NEWS (July 4, 2009) Source - Member reports. CHINA SOFT MONEY IN HUNT FOR OIL. Chinese state-owned oil company Sinopec is negotiating its first oil exploration and production deal in Brazil with Petrobras. Sinopec ownership in oil exploration projects was a condition of the $10 billion loan obtained last month by Petrobras from China. The soft loan, the largest yet obtained by Petrobras, was arranged with China Development Bank and calls for the Brazilian company to increase its oil sales to Sinopec subsidiary Unipec Asia to 150,000 bpd in 2009 and 200,000 bpd over the following nine years.

NEWS (July 2, 2009) Source - KSA reports. Iraq plans a quick second bidding round after the disastrous first round this week. Foreign operators will obviously have another chance to bid. The country's second major bidding round for oil deals was supposed to be at the end of the year....

NEWS (July 2, 2009) Source - South China Morning Post. CHINA IN A TORRENT TO ACQUIRE OIL. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) plans to revive a $17 billion bid for the Argentinian unit of Spanish oil major Repsol-YPF. CNPC may offer to buy up to three-quarters of YPF, tapping into soft money from Chinese banks. China National Offshore Oil Corporation was also eyeing a 25% stake. A Repsol spokesperson said the company has received “lots of proposals, ideas and suggestions from companies in China, India and Russia” but no “firm offer”. Only last month, the largest foreign takeover by a Chinese company was announced, with Sinopec’s $7.2bn agreed bid for Addax Petroleum, active in west Africa and Iraqi Kurdistan. Heads up, China rapidly shifting investments into direct hard consummable commodities, and away from newly printed dollars and US Treasury bonds sending a firm message to the US Federal Reserve and Obama Administration.

NEWS (July 2, 2009) Source - Member reports. Reda terminated 60 employees a couple of weeks ago in Bartlesville. SLB claims this was done as part of the overall oilfield service sector slowdown. Quoting & PO activity is slow. REDA in Bartlesville is going to a 4-day work week beginning July 6.

NEWS (July 2, 2009) Middle East Member reports. Iraq rejects ALL foreign oil deals from bids submitted two days ago! Details: Bai Hassan oilfied - ConocoPhillips offered $26.70 per barrel payback after investment to work the field, Iraq wanted to give them only $4 ! Group bid by Sinopec, ENI Medio Orient, OXY,& Kogas for the Zubair oilfield - bid $4.80 barrel payback, Iraq offered to give them $2. China's CNOOC and Sinopec wanted $25.40/barrel for oil extracted from the Maysan field, but Iraq countered to pay them only $2.30. In the case of $2 a barrel offered by Iraq, companies would only receive 95 cents after paying 35% in taxes and 25% of after tax income to their associated national oil company. Ouch!

NEWS (July 1, 2009) Member reports - Baker Hughes Centrilift fires many long-time experienced employees last week - over 40, including senior engineering staff. Among engineering staff, 20 fired since January alone. Yet, many young grads are expected to be hired the next few weeks. Out with the old, in with the new. Member reports cite that the much ballyhooed BAKER1 program mandated by Houston corporate already off on wrong foot. Members reminisce previous corporate failures - ever heard of BHI Project Renaissance? Among other service companies, SLB Reda has fired undisclosed number of employees, and WORKWEEK REDUCTIONS TO FOUR DAYS A WEEK is to be implemented to save costs, and improve the bottom line. Borets WFT also instigated RIF. Looking for work? www.OilGas.pro

NEWS (June 18, 2009) . Source - Reuters and member reports. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev met privately in Moscow, following BRIC meetings this week. Medvedev said the two sides had agreed to a record $100 billion in oil & gas deals.Coinciding with Hu's visit, Russia's Economic Development Ministry released figures showing that in the first months of 2009, China had become Russia's biggest trading partner, overtaking Germany and the Netherlands. Hu invited Putin to visit Beijing in October. The two leaders know each other well, having met several times when Putin was president of Russia from 2000-2008.

