Commodity Corner: Oil Rallies on Stimulus Hope

- Commodity Corner: Oil Rallies on Stimulus Hope

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Saaniya Bangee

Extending its gains for a second day, crude oil rose 1.2 percent Tuesday as equities rallied and Libyan rebels advanced in securing the capital.

Rolling in a new front-month contract for October delivery, crude gained $1.02 to settle at $85.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Used for pricing many international oil varieties, Brent crude, reversed yesterday's losses to end $1.41 higher at $109.77 a barrel.

Although reports show that Libyan rebels have captured Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, uncertainty remains over how quickly a new government can bring the country's oil production back online. Libya's political turmoil has pushed Brent futures to soar past $100 a barrel this year.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities continued to rally Tuesday on anticipation that the Federal Reserve will soon signal additional help for the economy.

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck the East Coast in the U.S. just before 2 p.m. Tuesday. Afternoon trading continued on and NYMEX crude futures still settled at their highest in nearly a week.

The intraday range for crude was $83.40 to $86.39 a barrel and $107.20 to $109.79 for ICE Brent crude.

In other NYMEX trading, natural gas futures got shaken upwards Tuesday to settle 2.7 percent higher at $3.99 per thousand cubic feet. Natural gas trading welcomed a late-session boost on concerns that the earthquake could affect the region's nuclear activity.

The National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Irene, currently a Category 2 storm, is expected to strengthen over the next 48 hours into a major hurricane. Irene is not expected to threaten production in the Gulf of Mexico.

After fluctuating between $2.80 and $2.899, September gasoline gained 4.15 cents settling at $2.8766 a gallon.

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$5 Billion in Claims Paid Out By BP For Gulf Coast Damage

- $5 Billion in Claims Paid Out By BP For Gulf Coast Damage



Aug 23, 2011

"BP says it has paid out $5 billion dollars of the $20 billion set aside for the recovery efforts involved in the Gulf of Mexico spill last year. The pay out is going to Gulf Coast businesses and residents for damages caused by the catastrophe.

According to a summary by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which took over the claims process from BP last August, has approved 38% of the 947,892 claims submitted.

The enormous majority of the claims paid have gone to five states. Residents in Florida have been paid $2 billion; more than any other state while residents of Louisiana were paid $1.5 billion. Recipients from Alabama, Mississippi and Texas round out the top five, respectively.

BP (NYSE:BP) has a potential upside of 41.3% based on a current price of $39.44 and an average consensus analyst price target of $55.74."

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PPL Corp Says Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Operating Normally

- PPL Corp Says Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Operating Normally



Aug 23, 2011

The earthquake felt throughout the mid-Atlantic region has not affected regular operation at PPL Corporation's (NYSE:PPL) Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick, the company announced.

Unit 1 of the plant continues to operate normally at full normal power while unit 2 had previously shut down for maintenance and remains in safe, stable conditions.

PPL is delaying the return of Unit 2 to full power as a precautionary measure.

PPL has declared an "unusual event" as a result of the earthquake. An unusual event is the lowest of four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants.

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Brazil's Petrobras Expects First Oil from Franco Field in 2015

- Brazil's Petrobras Expects First Oil from Franco Field in 2015

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
RIO DE JANEIRO
by Jeff Fick

Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, expects to produce its first oil from the Franco field in 2015, a key executive said Tuesday.

Franco was one of the areas obtained from Brazil's government as part of last year's capitalization of the company, which included a $70 billion share offer.

A floating production, storage and offloading vessel, or FPSO, will be installed at the field in 2015, said Jose Formigli, Petrobras's executive manager for pre-salt exploration and production.

"We've already concluded seismic [imaging] of the area where the first production system will be installed," Formigli said.

Franco is expected to produce an average of 13,000 barrels a day in 2015.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Reliable Posts Initial Production Results for Manitoba Well

- Reliable Posts Initial Production Results for Manitoba Well

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Reliable Energy Ltd.

Reliable provide the following operations update.

Manitoba - Following an extended spring break up, the result of higher than normal rainfall and flooding in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba, Reliable commenced drilling operations in early July, 2011 with a rig it has contracted through to March 31, 2012. To date, the Company has successfully drilled three horizontal wells with the fourth currently drilling ahead.

