Well posting is going to be very light for HO over the next couple of weeks, as I slip away for a few days on the beach, but just one or two short notes before I go. Firstly, since this has popped up in comments twice, let me note that when I mentioned last year that I was getting my trips to fun places (such as Alaska) in while I still could, it was not meant to imply that I only had one trip or year in mind. There are a number of places to go, but if we had not started . . . . . .(and some, as this year, are not PO related).

Speaking of beaches, or rather sand, attention is turning back to the Middle East again, I see. While rig counts continue to go up, and I leave most of that to Stuart, it is worth a note to follow up on Leanan's catching of the Wall Street Journal story on SA moves to "unlock" their heavy oil reserves. Some of this is, I suspect, related to Manifa, since this is the field that they count as being part of their deliverable reserve, even though it is not yet refinable. At present Aramco are building a refinery to deal with the oil themselves, with production slated to begin in 2009. Though I see that they are also looking at the same sort of steam stimulation that is being used in Alberta.