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221 comments on DrumBeat: September 29, 2006

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oilmanbob on September 29, 2006 - 8:36am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
Don't know much about the results of faith in CNN's predictive capabilities, but I do know that if you whistle as you pass a graveyard the ghost's won't attack.

Leanan, I don't have your email so I can send you articles, but there are a couple of interesting articles on the Rigzone website this AM. Statoil is looking for a tar sands deal in Alberta and has $1 billion to spend, which doesn't say much for their faith in the Jack 2 find, and Trinidad Tobaggo is extending the bid time for their offshore blocks, so they aren't getting the money they wanted or interest in enough of the acreage.

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Leanan on September 29, 2006 - 8:51am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Leanan, I don't have your email so I can send you articles

It's in my public profile.

Statoil is looking for a tar sands deal in Alberta

Already posted that one.

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roel on September 29, 2006 - 9:03am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
And Statoil states it has $10 billion, meaning it has a lot more, but doesn't want to go public with that. They just got their asses kicked out of the Orinoco a few days ago.

It does give a good indication of what they expect in their own North Sea fields.

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roel on September 29, 2006 - 10:13am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Statoil is a portrait of despair. They bet on Venezuela, and lost. They could have gotten into Alberta oilsands long ago, and declined. Now all that is "mineable" has been sold. So they try to get into 'Phase II', the stuff too deep to be mined, that won't be available for years, and requires much more up-front investment. Someone else lost $6 billion in Alberta too the other day...

Let's call it:

While waiting for the Arctic to melt


Statoil hunts for $10 billion, 2nd generation, oil sands deal

Norway's Statoil ASA is on the hunt for an oil sands project, saying it is aiming to strike a deal worth more than a billion dollars to claim a stake in Alberta's bitumen deposits.

The state-owned company -- shrugging off concerns about inflationary pressures in the sector -- said its strategy centres on building an integrated project, complete with an upgrader. Executing that strategy would eventually cost upward of $10-billion, but Statoil is looking to acquire both a project and at least one partner.

Statoil, which is among the top 10 publicly traded oil producers in the world, quietly opened an office in Calgary this spring.

There have been a flurry of oil sands deals in the past 18 months, largely involving large-scale mining efforts, and analysts have suggested the window has closed for deals to acquire that sort of project. That notion does not perturb Statoil, Mr. Sortland said.

He characterizes mining projects as the "first generation" of the oil sands; he is focusing his efforts on in situ projects -- the second generation, in his view -- that melt bitumen and pump it to the surface rather than excavating millions of tonnes of earth.

Statoil has extensive experience with Venezuela's heavy oil deposits, which pose many of the same production challenges as Alberta's oil sands -- particularly in situ projects. At the turn of the decade, Venezuela's Orinoco belt was seen as Alberta's rival for investment capital in non-conventional projects.

But the election of Hugo Chavez in that country, and a subsequent strike and abortive coup, have resulted in increasing pressure against Western oil companies operating in the region, including Statoil.

The Venezuela government is reopening operating agreements to give its state-owned firm, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, a majority stake in upstream operations. The Chavez government has also raised royalty rates, and mused about bringing criminal charges against former officials who crafted the 1990s-era policies that fostered private sector investment.

Last week, Statoil and other Western firms were shut out of the latest preliminary contract round for the Orinoco area.

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toilforoil on September 29, 2006 - 9:38am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Please, Oilmanbob and others, stop repeating the misinformation that Jack2 was a find.  It was a production test.  In 2004, there was a find called Jack.  

The players have indicated there will be another production test at the site next year.  Maybe it will be called Jack3.  Maybe the players will wait months to announce the results.  In the best of all possible worlds, the entire administration will be facing impeachment at that time and friends in the oil industry might be looking for another opportunity for self-serving mischief.

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oilmanbob on September 29, 2006 - 10:32am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
You're right, Jack2 was a field confirmation well. The production test was very hopefull-6,000 bbl/day for 30 days- but that doesn't make it cheap. My point, and I'm sure its valid, is that if Statoil is so sure of the Jack find why are they spending a smooth billion on second-rate hydrocarbons that will cost a minimum of $50/bbl to produce and refine? I don't think Statoil believes the media hype either.
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PhilRelig on September 29, 2006 - 4:44pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I have a question (possibly a dumb one):  Does that 6000 barrels/day that came up for 30 days eventually get sold on the market?  Even though it was only a test?
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SqueakyRat on September 29, 2006 - 8:59pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Gotta do something with it.
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