NEWS (June 15, 2009) . Source - BP. The latest edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, published last week, shows that, for the first time, total oil demand in the emerging markets now outstrips the West. That's an important milestone. From now on, the Western world can slump but global oil prices can stay "fundamentally" strong. As the graphs in the report show, - Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) now account for over 20pc of global GDP – the same share as the US, the world's largest crude importer. Over the next few years, the BRICs' share of global commerce, along with that of all the other emerging markets, continues to rise sharply. So what's the effect on oil futures? In each of these fast-industrialising, energy-hungry societies, per capita oil use will continue to crank up from its current low base. That's why global crude demand will soar over the medium-term, even if Western growth barely recovers....

NEWS (June 3, 2009) . Source - SABC & Member reports. Chevron has recently completed the first phase of testing its new steam flooding technique in the Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Chevron plans to continue with a second phase of testing in July. In the upcoming second testing phase, steam will be injected into 16 wells. The testing will run for three years to assess the oilfield’s recovery potential and could then go full field in 2017. ESPLIFT members are invited to submit follow up reports.

NEWS (May 28, 2009) . Source - CNBC interview. Investment is not economically plausible below $70 a barrel, said OPEC’s Secretary General Abdalla El-Badri. He did not think $50 a barrel oil would permit investment in the future, he said. "I think we can live with 75, 85, 90 dollars, more or less, but we don't want to see a very high price because it's not to our benefit," he said. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi has been stressing that investment is crucial at this time.

NEWS (May 20, 2009) GREEN COUNTRY ESP SOLD FOR $26M. Source - Member reports and GOS website. Global Oilfield Services will acquire Green Country Submersible Pumps from Oklahoma City-based Chaparral Energy LLC - deal to close on June 6. Revenue goal - $250M in 5 yrs. Chapparal had purchased Green Country for about $9M a few years back. Member reports - Larry Crow, previously of Baker Hughes, had led an unsuccessful effort by Baker Hughes to acquire Green Country. The acquisition includes the Hominy, OK manufacturing operations, which employs about 80 people, and service and operations centers in Pauls Valley and Gillette, Wyoming. GOS also announced a new $100 million line of equity from Pine Brook Road Partners LLC. The Houston company eventually plans to invest a portion of that new line of equity on expanding the Green Country operations. Watch out for your core Reda, ESPI and Centrilift. How will yet another well capitalized ESP vendor affect valuations in the ESP industry?

NEWS (March 10, 2009) PETROBRAS - 2 MILLION B/D. Source - PR News. Petrobras set a daily oil production record in Brazil on March 6th: 2,012,654 b/d. Three new production platforms have gone on stream in the past few months, in the Campos Basin (state of Rio de Janeiro): the P-53 and Cidade de Niteroi, in the Marlim Leste field; and the P-51, in Marlim Sul.

NEWS (March 6, 2009) EUROPE'S BANKS FACE A $2 TRILLION SHORTAGE. Source - Daily Telegraph. What's the effect on oil prices as the recession unfolds worldwide, and as the see saw of current deflation and anticipated inflation rocks the market? See member ESPLIFT editorials for comments. The BIS said European and British banks have relied on an “unstable” source of funding, borrowing in their local currencies to finance “long positions in US dollars”. Much of this has to be rolled over in short-term debt markets. “The build-up of large net US dollar positions exposed these banks to funding risk, or the risk that their funding positions could not be rolled over,” said the BIS. The report, entitled “US dollar shortage in global banking”, helps explain why there has been such a frantic scramble for dollars each time the credit crisis takes a turn for the worse. Many investors have been wrong-footed by the powerful rally in the dollar against almost all currencies, except the yen.

NEWS (March 2, 2009) IRAN SAYS OPEC HAS NO PLANS TO CUT PRODUCTION Source- China Post. Iran's official news agency says the Iranian Oil Ministry said OPEC would not make any decision to cut production in its March meeting. The Sunday report by IRNA quotes Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari as saying member countries of the organization, “will make no decision for further cuts of production of their crude.”

