• Neilson tabbed as Santos chief financial officer

  Anthony Neilson has been appointed chief financial officer of Santos Ltd.
  

• SM Energy to offer Williston basin assets

  SM Energy Co., Denver, hopes to sell its Williston basin properties outside a program in Divide County, ND.

• NOIA files FOIA request on gulf decommissioning costs

  The National Ocean Industries Association has sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement seeking information related to the agency’s recently revised estimates for future well plugging and abandonment and platform decommissioning costs in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Chevron’s Salt Lake City refinery plans alkylation unit revamp

  Chevron Corp. is planning to convert the existing 4,500-b/d hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation unit at its 53,000-b/d refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, into the first-ever alkylation unit in the US based on ionic liquids (IL) alkylation technology.

• Merger forms Double Eagle Energy Permian

  Double Eagle Energy Permian LLC has been formed through the merger of Double Eagle Lone Star LLC and Veritas Energy Partners Holdings LLC, holding more than 63,000 net acres in the Midland basin.

• ICD-packer completion reduces water in China's Jidong oil field

  Inflow control devices (ICDs) paired with oil-swellable packers often perform water control during well completions in unconsolidated reservoirs, but ICD-packer systems offer effective zonal isolation for only about 90 days.

• Ultrasonic test redesigns sample geometries, identifies high-resolution anisotropy in shale

  A new ultrasonic test method can acquire high-resolution shale data in the lab by using new geometries for sample testing with specialized equipment suited for measuring shale formations at reservoir conditions.

• Ocean-bottom seismographs improve data resolution offshore Australia

  Ocean-bottom seismic (OBS) has emerged in recent years as a mainstream offshore exploration technique. Operators have benefitted from supplementing conventional surveys with OBS data. AuScope Ltd. invested in a fleet of ocean-bottom seismographs (OBSs) that are maintained by Australia's national geological survey to aid in mapping its offshore territories.

• Alberta approves 95,000 b/d in oil sands projects

  The Alberta government has approved three oil sands projects representing 95,000 b/d of oil production and $4 billion (Can.) of potential investment.

• Southern Corridor gas pipelineis on schedule, BP official says

  The Southern Corridor natural gas pipeline system, which aims to transport gas 2,175 miles from the Caspian Sea to southern Europe, is on schedule and expected to come in under budget, a BP PLC official told an Atlantic Council forum on Sept. 21.

Drilling and Production News

• NOIA files FOIA request on gulf decommissioning costs

  The National Ocean Industries Association has sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement seeking information related to the agency’s recently revised estimates for future well plugging and abandonment and platform decommissioning costs in the Gulf of Mexico.

• DEA lets contracts for Dvalin, Heidrun project in Norwegian Sea

  DEA AG, Hamburg, has let a contract to Aker Solutions for the subsea production system for the Dvalin project in the Norwegian Sea.

• EIA: US oil, gas output fell slightly in July

  US crude oil production during July fell just 0.2% vs. the June average to 8.685 million b/d, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production Report. The July US average was down 7.8% year-over-year.

• Expectations fade for more gains in Iraqi oil output

  Expectations for further gains in Iraqi oil production have fallen victim to the country's deteriorating finances and struggle with Islamic State militancy.

• AFPM Q&A-3 Refiners discuss FCC reliability issues, catalyst selection

  This is the final of three articles presenting selections from the 2015 American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Q&A and Technology Forum (Oct. 4-7, New Orleans). It highlights fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes, including issues related to reliability, additives and catalysts, and unit slowdowns.