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A few people have mentioned to me that they consider Oil & Gas Journal to be the 'insiders' choice for professional reading matter.

This may have been true a few years ago, but now it seems dated. Moreover, it covers both upstream (production) and downstream (refining and petrochem) in equal measures, and as a consequence the part that instrests those of us in the production business (upstream) is diluted.

The new kid on the block is "Upstream" which exists in a real-time online version and a weekly newspaper. It delivers hardcore production news worldwide.

http://www.upstreamonline.com

From experience, the network of reports for Upstream must have pretty good inside sources, as the online news is generally very timely and accurate.

What it does miss is the reserves database that OGJ publishes. But that apart, Upstream is a much better source of real-time news on oil production.

There is also a regular LNG supplement now, whcih is equally informative on that booming market.

Conclusion - not to be missed, an essential news source for production news.

As a taster, here is a leading article from this weeks hardcopy.


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Saudis raise bar in search for reserves
25.02.2005

Saudi Arabia plans to offer foreign companies new acreage for gas exploration as part of efforts to add to the country's reserves and help meet growing domestic demand.

Oil Minister Ali Naimi said a new licensing round would be held "within the next three to four years", once initial drilling results from the first round are known.

"We are waiting for the results of first wells from the previous round this year and next year. Depending on the results we will hold a new round," Naimi said.

Naimi added he was confident that foreign companies would find large quantities of gas in the current round of exploration, encouraging more aggressive participation in the next round.

Drilling results could firm up predictions that the kingdom's vast desert regions hold large deposits of natural gas.

The minister said after a meeting with Norway's Oil Minister Thorhild Widvey that domestic gas demand would double within the next 20 years as Saudi Arabia's industrialisation and population growth gather pace.

Norwegian companies, such as Statoil, could involve themselves in the search for gas in future licensing rounds.

"The kingdom is consuming 7.5 billion cubic feet per day and has to satisfy the huge demands of the chemical, mining, and other industrial requirements, which will be around 12 billion to 14 billion cubic feet in the year 2025," Naimi said.

State-owned Aramco had succeeded in adding 7.5 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves per year to its core base against an annual target of 5 Tcf.

Saudi's proven gas reserves stand at 235 Tcf, the third-largest in the Middle East after Iran and Qatar.

Aramco currently produces 9 Bcf of gas a day and pumps it into the Master Gas System. The company hopes a current wave of exploration, following last year's awards to international companies, will significantly increase its reserves. Large finds may prompt Saudi Arabia to embark on gas export schemes.

A Shell-led group is now conducting seismic work prior to the crucial drilling phase on its Empty Quarter project.

The exploration scheme shared by Shell, Saudi Aramco and France's Total aims to explore for, and ultimately produce, non-associated gas and condensate from the permit covering 209,160 square kilometres.

The group is conducting an initial exploration programme between 2004 and 2006 of 10,000 kilometres equivalent of 2D seismic prior to drilling three exploration wells.

Russia's Lukoil and Italy's Eni are also involved in preliminary gas exploration work.

They, along with China's Sinopec, signed separate agreements with the Saudi government last March under a competitive bid round. Aramco holds a 20% stake in each of the projects.

Lukoil signed up for a 29,900 square-kilometre block in the South Ghawar region known as Contract Area A.

The Russian company is investing $215 million in the exploration phase, during which it will drill nine wells and acquire 8750 kilometres of 2D seismic.

An Eni-led group, which has an agreement to find and produce gas in a 51,400 square-kilometre area of the Empty Quarter, known as Contract Area C, plans to drill four exploration wells and shoot 5000 kilometres of 2D seismic.

Sinopec, winner of a 38,800 square-kilometre block in the South Ghawar region, known as Contract Area B, has set aside an exploration budget of $300 million to cover seven exploration wells and 13,000 kilometres of 2D seismic. The company plans to spud its first well in the first half of 2005.

Contract areas A and B are scaled-down versions of a much larger project originally offered to an ExxonMobil-led consortium under the ill-fated Saudi Gas Initiative.