PGS - Veritas Merger Receives Approval from UK Government  The Office of Fair Trading has approved the Petroleum Geo-Services ASA and Veritas DGC merger. Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Record Year  Patterson-UTI acheives records results in 2001 and credits this to the merger that took place earlier this year. Gulf Marine Wins Matterhorn TLP Topsides Project  Technip! -Coflexip Group announced that Atlantia Offshore Limited has awarded Gulf Marine Fabricators a fabrication contract for the Matterhorn dry-tree TLP topsides facility and foundation piles. Bouygues and Saipem Win Algerian Development Project  Bouygues Offshore and Saipem have won a turnkey contract for an oilfield development project in Algeria valued at US $257 million.   	 advertisement	 Mark your calender! On Wednesday, February 6th, access to Rigzone's premium Gulf of Mexico Drilling Permit and Plans database will be open to all rigzone members and website visitors. Additionally, HR managers and Industry recruiters will have unlimited free access to the Rigzone Career Center. Take a test drive, we think you will like what you find. 	 	 Last 7 Days Top Stories	     	 Conoco Sets Budget for 2002  Conoco to spend the majority of its $2.8 billion dollar budget on upstream operations in 2002. Court Rules on Offshore Injury Case  United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides that wireline perforation used in drilling and capping wells is not "ultrahazardous". Kvaerner To Open New Umbilicals Facility  Kvaerner has decided to invest NOK 100 million in a new umbilicals production facility for the subsea segment of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico or Houston area. AEC and PanCanadian Confirms Merger Plans  Alberta Energy Company and PanCanadian join forces in a "merger of equals" that will create one of North America's largest independent energy companies. BP Could Cut Jobs in the North Sea BP is considering cutting some of its 3,600 Aberdeen-based workforce in a bid to control rising costs. Trident Appraisal Well Successful  Unocal Corporation said that it continues to be encouraged after successfully completing the first appraisal well at the Trident deepwater Gulf of Mexico discovery in Alaminos Canyon Block 903. Nabors Industries Has Record Year  Nabors Industries Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings rose slightly even though North American natural gas drilling slowed down as a result of lower gas prices.  Petro-Canada Acquires Veba Assets  Petro-Canada announced that it has agreed to acquire the international oil and gas operations of Veba Oil & Gas Gmbh from Veba and BP p.l.c. for a price of Cdn $3.2 billion in cash.  Technip Coflexip Lands Brunei Development Project  Technip-Coflexip has recently been awarded a contract by Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. for its Egret Phase 1 Gas Development Project, offshore Brunei. OPEC Expects To Increase Market Domination  OPEC's oil production and its domination of the oil market are expected to increase gradually over the next two decades, with the group's output rising to more than 50% of global oil demand by 2020, a recent OPEC study says. Amerada Hess Hits Offshore Equatorial Guinea  Amerada Hess Corporation reported that it has made another significant oil discovery offshore Equatorial Guinea in the Rio Muni Basin. Woodside Hits with Enfield-4 Appraisal Well   Woodside Petroleum Ltd said its Enfield-4 appraisal well offshore Western Australia had found oil.   	 Upcoming Oil & Gas Industry Events	     	 Feb. 6 	Torch Mid-Winter Energy Conference 	New York	 Feb. 7 	Marine Construction 2002 	Houston	 Feb. 10 	2002 SPE International Petroleum Conference & Exhibition in Mexico 	Villa! hermosa	 Feb. 26 	2002 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition  	Dallas	 Feb. 26 	Offshore Oil and Gas Safety Seminars 	Aberdeen	 Feb. 27 	Human Resources in Oil & Gas 	Aberdeen	 Mar. 10 	AAPG Annual Meeting 	Houston	 Mar. 17 	Oil Field Chemistry Symposium - 13th International 	Geilo	 Mar. 20 	LNG North America 	Houston	 Apr. 9 	2002 SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference and Exhibition 	Houston	 list your conference 	view upcoming events    	Click here to go to Baker Hughes  AADE  HoverDril  	 promote your compan! y    Offshore Field Development Guide - Mediterranean, Middle East, Africa  Topside Construction Wallchart  Guidelines for Marine Operations  	 more products  	featured equipment:	 National 1320-M  	 Dreco 1000 UE Land Rigs  	 more equipment  	featured jobs: 	 -	Account Rep - Business Development 	 -	Process Engineer 	 -	Well Site Geologist 	 more hot jobs >> 	 featured candidates: 	 -	Senior Contract Administrator 	 -	Senior Materials Coordinator 	 -	Wellsite Supervisor 	 search for candidates >>  	Drillships:	 To 5000': 	50.0%	(7/14)	 +5000': 	96.0%	(24/25)	 Semisubs:	 2nd Gen: 	69.9%	(51/73)	 3rd Gen: 	86.0%	(43/50)	 4th Gen: 	97.4%	(37/38)	 5th Gen: 	! 100.0%	(7/7)	 Jackups:	 To 200': 	53.7%	(36/67)	 200' MC: 	58.3%	(14/24)	 200' MS: 	14.3%	(3/21)	 300' IC: 	88.5%	(85/! 96)	 +300' IC: 	92.6%	(50/54)	 Severe Env.: 	90.5%	(19/21)	    	 view complete utilization report  	Light Crude Oil: 	$19.88/BBL  (3.97%)	 Brent Crude Oil: 	$19.18/BBL  (2.18%)	 Natural Gas: 	$2.16/MMBtu  (2.37%)	 Unleaded Gasoline: 	$0.55/gal  (0.00%)	 prices from: 	1/31/2002	 change since: 	1/30/2002	    	 Promotional Opportunities Become a Sponsor, feature your job opening or, advertise your upcoming industry conference. 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