OUCH !
NEWS (Feb 26, 2009) TAXES - OIL & GAS INDUSTRY. Source - OMB. Obama's new budget for coming decade - tax increase changes to bite the industry. What will be the effects on you, your business and future oil production?
• $5.3 billion - excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
•$3.4 billion - repeal expensing of tangible drilling costs
•$62 million - repeal deduction for tertiary injectants
•$49 million - repeal passive loss exception for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
•$13 billion - repeal manufacturing tax deduction for oil and natural gas companies
•$1 billion - increase to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers

NEWS (Feb 25, 2009) Source-Member reports. EUROPEAN PROTESTS GROWING. Yesterday - over 100,000 in Dublin, Ireland take to the streets. See past reports previous months below.

NEWS (Feb 24, 2009) Source-Member reports. BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES. Round 2 - More firings on the way ? Phase II of esp industry layoffs planned for next 3-4 weeks. All three major ESP manufacturers preparing. Who remembers all throughout the 80's and late 90's ? Old guard core talent base in peril.

NEWS (Feb 20, 2009) Source-Member reports. Updates on OXY layoffs - OXY had staff reductions of 100 last week. 30 in Houston, the rest worldwide. Many offered early retirement packages, etc. Paring down, as new rumors say the cut will approach 5% of worldwide workforce.

NEWS (Feb 19, 2009) Source-RIA Novosti & Tehran Times. Russia is seeking two loans worth a total of $25 billion from China for its state-controlled oil firm Rosneft and Transneft pipeline operator. Speaking in Beijing today, Russia’s deputy prime minister, Igor Sechin insists “This is our third meeting as part of our energy dialogue in the last seven months, and it must bring results,” opening the talks. The proposed deal would allow energy-hungry China to secure an annual supply of 110 million bbls of crude for 20 years. China is seen turning to Russia, Kazakhstan, and countries in Africa and South America, to ensure energy security.

NEWS (Feb 18, 2009) Source- OMB 2009 US Budget - over $11,500 per person! Massive increase in debt to GNP ratio. The Obama administration forecasts a budget deficit of $1.75 trillion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. That’s 23% higher than a forecast by economists at primary debt dealer Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and equivalent to about 12 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. What will be the affect of coming inflation on oil prices. Assuming success of recovery, how will demand side of equation affect oil prices, concomitant with supposed inflation? Who predicts $200 - 300 + b/d oil to come? Far fetched? - look at the late 1960's and 1970's for precedent. From $3 to $32 per barrel - over ten fold increase.

NEWS (Feb 15, 2009) Source-Iran Daily South Korea will deliver 16 oil tankers to Iran in the first four months of 2009, managing director of National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) said, adding that with the addition of the new vessels, the country’s oil tanker capacity will reach 4.78 million tons. With all these new billion $ tankers, won't Iran be shipping more oil to market?

NEWS (Feb 11, 2009) Source - OECD. Non-OPEC oil supply is expected to grow by 150,000 b/d in 2009 and 130,000 b/d in 2010. The expected growth in non-OPEC supply over the next 2 years comes in stark contrast to the 330,000 b/d decline seen in 2008, which was the result of longer than expected delays in key projects, larger than expected decline rates in mature basins, and supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico and Central Asia. The largest sources of growth are the United States, offshore Brazil, and Azerbaijan, offset by large declines in production in Mexico, the North Sea, and Russia. The expected decline in Russian output in 2009 will be minus 160,000 b/d. Russian oil production grew by 3 million b/d from 2000 through 2007, representing 75 percent of total non-OPEC oil production growth over that period.

