Stories tagged with "vietnam"

Abiotic Snake Oil

Posted by Dave Cohen on November 4, 2005 - 6:25pm
Topic: Geology/Exploration
Tags: abiogenesis, abiotic oil, black lion, thomas gold, vietnam, white tiger [list all tags]

A few days ago, Energy Bulletin reported that CNBC hosts 'Deep Oil vs. Peak Oil' debate. This turned out to be brief dialogue between Matt Simmons and Craig R. Smith, author of Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil. This book promotes the theory of abiogenic petroleum formation as we see from this worldnetdaily.com blurb.
Smith and co-author Jerome Corsi contend in "Black Gold Stranglehold" that oil is not a product of decaying dinosaurs and prehistoric forests, but that oil is constantly being produced by the earth, far below the planet's surface, and that it is brought to attainable depths by the centrifugal forces of the earth's rotation.
The book seems to be a follow-up to Thomas Gold's 1998 book The Deep Hot Biosphere in which the maverick astronomer contends that
Gold's theory of oil formation, which he expounded in a book entitled The Deep Hot Biosphere, is that hydrogen and carbon, under high temperatures and pressures found in the mantle during the formation of the Earth, form hydrocarbon molecules which have gradually leaked up to the surface through cracks in rocks.
Here, we will examine some specific claims made by Smith during his CNBC debate (mov clip) with Simmons to see if they are true. We will defer a more theoretical discussion of abiotic oil claims to a later date but as a bonus, we'll learn something about petroleum geology as it relates to Vietnam's oil production where the alleged "super deep" oil comes from.
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Foreign deals and domestic refineries

Posted by Heading Out on November 1, 2005 - 11:56pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: china, hurricane katrina, nigeria, refineries, russia, vietnam [list all tags]

Well there are a number of interesting snippets of news that are worth noting, and which might, collectively provide more parts to fit into the puzzle. Consider today's news that Russia is investing in Nigerian oil.
State oil firm Zarubezhneft has recently struck Russia's first oil deal with OPEC-member Nigeria to explore two offshore blocks in the Gulf of Guinea, the Energy Ministry said on Tuesday.

Russian oil majors are expanding abroad from Iran and Saudi Arabia to Venezuela and Colombia as record revenues from high oil prices allow them to invest in reserves outside Russia

The Russian company also is in partnership in Vietnam, where it produces about 230,000 bd.  I suspect that it is more credible than yesterday's Guardian story of a Chinese company bidding for Exxon Mobil. On the other hand, with the Chinese President in Vietnam, they also have signed an agreement for joint exploration.
In a related development, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's biggest offshore oil and gas producer, on Monday signed a framework agreement with a Vietnamese oil firm to jointly explore oil and gas in the Beibu Bay.
 Incidentally as Russia plans to double rail shipments of oil to China next year, we need to remember that not all transport is by pipeline or tanker.

In looking to see how restoration was progressing around New Orleans (where I had hoped to meet the inside contact, that Prof G just mentioned, but she could not get to Venice that day) it is important to note that not all the wells that were damaged were in relatively deep water.  As Platts noted

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