Archive for February, 2009

Apache halts Australian production ahead of possible cyclone

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments by cDiver.net Staff

  SYDNEY — Apache Energy Corp. Friday said that it has ceased production at its Stag and Legendre oil and condensate operations in offshore Western Australia because of bad weather conditions. All non-essential staff are being evacuated from the Varanus Island gas processing plant, but production is continuing as normal, Apache said. Staff are in [...]

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Obama budget hits oil, gas cos with new fees,taxes

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments by cDiver.net Staff

  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration Thursday proposed raising at least $31.5 billion over 10 years from oil and gas companies, reflecting a repeal of tax breaks for domestic production and new charges on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. The plans, outlined as part of a fiscal 2010 budget proposal, revive [...]

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Voyage to doomed Titanic an emotional trip for diver

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments by cDiver.net Staff

BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Richie Kohler thought he would be prepared for the moment when the Titanic first loomed in front of him, just 3 feet from the Russian Mir submersible he was cocooned in. He wasn’t. “When I saw it for the first time, all I could say was this is unbelievable,” the Brick [...]

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Oceaneering wins NASA space suit contract

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

  HOUSTON — Oceaneering International Inc.’s space systems unit has been awarded a contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop a new space suit for solar system exploration. The Houston engineering company, which specializes in deep sea diving suits, and its team bid for the Constellation Space Suit System contract last December after previously winning and losing a [...]

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Australia: More divers needed for aquaculture

Feb 27, 2009 34 Comments

  Aquaculture is a major growth industry in South Australia, but a lack of accredited commercial divers is creating problems for operators. Australia’s largest off-shore producer of farmed greenlip abalone, Australian Bight Abalone, employs 25 commercial divers to tend aquaculture leases near Elliston, on the Eyre Peninsula, but needs to double this number by the [...]

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Nigerian militants warn of more helicopter attacks

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

LAGOS – Nigerian militants warned on Thursday of attacks on any helicopters being used by the oil industry to transport soldiers in the Niger Delta, a day after a helicopter travelling to an oil facility was hit by gunfire.  The Sikorsky 76 was flying between the Ogbainbiri and Tebidaba oil flow stations operated by Italian energy [...]

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Big oil again pushes congress to open offshore acreage

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

WASHINGTON — Big Oil once again pushed U.S. lawmakers to open up the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas development, arguing Wednesday that resource estimates could be multiplied if the federal government would expand offshore drilling access. Although a moratorium on offshore drilling expired last year in the face of political pressure fueled by [...]

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Nigeria strives to lift local content in oil industry

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

ABUJA  – Nigeria wants more local content in its mainstay oil and gas industry, but a lack of skills training and shambolic infrastructure mean it is struggling to provide the white-collar manpower or materials the sector needs.  Government officials say Africa’s biggest energy industry has not provided enough domestic job growth in the five decades since [...]

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Bolivian president accuses US CIA of corrupting state oil firm

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

Eric Watkins OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor   LOS ANGELES — The investigation into corruption at Bolivia’s state-run oil company has taken a bizarre turn, with the Bolivian president and other government officials now claiming involvement by the US Central Intelligence Agency. “Unfortunately there has been a CIA presence in Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos [YPFB], and some [...]

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California US House members offer contrasting OCS proposals

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two US House members from California presented dramatically different viewpoints as the Natural Resources Committee focused on state perspectives in its second 2009 Outer Continental Shelf hearing on Feb. 24. Democrat Sam Farr, whose district includes the Monterey Peninsula, said moratoriums should be reinstated while Congress develops a comprehensive ocean resources [...]

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Obama's proposed budget would repeal oil, gas tax breaks

Feb 27, 2009 No Comments

Nick Snow OGJ Washington Editor The Obama administration has proposed eliminating what it termed “oil and gas company preferences” as it released its proposed fiscal 2010 federal budget on Feb. 26. The move would raise nearly $31.48 billion of revenue by fiscal 2019, it said. In the budget’s mandatory and receipts proposal table, it called for [...]

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