The first well, 04-16-13-28W1 at East Manson, was drilled into the Bakken formation with a horizontal section of 823 meters and included 29 frac intervals. The well has now been on production for 20 days with increasing oil cuts and has averaged 177 bopd gross (133 net) over the last five days, as the well continues to clean up.

The second well, 01-34-12-28W1 at North Elkhorn, was drilled with a horizontal section of 1,280 meters and is currently being completed with 27 frac intervals. The well is expected to be placed on production within seven days.

The third well, 07-09-13-28W1 at East Manson has been drilled with a 580 meter horizontal section and a 19 stage frac program is planned for this well. Completion operations will begin once the 1-34 completion has finished operations.

The fourth well, 15-23-11-29W1 at South Kirkella, is currently drilling and is planned to have a 1,400 meter horizontal section and 44 frac intervals.

The remaining six horizontal wells of our 2011 program in Kirkella include two more horizontals at South Kirkella and four horizontal wells at East Manson. With the success the Company is enjoying at East Manson, the Company's focus will be on developing this field with the aim of increasing production and cashflow.

Montana - In June 2011, Reliable, along with its partners, completed the second vertical well of its Montana program. The White Bear 15-23 well was drilled during the first quarter of 2011 to a total depth of 5,600 feet (1,700 meters) in order to evaluate additional zones below the Bakken. While the original target of reservoir in the Bakken zone was not encountered, this exploration well provided significant data on the Bakken to further the evolution of the geological model of the Bakken in this area of Montana.

Two other potential hydrocarbon-bearing zones were encountered in the wellbore: the Duperow formation and the Bowdoin zone, which produces gas from the Bowdoin Dome field approximately 60 miles to the east. The well was completed and tested in the Duperow formation. High fluid rates were established, but no economic hydrocarbon volumes were produced.

Completion efforts were then directed toward the Bowdoin zone in the original 12B-26 well drilled in 2010. The well was perforated, shut-in for pressure build-up, and once positive pressure information was obtained, the well was placed on flow test. The gas rates for the zone were in line with rates of other unstimulated wells in the Bowdoin Dome field and the well was shut-in and its status with the Montana Board was subsequently changed to "Shut-In Gas Well". Reliable and its partners are currently evaluating the results from the completion and are developing a completion program in the Bowdoin zone of the 15-23 well. The Bowdoin zone appears to be a regional gas resource prospect and we are currently identifying future locations that will evaluate both the Bowdoin and Eagle gas zones.

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Force Fuels Appoints New CFO

- Force Fuels Appoints New CFO

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Force Fuels Inc.

Force Fuels has appointed Charles B. Mathews as its Chief Financial Officer as of September 5, 2011.

Mr. Mathews brings more than 18 years of accounting and management experience to the company. He currently serves as the managing principal of Mathews & Mann, LLC, an accounting and business consulting firm in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Mathews has extensive experience with both public and private companies. From December 2007 to March 2009, Mr. Mathews was Interim CFO of Education 2020, a virtual education company focused on students in grades 6-12. From March 2004 to November 2007, Mr. Mathews was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Quepasa Corporation, a publicly traded leading Hispanic internet portal. Mr. Mathews has extensive experience in helping companies with turn-around situations and corporate restructuring. Mr. Mathews, a Certified Public Accountant, has a B.A. in Business Administration from Alaska Pacific University and an M.B.A. from Arizona State University.

Tom Hemingway, CEO of Force Fuels stated, "We are pleased to have Mr. Mathews join our team. We believe Mr. Mathews will be of great assistance to us as we continue our efforts as we build for the future growth of the company."

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USGS Boosts Marcellus Estimates

- USGS Boosts Marcellus Estimates

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
U.S. Geological Survey

The Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids according to a new assessment by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS).

These gas estimates are significantly more than the last USGS assessment of the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin in 2002, which estimated a mean of about 2 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCF) and 0.01 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.

The increase in undiscovered, technically recoverable resource is due to new geologic information and engineering data, as technological developments in producing unconventional resources have been significant in the last decade. This Marcellus Shale estimate is of unconventional (or continuous-type) gas resources.