NEWS (Jan 8, 2009) In Beijing to secure Asian financing, Dr. Mohammad Emadi, director of National Iranian Oil Co., states that Iran is targeting 5.0 million b/d of oil production capacity by 2010, up from 4.2 million b/d now. Recent cuts of 200 k b/d in line with OPEC agreements, "will be sent to storage and sometimes we use this opportunity for overhaul and maintenance".

NEWS (Jan 8, 2009) Confirming ESPlift member reports in December, Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield-services company, eliminated 1,000 jobs in North America yesterday to cut costs and improve ROI. Those fired include contractors, operating and support employees in a number of locations, Stephen Harris, a Houston- based spokesman, said today in an interview. Schlumberger, with headquarters in Houston and Paris, had about 19,000 full-time North American employees, he said. This morning, analysts from Pritchard Capital Partners said in a report they had heard rumors Schlumberger was planning to cut 10 percent of its work force. Is this 5% cut just the beginning? The WSJ reports that Halliburton Corp. said today that it also will be cutting jobs, but provided no details. Substantial Baker Hughes cuts are also imminent according to members. SLB,HAL,& BHI share prices rallied in after market trading on the news, all trading up.

NEWS (Jan 7, 2009) A new wave of protectionism. It may be early, but no doubt in sight. How may it affect world trade, oil & gas, and the oil service industry manufacturing base? Will Chinese yuan pegs and sanctions threaten supply and prices of core industrial stock? - vis a vis Russian gas curtailment. "History may not always repeat but it often rhymes", Mark Twain. See ESPlift.com editorials for more.

NEWS (Jan 7, 2009) NATCO lowers 2009 earnings projections. Natco said its current 2009 outlook was premised on commodity prices for U.S. natural gas averaging $5.50 per thousand cubic feet and oil prices averaging $55 per barrel for the year. Based on these assumptions, the company said it expects U.S. rig count to fall to about 1,450 rigs for 2009, compared with a high of 2,449 in 2008. Note: see mirror image forecast by investment banker G. Allen Brooks, in his mid-December 2008 subscriber report.

NEWS
(Jan 5, 2009)
Putin states new Russian gas policy, "The expenses necessary for developing fields are rising sharply, and this means that despite the current problems in finances the era of cheap energy resources, of cheap gas, is of course coming to an end".

NEWS (Dec 19th, 2008) - JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets, reduced its 2009 average oil price forecast to $43 a barrel from $69 as a global economic slowdown causes a contraction in demand. The prospect of oil falling to $25 is “hard to dismiss amid a serious deterioration of economic conditions and building stocks,” the bank said in a report released yesterday.

NEWS (Dec 17th, 2008) - Like Canadian shale of the early 1980's, oil prices below $40 sinks SAGD investment , see editorials.

NEWS (Dec 17th, 2008) - Industry changes - "quiet hush" as industry begins paring back expenses. Shell Oil news. Wood Group ESP restructures, Reda hiring freeze. Centrilift jobs to vanish. Member "Spectran LLC" and others report Posted, click here.

NEWS (Nov 2nd, 2008) - Middle East Artificial Lift Forum - Bahrain - 16-18 February 2009. Please support, and interested professionals may register at this time for this event.

NEWS (October 10th, 2008) - ESPlift™ online support statisics for September 2008. Total ESPlift™ message board visits were 6972, and a total of 202 email and online written messages. Total telephone calls for September into ESPlift.com - 510, comprising 330 in North America, East Asia & Australia 44, Middle East, Africa and Indian Subcontinent 15(excluding our M.E. Gulf States Forum) , Europe and Russia 37, Latin America 84. There were 144 artificial lift and ESP application questions, and support provided by retired applications specialists. FAQ #1 is recommendation request to identify best manufacturer for a particular problem and proposed solution, and how best to contact them and what to ask an OEM. Eight inquiries developed into possible consulting work for our ESPlift retired pros. Since providing ESPlift™ direct telephone and written email support service, message board hits have decreased but remain very active. Posts have decreased, which should be expected when live support is provided. ESPlift™ is now the leading #1 online Artificial Lift web service provider. To all registered members ( over 300 at this time), thank you for your continued support!

