Offshore — Eagle Ford Shale News — Eagle Ford Shale Play

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) has really outgrown its name. While the name indicates an offshore focus, you'll find companies who service the oil & gas industry in all walks on and off shore.

Attendance set a record at almost 105,000. That's the highest since 1982.

If you didn't attend, you missed out on over 2,700 industry exhibits displaying new technologies that improve oil and gas exploration and operations.

A few highlights include:

Statoils remote welding robot that allows a company to tie into a live pipe
Geogrid technology from Tensar that strengthens rig pads and can be used to decrease erosion
Water desalination technology advances
New, improved version of GE's blind sheer ram (part of the BOP)
A rig that is almost fully automated and robotic - no humans on the deck floor
Downhole pipe cutting tool that leaves smooth edges

We only spent a day at the OTC conference, but you can read more about the whole week at fuelfix.com

ExxonMobil agrees to enter a partnership with the Russian oil & gas giant Rosneft in the Artic and Black Sea in exchange for a development carry and the potential to participate in Exxon's tight oil assets in Texas. Is it the Eagle Ford? Exxon has been tight lipped when it comes to the Eagle Ford and this might be the first indication that the company has a material position in the play. XTO was leasing in South Texas when the company was acquired by Exxon in 2010. XTO had built a significant producing position through the acquisition of Dominino Resource's South Texas properties not long before it was acquired itself. The assets were largely producing and acreage was held by production. That luxury is likely the reason we have not seen Exxon add as many rigs in South Texas as other operators. I'll update this post as more details emerge.

The agreement, signed by Rosneft President Eduard Khudainatov and ExxonMobil Development Company President Neil Duffin in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, includes approximately US $3.2 billion to be spent funding exploration of East Prinovozemelskiy Blocks 1, 2 and 3 in the Kara Sea and the Tuapse License Block in the Black Sea, which are among the most promising and least explored offshore areas globally, with high potential for liquids and gas.
In the course of these projects, the companies will use global best practices to develop state-of-the-art safety and environmental protection systems.
The agreement also provides Rosneft with an opportunity to gain equity interest in a number of ExxonMobil’s exploration opportunities in North America, including deep-water Gulf of Mexico and tight oil fields in Texas (USA), as well as additional opportunities in other countries. The companies have also agreed to conduct a joint study of developing tight oil resources in Western Siberia.