Since the 1930's, almost every well drilled through the Marcellus found noticeable quantities of natural gas. However, in late 2004, the Marcellus was recognized as a potential reservoir rock, instead of just a regional source rock, meaning that the gas could be produced from it instead of just being a source for the gas. Technological improvements resulted in commercially viable gas production and the rapid development of a major, new continuous natural gas and natural gas liquids play in the Appalachian Basin, the oldest producing petroleum province in the United States.

This USGS assessment is an estimate of continuous gas and natural gas liquid accumulations in the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin. The estimate of undiscovered natural gas ranges from 43.0 to 144.1 TCF (95 percent to 5 percent probability, respectively), and the estimate of natural gas liquids ranges from 1.6 to 6.2 billion barrels (95 percent to 5 percent probability, respectively). There are no conventional petroleum resources assessed in the Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin.

These new estimates are for technically recoverable oil and gas resources, which are those quantities of oil and gas producible using currently available technology and industry practices, regardless of economic or accessibility considerations. As such, these estimates include resources beneath both onshore and offshore areas (such as Lake Erie) and beneath areas where accessibility may be limited by policy and regulations imposed by land managers and regulatory agencies.

The Marcellus Shale assessment covered areas in Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources of onshore lands and offshore state waters. The USGS worked with the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, the Ohio Geological Survey, and representatives from the oil and gas industry and academia to develop an improved geologic understanding of the Marcellus Shale. The USGS Marcellus Shale assessment was undertaken as part of a nationwide project assessing domestic petroleum basins using standardized methodology and protocol.

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SeaBird Catches Seismic Gig for ONGC Field

- SeaBird Catches Seismic Gig for ONGC Field

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
SeaBird Exploration plc

SeaBird announced through its wholly owned subsidiary SeaBird Exploration FZ LLC the receipt of a Notification of Award (NOA) from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd of India (ONGC) for a 4C-3D Seismic API Pilot Project in Mumbai High Field. This is an official notification that SBX has been awarded Tender No Y16KC10017 and consequently the Hugin Explorer and Munin Explorer will mobilize from the Norwegian North Sea immediately following the conclusion of the current ExxonMobil contract expected to be around 10th September 2011.

This is a most prestigious contract award for SBX - as well as being the eighth contract award since operations started - and a highly important survey for ONGC as the data to be acquired is necessary for the planned optimal placement of two development wells from the upcoming platforms within the survey area by June 2012. ONGC has requested start up as soon as possible and SBX estimation for commencement on survey site is around mid October 2011.

The total number of node stations deployed will be in excess of 2,300 at 200 meter spacing, and data acquisition will be carried out in two swaths by rolling phases of approximately 760 nodes each. The technical expertise and track record of SBX in previous surveys has been an important element of the choice of contractor by ONGC, and furthermore this contract is another important step forward in the developing OBN market sector as it covers processing and interpretation for both pressure and converted (shear) wave data.

Value of the contract is USD 40 million and duration is estimated to be about 110 days including mobilization from North Sea.

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Gazprom Won't Begin Libya Talks Until There Is 'Legitimate' Regime

- Gazprom Won't Begin Libya Talks Until There Is 'Legitimate' Regime

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
MOSCOW
by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

Gazprom won't begin talks on restarting its projects in Libya until a "legitimate" regime is in place in the North African country, the company said Tuesday.

Gazprom halted work at oil concessions C96 and C97--a joint project with Wintershall, a unit of German chemical giant, producing 100,000 barrel a day when unrest broke out in the country in February. One of the projects is in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya's coast, while the second is Block 64 located in the Gadames oil province, .

"We would like to return to Libya as soon as possible," a Gazprom spokesman said.

"But until Libya has a legitimate government in place, we won't start negotiations," he said.

Wintershall said Monday that production at the C96 and C97 concessions could be restarted within several weeks, depending "on the state of the export infrastructure as well as a stable security situation in the country."

Plans by Gazprom's oil unit Gazprom Neft to acquire a 33% stake in ENI's Elephant field in Libya were also delayed due to the unrest in the country. The company said in April the deal would be finalized when the situation stabilizes in Libya, but declined to comment Tuesday.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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PetroMagdalena Discovers New Oilfield in Cubiro Block

- PetroMagdalena Discovers New Oilfield in Cubiro Block

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
PetroMagdalena Energy Corp.

