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Gold/Mining/Energy : KERM'S KORNER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (7701)	12/3/1997 8:09:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

MEDIA / Amoco Hopeful Of Large 0ffshore Grand Banks Find ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - The Grand Banks haven't been kind to Amoco, but the Chicago-based oil giant should know soon if it will strike a massive Hibernia-type oil reservoir in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin as it hopes, or hit its 34th dry hole. Amoco is two months behind schedule on its West Bonne Bay exploration program after twice running into problems 3.5 kilometres beneath the ocean floor and losing a few days to bad weather. Amoco spokesman Dave Schilling said Tuesday that drilling is back on track. "We're kind of at a make-or-break stage right now," he said. "We just set a string of casing in the well. We're basically in our final leg of the well here, looking at wrapping up late in December." The 4,350-metre well, which was spudded July 31 from the semi-submersible rig Bill Shoemaker, was originally projected to take 70 to 90 days to drill. But drillers had to back up 60 metres at one point and re-drill around a trouble spot. The resulting 10-day delay reportedly cost $3 million. Schilling declined comment on the problems, but an industry source in Calgary said it's not uncommon for a wildcat well to cave in at depth and cause the drill team to lose ground. Amoco president Bob Erikson, during an energy conference in Newfoundland in June, said the West Bonne Bay property could be a 300-million barrel discovery. The company's Canadian subsidiary, Amoco Canada Petroleum Ltd., bid $90.25 million on the parcel, basing its offer entirely on the results of seismic data interpreted by one of the most powerful computers in the world. "We're pretty confident about West Bonne Bay," Anderson said at the time, adding the company was optimistic it could see first oil by 2003.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (7701)	12/3/1997 8:16:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15196

MEDIA / Hibernia Evacuated As Precaution ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - Everything was back to normal on the Hibernia production platform Monday, after the discovery of a gas leak Sunday forced the evacuation of all non-essential personnel. More than 100 crewmembers were ferried by helicopter to an oil rig about 40 kilometres from Hibernia when a gas leak was discovered in a shaft. Two helicopters transferred 107 crew members to the floating oil rig, Bill Shoemaker. All workers were moved to a fireproof module, located on the opposite side of the platform, in the event that the gas ignited. Most the crew had been brought back to the platform by early Monday, with the rest to return throughout the day. Hibernia officials said the transfer was only precautionary. Paul Durdle, a spokesman for the company, said specialist personnel stayed aboard to assess the leak and try to stop it. Alan Brown, Hibernia's general production manager, said the gas leak was caused by the transportation of crude oil between "cells" of the rig. He said it was not flammable, and the platform was not in production at the time. The leak was found on the second level of the utility shaft, one of the four giant, hollow legs that join the production platform to the base of the structure which is stationed 315 kilometres off the east coast of Newfoundland. Brown said the gas is associated with the oil as it comes out of the ground and is very similar to natural gas. "What we were able to determine very clearly is that the gas levels had stabilized," Brown said. "(Personnel) were able to very quickly lower these gas levels by starting up our ventilation equipment." The concentration of gas was never high enough to represent an ignition danger, he said. Officials said all of the 274 people on board the rig were accounted for and safe.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (7701)	12/3/1997 8:51:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

MEDIA / Canadian 88 Energy Exploration Deal A First Northern News Services If Canadian 88 Energy Corp. president Greg Noval was considered something of a renegade before last Thursday, news that the Calgary company will share petroleum profits with an aboriginal organization should solidify his reputation in the industry. Oil companies aren't known for signing such deals. At least not until now. Under a landmark access agreement, Tulita Dene and Metis of Fort Norman will get five per cent of the net profit Canadian 88 earns from petroleum produced from its 86,156-hectare zone in the Sahtu. A benefits plan has also been signed. The access agreement is a private contract, while the benefits plan needs approval from Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jane Stewart. Under the Sahtu master land agreement, a portion of Tulita's benefits will be shared among the two other districts. Tulita is one of three districts in the Sahtu region. "If Inco in Voisey's Bay had done this, they wouldn't be in the position they're in," Noval said. The huge nickel deposit in Labrador has so far produced only a protracted legal battle between the company and local Inuit. Tulita Dene Nation Chief Gordon Yakeleya said the agreement is a historic one between a resource company and an aboriginal people. He called Noval's approach to the negotiations visionary. At the least, the agreement sets a precedent other oil companies could be forced to follow. It also may impede Ottawa's ability to negotiate higher royalties with aboriginal groups. "We're proud of the deal. We'll take flack from other (oil companies). We have already," he said. "Whether we find oil or gas or not, it sets a precedent." The deal was negotiated "independent of the federal government," Noval said. Davis and Company lawyer Richard Hardy, who led negotiations between the two sides, said that, before the money starts flowing, a viable amount of oil will have to be found. Assuming current economic conditions prevail, Hardy projects that a 45 million barrel oil find located 20 kilometres from the Norman Wells Zana Lake pipeline, with prices at $21 US a barrel, would generate $21 million over a 34-year period for Dene -- more than 20 times what the access fees alone would generate. Canadian 88, after all costs, would clear $401 million over that same 34 years. Hardy called the agreement the most significant he has ever been associated with. "Without Greg Noval, this wouldn't have happened," he said. The signing of the benefits plan and the access agreement comes four years after the Sahtu land claim agreement. The claim, signed in September 1993, was brought into force in June 1994. The Tulita-Canadian 88 agreements took effect Oct. 31.