NEWS (August 20th, 2008) - PCP lift.com has open invitations out to Artificial Lift PCP professionals to join their PCP Lift™ Team One group in developing their new community knowledge base. Launch date is scheduled for December, 2008. Also they are wanting your ideas about what you want the community to do and topics of interest. Interested pros may contact Mr. Brian Schaurer, email: teamone@pcpLIFT.com for more information.

NEWS (August 4th, 2008) - Centrilift Exits Water Pump Business, including use of Centriline Brand Name. Click here, for more information.

NEWS (August 1st, 2008) - ESPlift™ online support statisics for July 2008. Total ESPlift™ message board visits were 6727, and a total of 143 email and online written messages. Total telephone calls for July into ESPlift.com - 674, comprising 285 in North America, East Asia & Australia 65, Middle East, Africa and Indian Subcontinent 42(excluding our M.E. Gulf States Forum) , Europe and Russia 114, Latin America 168. There were 144 artificial lift and ESP application questions, and support provided by retired applications specialists. FAQ #1 is recommendation request to identify best manufacturer for a particular problem and proposed solution, and how best to contact them and what to ask an OEM. Seven inquiries developed into possible consulting work for our ESPlift retired pros. Since providing ESPlift™ direct telephone and written email support service, message board hits have decreased but remain very active. Posts have decreased, which should be expected when live support is provided. ESPlift™ is now the leading #1 online Artificial Lift web service provider. To all registered members ( over 250 at this time), thank you for your continued support!

NEWS (July 25, 2008) - Schlumberger Reda files patent for advanced high performance wear resistant pump construction, without using coatings such as nickel boron. Nickel Boride coating is known to reduce pump flow/head performance, and also increases the likelihood of catastrophic pump failure when the thin NiB coating wears through in tough sandy environments. See link, click here to see Reda Patent application.

UPDATE & DEVELOPMENTS (July 7, 2008) - SEC Charges Baker Hughes with Foreign Bribery and Violating Cease and Desist Order. Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said, "Baker Hughes committed widespread and egregious violations of the FCPA while subject to a prior Commission cease-and-desist Order. The $10 million penalty demonstrates that companies must adhere to Commission Orders and that recidivists will be punished." Christopher R. Conte, an Associate Director in the SEC's Division of Enforcement, added, "Companies like Baker Hughes will be held accountable when they circumvent the rules of fair play and honest competition by making improper payments to win business."

LOOKING FOR WORK? See www.OilGas.pro email: help@oilgas.pro

NEWS (June 29, 2008) - Green Country Pumps signing new technology agreement with Norwegian production services and engineering company of advanced downhole tooling. See link, click here.

NEWS (June 13, 2008) - Challenged! - Centrilift self boasting "Best in Class" ? See link, click here.

NEWS (June 9, 2008) - ESPschool.com to provide online ESP artificial lift training for major operator in the Middle East. Initial online training to be in English, followed by customized program in Arabic. See ESPschool.com for details.

NEWS (May 15, 2008) - In the month of April, over 14,000 visits to espLIFT.com. In only the first 14 days of May, over 9000 visits! Thank you for joining the leading #1 oil & gas artificial lift professional community.

REPORT (May 14, 2008) - Subsea Motor Failure. See "Subsea" section for posts, click here.

NEWS (May 13, 2008) - Tianjin Investment. See 'Heard on the Street' for news posts.

NEWS (May 12, 2008) - GR group - Bahrain, awarded "Best New Middle East Oilfield Service Company" distinction. See message board posts.

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API RP11S2 TEST STANDARDS FOR THE ESP Editorialposted by DavidPDavidson Not much has changed since the first draft of the API RPI S2 standard in the mid 1980's. But ESP technology has changed significantly. Mr Davidson's editorial examines the issues. Click here for the full report.

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