PetroMagdalena has discovered a new light oilfield with the Petirojo-1 discovery well, with the well currently producing 1,545 bopd of 40 degrees API light oil after 13 hours of initial production test. This represents 1,080 bopd gross working interest share for the Company, which is just under half of the Company's current production.

Luciano Biondi, Chief Executive Officer of PetroMagdalena stated, "We are extremely pleased to commence our exploration program with such positive drilling results in our core block in Colombia, coming as it does in conjunction with the spudding of the Copa-B exploration well, which provides more momentum to our business plan."

Located in Cubiro Block B, the Petirojo-1 well, in which the Company holds a 70% working interest, was spudded on July 14, 2011 and directionally drilled to a total depth of 6,399 feet measured depth ("MD"). The C7 Carbonera reservoir was found at a depth of 5,636 feet (MD) and well logs indicate a net oil pay of 32 feet with porosities averaging 29%. After perforating 17 feet in three intervals in the C7 Carbonera sand and after installing an electric submersible pump ("ESP"), the well produced 370 barrels of 40.8 degrees API oil over the latest 4.0 hour period at an average rate of 1,545 bopd and a downhole flowing pressure of 1,850 psi, a 21% drawdown, with an average BS&W of 21.7%. The well testing program is ongoing and final results will be provided.

Based on seismic interpretations, the accumulation discovered by Petirojo-1 is a 2.0 kilometer long structure with a closure of 190 acres, corresponding to the typical exploration play in the Llanos Basin, and on trend with the Palmarito Field to the north, which shows a cumulative production in excess of 12 million barrels.

PetroMagdalena and its partner have agreed to drill two additional wells as part of this year's drilling program: (i) an exploration well north of Petirojo to test a separate structure located between Petirojo-1 and the Palmarito Field within the same trend, and (ii) one appraisal/development well offsetting the Petirojo-1 discovery well.

In Cubiro Block C, the Company is currently drilling the Copa-B exploration well and today is at 2,870 feet (MD) with a target total depth of 6,992 feet (MD). Copa-B will test a seismically defined structure 4.4 kilometers south and on trend with the Copa Field, discovered last year where two wells in the C7 Carbonera sand averaged an initial production rate of 1,400 bopd.

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Crown Point Cases 5th Consecutive Argentina Oil Well

- Crown Point Cases 5th Consecutive Argentina Oil Well

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Crown Point Ventures Ltd.

Crown Point Ventures has drilled and cased the fifth well of the current drilling program as a potential multi zone oil well. The Company also reports a successful work over of EV 19 which is one of the first wells drilled by Crown Point in Argentina.

Drilling Update

EV 27

Crown Point announced that the EV 27 well, the fifth well of the 2011 drilling program, has been logged and cased as a potential multi zone oil well. Logs and samples taken while drilling indicate a total of 23 net meters of potential pay in the Canadon Seco and the Mina el Carmen Formations. Later this week, the completion rig will be moving to the EV 27 location to commence its completion program.

The drilling rig is now moving to a new location EV 30. This will be the first well drilled by Crown Point on the northern side of the El Valle field. The primary target of this well is the historically prolific Caleta Olivia zone.

Completion Update

EV 19

Crown Point re-completed a 3 meter thick zone in the Caleta Olivia in the EV 19 which was originally drilled in 2009. After the re-completion of the EV 19 Caleta Olivia zone it swab tested oil with an oil cut of 70% giving an extrapolated oil production rate of 190 bbls. of oil per day ("BOPD"). Prior to the work over, the well was producing a trace of oil from the Canadon Seco with a 99 per cent water cut.

Drilling Plans 2011-2012

This drilling program is part of a larger 20-25 well program to be conducted at El Valle over the next 24 months. Crown Point is planning to drill two to four more wells at El Valle prior to year end. At Canadon Ramirez the Company plans to drill 2-5 wells on its 100% interest exploitation concession over the next 12 months and one 50% interest well at Laguna de Piedra in the first or second quarter of 2012. At Cerro Los Leones Crown Point anticipates receiving the required environmental permits in the near term and plans to commence the shooting of the 3-D and 2-D programs shortly after receiving these permits. The completion and interpretation of the seismic program is expected to be followed by a 2-5 well 50% interest program in 2012.

