Saudi Aramco Asia, a subsidiary of Aramco has just signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesia’s national oil company, Pertamina to evaluate the feasibility of building an integrated refining and petrochemical complex in East Java, Indonesia.

Aramco’s vice president of marketing, supply and joint ventures coordination commented that this is a significant part of the company’s efforts to enhance its downstream presence in Asia, which is expected by many industry watchers to become the next global refining hub.

The signing of the MoU for this project will bring Aramco’s refining capacity to about 800 million barrels of oil per day, making it one of the largest refiners in this business.

Terrapinn’s Asia Refining Congress 2012 that will be held on 17 September in Singapore will be discussing joint ventures and investment opportunities for global downstream players at length. If you’re looking at partners or investors for your downstream ventures, contact Ms. Seema Kumar at seema.kumar@terrapinn.com to find out how you can participate at the event.

For more information on the Asia Refining Congress’ programme, download the event prospectus here.

Total is a 27.5 per cent partner in Santos’s $16 billion Gladstone liquefied natural gas project in Queensland, where opposition to CSG exploration has become a central issue in the state’s election campaign.

The company, France’s biggest, plans to become a major investor in Australia and is scouring for further opportunities to spend some of its $20bn capital budget this year.

To read the full article, click here.

The Coal Seam Methane conference will be happening on the 30 July to 1 August 2012. It will discuss investment, exploration and development for gas producers, government and investors. For more information, click here.

Oil and Gas – The performance of a refinery is evaluated by its refinery margin. A refinery margin is the money a company makes by buying an unprocessed commodity (crude oil) and selling the refined product (gasoline, jet fuel, diesel etc.).

Gross Refinery Margin = Price of refined product – Price of crude oil

Net Refinery Margin = Gross Refinery Margin – Refinery Operating Costs – Transportation and Storage

Watch the below video to learn:

• How to calculate a refinery margin
• What changes can affect the calculations of the refinery margin
• How this is used to evaluate the performance of refinery
• How this is used when deciding what type of refinery to build

Evaluating a refinery is one of many of the topics covered by our expert trainer in the 12 hour MBA in Oil & Gas. The 12 Hour MBA in Oil & Gas is an online training course that explores all the critical issues and challenges surrounding the oil & gas industry.

Download the brochure to find out more

Don’t’ miss out on this opportunity! Register online and save an extra 10% by entering the promotional code 07D488EA43.

Brian Nixon, CEO, Decom North Sea will address the audience at the 2012 Oil & Gas Outlook North Sea discussing “Analysing the latest market forecasts for decommissioning activities in the North Sea”.

His presentation will cover what the next 5-10 years hold for decommissioning activities in the North Sea.

Oil & Gas Outlook North Sea is a unique forum bringing together NOCs, IOCs, Independents, Juniors and their partners to discuss strategy, opportunity, technology and partnerships. The event takes place 27-29 March in Aberdeen. You can download a copy of the full programme and speaker line-up here >

MOL Group, Group HR Director, Laszlo Szocs and Head of Long Term Planning and Performance Monitoring, Robert Mwasaru will address the audience at the 2012 Oil and Gas Human Capital World discussing “Talent development in the downstream supply chain”. Their presentation will cover:

• MOL Group’s holistic talent attraction and recruitment programme
• The relevance of a Masters degree – highlights of the PIMS Academy masters course
• Insight into the interaction of continuous process improvement and job rotation

Oil & Gas Human Capital World offers human resources strategies, training and technology solutions for the global oil and gas industry. The event takes place 16 – 18 April in London. You can download a copy of the full programme and speaker line-up here ›

Strike Energy

The well will be testing the potential for wet gas and liquids in the southern Cooper Basin and the well will take between 25-30 days to drill.

Strike Energy are using the Marsden-1 as the first of many wells that they will be drilling in the southern Cooper Basin as they have a strong belief of its gas potential.

Strike Managing Director David Wrench said “We are confident in the liquids potential of this region which together with the lower cost of drilling and ready access to infrastructure creates a clear path to commercialisation.”

David Wrench will be joining other leading shale explorers in speaking at this year’s Shale World Australia.

There are only a few stands left at Shale World Australia so if you provide solutions to the unconventional gas industry, get in touch with camilla.kamsvaag@terrapinn.com

Oil Search

One of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies said on Tuesday that it had started the largest drilling program in its history.

It will spend more than $US2.2 billion ($A2.05 billion) this year on exploration and activities related to its key growth project, the $15.7 billion PNG LNG (liquefied natural gas) development in which it is a joint venture partner.

The oil producer lifted its full year net profit by nine per cent to $196.2 million but analysts were more excited about its drilling activities, with the potential for a new major project to add to PNG LNG.

Three offshore discoveries have already been made in the gulf and while the resource could be incorporated into an expanded PNG LNG, Oil Search’s managing director Peter Botten named Talisman Energy and Shell as potential farm-in partners.

To read the full article, click here.

The LNG Outlook conference will be happening on the 19 – 21 November 2012. It will discuss investment and development for international gas buyers and Australian producers. For more information, click here.

Do you want to know how to find oil and gas? Watch the below video and follow they three key steps to evaluating a well.

1. Sample or Mud log (Lithologic Logs)
2. Cores
   • Full Diameter and Core Plugs
   • Sidewall Cores
3. Driller-Time Log
   • Rate of Penetration (ROP)
   • Drilling Break

Evaluating a well is just one of the subject areas touched upon throughout the 12 hour MBA in Oil & Gas. Our expert trainer Mian walks you through the fundamentals of the oil & gas industry and helps you to explore, discover and evaluate the critical issues and challenges faced.

Download the brochure to find out more. Don’t’ miss out on this opportunity! Register online and save an extra 10% by entering the promotional code 07D488EA43.

1. Exploration drilling (wildcat drilling)

2. Appraisal drilling

3. Delineation drilling

4. Development drilling

5. Maintain potential & infill drilling

6. Infill drilling

7. Delineation and/or step-out drilling

To continue learning about the fundamentals of oil and gas visit the 12hour MBA in Oil & Gas. Understand key terminologies, processes and technologies at your own pace, at your own place!!

Don’t’ miss out on this opportunity! Register online and save an extra 10% by entering the promotional code 07D488EA43.

Click here to download the brochure

Watch a panel discussion from Chris Faulkner, Breitling Oil and Gas, Darcy Spady, St. Brendan’s Exploration and Ron Crow, San Leon Energy at the 2011 Shale Gas World Europe discussing “improving the operational efficiencies of shale gas in Europe”. See the full presentation below.

Shale Gas World Europe is the premier conference for Europe’s gas producers and their partners to discuss the latest strategies and opportunities in the market.

The 3rd annual Shale Gas World Europe will take place 27-29 November 2012 at the Hilton Warsaw Hotel in Poland. For more details please visit www.terrapinn.com/shalegas