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Ascent IDs 400 Bcf of Gas-in-Place at Slovenia Well

- Ascent IDs 400 Bcf of Gas-in-Place at Slovenia Well

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Ascent Resources plc

Ascent has successfully completed the drilling of the Pg-10 well at the Petišovci Project in Slovenia. The results confirm the reservoir quality and potential commerciality of the Middle Miocene reservoir section, which is independently estimated to contain over 400 Bcf of gas-in-place, and delineate the substantial new deeper reservoir section discovered by the Pg-11A well.

The Pg-10 well was drilled to a total depth of 3,545m. The appraisal of the deeper Miocene or 'K' sand reservoirs showed a total of approximately 123m of new net additional reservoir with 63m of good to moderate sand quality along with another 60m of poorer quality sands in a 370m gross reservoir section. Importantly, gas is present throughout the 'K' sand in PG-10 and with the total depth of the well 45m below Pg-11A, it increases the depth of the deepest known gas. The independent audit of the gas-in-place estimate of 412 Bcf attributable to the Project by RPS Energy ('RPS') will now be updated. Given the larger than expected thicker reservoir discovered by Pg-10, Ascent remains confident that the RPS P50 gas in place estimate will increase significantly.

Both Pg-10 and Pg-11A are now being completed in preparation for fracture stimulation. Mobilization of fracturing equipment is planned for September 2011. Following the appointment of global oil services company Halliburton as the contractor for fracturing and ancillary services, final treatment design is underway. This fracture stimulation program is being funded from existing cash resources.

Ascent's Managing Director, Jeremy Eng commented, "The results from Pg-10 are highly encouraging and have defined substantial additional gas resources in the deeper Miocene 'K' sands. Our efforts are now focused on the fracture stimulation of Pg-10 and Pg-11A, which we believe will unlock the significant intrinsic value of the project."

Ascent through its wholly owned subsidiary Ascent Slovenia Limited, has a 75% interest in the Petišovci Project. Ascent's partner is Geoenergo with a 25% interest. Geoenergo d.o.o. is the holder of the Petišovci Exploitation Concession and is a company jointly owned by Nafta Lendeva, the Slovenian State Oil Company and Petrol, the leading energy conglomerate in Slovenia.

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Altima Enters Farm-In in Northern Alberta

- Altima Enters Farm-In in Northern Alberta

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Altima Resources Ltd.

Altima has entered into a Farm-in and Participation Agreement whereby Altima has agreed to participate in the drilling of a 1665 meter (5460 ft.) well on the operators' lands in Northern Alberta. Altima will pay 33.75% of the costs of drilling through completion to earn a 24.80625% interest in the well and farm-in lands covering an area of 576 hectares, subject to its proportionate share of a 4.7% Gross Overriding Royalty. The farm-in well will test for oil generally present in the area. The location in the Rainbow Lake area of Northwestern Alberta has new high resolution 3D seismic support, which management expects will enhance the opportunity to encounter better than average production. Permitting has commenced, and it is anticipated the well will be spud the second week of September.

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TomCo Awards Development Contracts for Utah Holliday Block

- TomCo Awards Development Contracts for Utah Holliday Block

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
TomCo Energy plc

TomCo, the AIM listed company with oil shale assets in the State of Utah, USA, has awarded a number of key contracts intended to provide some of the baseline environmental and operational information necessary for the formulation of a comprehensive development plan for the Holliday Block. As previously reported, TomCo's Holliday Block asset contains 123 MM bbl of recoverable oil, classified by SRK Consultants as an Indicated Resource under the JORC Code. TomCo intends to produce oil from this large resource using the EcoShaleTM In-Capsule Process developed by Red Leaf Resources Inc.

The contracts awarded are as follows:

• An Engineering Service Agreement signed with Rocky Mountain Power Inc (RMP), the main electric supplier in the State of Utah, under which RMP will evaluate various alternative routes and options for the provision of high voltage line power to the Holliday Block site, with a target of approximately 27 months for the supply of the electricity to commence oil production.
• A Roads and Access Study, to be undertaken by Epic Engineering of Heber City, Utah. This project will evaluate the existing network of dirt roads in this part of the Uintah Basin, the projected loadings implied by the development of a 9,500 bopd EcoShaleTM facility at Holliday Block, and develop plans and recommendations for road development and/or upgrading for consideration by Uintah County authorities.
• A high-resolution airborne topographic survey of the TomCo lease, combined with a detailed ground survey co-ordinated by Epic Engineering, in order to further refine the geological model and up-grade the resource assessments for the lease.
• A Water Resources Inventory to be undertaken by Epic Engineering, to provide data on drainage patterns, storm water predictions, seeps, springs etc in the Holliday Block area. As well as providing necessary baseline data required for environmental studies and future development permit applications, this project will help determine any additional water supply requirements for the planned TomCo development.
• Norwest Corporation, a large mining engineering consultancy based in Canada and the USA, has been engaged to develop a detailed, and fully costed, Mine Plan for TomCo's Holliday Block development. Norwest have been working closely with Red Leaf Resources on the Mine Plan for the nearby Seep Ridge EcoShaleTM project, and will bring this experience to bear directly on the Holliday Block. The Mine Plan will be based on the detailed geological model developed by SRK Consultants from the Company's corehole drilling on the Block, and will be the principal input into the development of Feasibility Economics for the project.

The Company is also in the advanced stages of discussions with a number of Environmental Contractors on the initiation of baseline Soil and Vegetation, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources and Air Quality studies which will be required for a future development permit applications. Some of these studies are expected to begin in Q4 2011, while others will be done in the spring of 2012; further announcements will be made when specific contracts are awarded.

Stephen Komlosy, CEO of TomCo Energy, commented, "We are delighted to have engaged the services of Rocky Mountain Power, Epic Engineering and Norwest Corporation as consultancy partners in our Holliday Block development project, and we expect to see some real progress over the next several months. These are all companies with enormous experience in the Uintah Basin, and in the challenges presented by oil shale projects, and the projects being initiated are all necessary for the upgrading of project Resources to Reserves as we move towards development of our Holliday Block asset."

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Canadian Natural Resources Resumes Ops in Alberta

- Canadian Natural Resources Resumes Ops in Alberta

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.

Canadian Natural Resources announced that Synthetic Crude Oil ("SCO") sales have recommenced from its Horizon Oil Sands operation in Northern Alberta.

On August 16, 2011, Canadian Natural successfully and safely resumed production at Horizon from the fire that occurred in the coker unit on January 6th, 2011. Production for the past four days has consistently averaged approximately 75,000 bbl/d of SCO. Ramp up to full production capacity of 110,000 bbl/d of SCO is expected in the next week. First pipeline deliveries commenced on August 18, 2011.

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Petrolympic Tests Well in Tx. Maverick Basin

- Petrolympic Tests Well in Tx. Maverick Basin

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Petrolympic Ltd.

Petrolympic announced the completion of the Acid Stimulation on the 80-2V well located on the Chittam Ranch property in the Texas Maverick Basin. The operator, "Big Shell Oil & Gas, Inc.", stimulated the lowest level reservoir and will appraise the reservoir characteristics of multiple stacked oil bearing horizons starting with the bottom and working its way up. The target reservoir is now on test and Petrolympic expects to announce production rates in the near term.

"Well 80-2V responded extremely well to our stimulation techniques which included the use of new acids that were specifically designed to maximize production," commented Robert Kinsey, Petrolympic's Chief Engineer. "We are currently testing and expect to have production numbers out in the near future. I am very pleased with our progress to date and we hope to discover additional untapped potential as we work our way up through the multiple hydrocarbon bearing horizons."

"This was a low cost vertical well which we were able to complete in a relatively short period," said CEO Mendel Ekstein. "The geology which underlies well 80-2V is prevalent throughout the property and if the oil production rate warrants expansion our goal is to drill multiple wells at 40 acre spacing on the 8,000 acre Chittam Ranch Property which would provide for significant production."

During drilling of the well, Petrolympic penetrated 7 oil and gas bearing horizons. The Chittam Ranch well is being drilled by Petrolympic as part of an earn in agreement with Texas HBP and Shell Western E&P, pursuant to which Petrolympic has the right to earn a 50% working interest (yielding a 37.5% net revenue interest) in the Chittam Ranch property.

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Toyota To Reveal New Camry

- Toyota To Reveal New Camry



Aug 23, 2011

Car maker Toyota (NYSE:TM) plans to unveil its first redesign of the Camry in five years on Tuesday. The company promises new upgrades and other technologies.

Toyota has released some details about the new car, which will be displayed at events in California, Michigan, and at Georgetown, Kentucky where the Camry is made. The features of the car will have an entertainment system called Entune, which allows drivers to connect to mobile apps such as Pandora (NYSE:P).

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) has a potential upside of 31% based on a current price of $70.54 and an average consensus analyst price target of $92.4.

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Petronas, Partners to Spend $5.05B to Develop Gas Offshore Malaysia

- Petronas, Partners to Spend $5.05B to Develop Gas Offshore Malaysia

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
KUALA LUMPUR
by Ankur Relia

Malaysian state-owned oil and gas producer Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) said Tuesday that it plans to spend MYR15 billion ($5.05 billion) with partners to develop marginal gas fields offshore Malaysia to meet growing demand in the country.

The project will likely encourage more investment in exploration activities that could lead to sizable discoveries offshore peninsular Malaysia, where subsidized prices have increased gas demand by 30% in recent years but have capped exploration and development.

"The development of the North Malay Basin project follows the recently introduced incentives by the government, particularly for the development of marginal fields, high [carbon dioxide] gas fields and fields located in high-pressure, high-temperature conditions," Petronas said in a statement.

It said a gradual revision of domestic gas prices also makes the project "more economically feasible."

The government said in May that it plans to raise the price of gas charged to the power sector by MYR3.00 per million British thermal units every six months, and expects the gas to be sold at market prices by 2016. It raised the price of gas for the power sector to MYR13.70 per mmbtu from MYR10.70 from June 1.

Demand for gas has increased by over 30% since prices were regulated in 1997 to keep them below market levels, Petronas said. However this has made investment less profitable, resulting in low levels of exploration and production activity, it said.

The North Malay Basin project comprises nine gas fields located within Blocks PM301 and PM302 and in the Bergading contract area about 300 kilometers off the coast, and includes a 200-kilometer pipeline from the fields to the state of Terengganu, the company said.

Petronas expects the first delivery of 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day by early 2013, increasing production to 250 mmscf/d by 2015.

Petronas, Malaysia's only Fortune 500 company and the country's most profitable firm, didn't specify the partners it will be working with.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Tower Resources to Drill Uganda Well in 4Q

- Tower Resources to Drill Uganda Well in 4Q

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tower Resources plc

Tower Resources provided an operational update.

In Uganda, the high resolution aero gravity gradiometry survey over the Company's Exploration Area 5 was completed in June 2010 and the interpreted data clearly indicated an area expected to be favorable for the generation of hydrocarbons. It also highlighted a clearly defined structural high in the vicinity of the newly defined hydrocarbon kitchen.

This interpretation provided the basis for a focused 187 km 2D seismic program, which was completed on August 4, 2011 and the final data is being processed and interpreted. Once interpretation is complete, this high quality data will enable the choice of a suitable well location within the next month. Proposals from rig contractors and other service providers are being finalized and it is envisaged that a well can be drilled in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Offshore Namibia, in which the Company has a 15% carried interest in License 0010, the Company has been notified by Arcadia Expro Namibia, the operator and 85% interest holder, that it is continuing its farm-out process and is expecting farm in proposals shortly from a number of potentially interested international oil and gas companies ahead of drilling a well on the very large Delta structure. Tower Resources is working with its drilling consultants in order to ensure that the drilling program remains on track to spud a well as early as possible in the first half of 2012, currently anticipated in Spring.

Peter Kingston, Executive Chairman of Tower Resources, said, "With the recently acquired seismic data we should be in a position to spud a well in Uganda in the fourth quarter of this year. As Arcadia progresses its farm-out, the Tower Board continues to review the optimal route to maintain the Namibian project's schedule."

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