Norway Oil Companies Slash Investment Plans
Norwegian oil and gas investment, a key economic driver, is expected to decline sharply in 2021 after rising less than previously anticipated this year, an industry survey by the national statistics agency (SSB) showed on Thursday.The biggest drop will come in the exploration for new reserves and in spending on development plans, while ongoing oilfield construction work continues largely as expected…
Nigeria Launches Licensing Round for Marginal Oilfields
Nigeria has launched its first licensing round for marginal oilfields in nearly 20 years, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said on Monday, despite court rulings last week that barred some of the fields from being auctioned.Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks that are typically developed by indigenous companies. The new licensing round is the first marginal field round since 2002, which…
Petronas Farms Out Part of Suriname Offshore Block to Exxon
Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has completed the farm-down of a 50% stake in an offshore Suriname block to a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.The offshore block, known as Block 52, is located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city, and is situated in the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin where several major hydrocarbon discoveries were made recently. Block 52 covers an area of 4…
Equinor Exploration Manager Steps Down to Take New Role
Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has informed that its executive vice president Exploration Tim Dodson will step down as executive vice president Exploration, a role he held since 2011.In what Equinor said was a planned change to the leadership of Exploration, Dodson will take on the role as vice president Strategy Execution in Global Strategy and Business Development (GSB) from June 1, 2020.Tore…
New Offshore Acreage Licensing to Drop 60% in 2020, Rystad says
Newly licensed offshore oil and gas exploration acreage is likely to fall by about 60% and onshore acreage by 30% compared with 2019 levels, Rystad Energy has said, as the Norwegian energy market analytics company expects more than half of the world’s planned licensing rounds to be canceled this year due to the combined effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the low oil prices."This year was slated to…
Key Offshore Wildcat Wells At Risk of Being Suspended
At least nine of the world’s top planned exploration wells for 2020 are at risk of being suspended as a result of the blended impact of COVID-19 on oil and gas activities and the oil price war, Rystad Energy said Tuesday.These wells, the Norwegian energy intelligence firm said, located in Norway, Brazil, the Bahamas, Guyana, the US, Gambia, and Namibia would target a combined 7 billion barrels of oil…
Norway Offers 36 Offshore Blocks, None in Barents Sea
Norway is offering oil firms 36 offshore exploration blocks in this year's licensing round in mature areas and for the first time in a decade did not offer any blocks in the Barents Sea.All the blocks are offered in the western part of the Norwegian Sea, with interested parties asked to send their comments by May 11, the oil and energy ministry said."In demanding times, it is important to plan for the future…
Origin Energy to Defer Shale Drilling in Australia
Origin Energy will defer shale exploration drilling in Australia's Northern Territory until the second half of this year in a bid to protect workers from a coronavirus, the company said on Thursday.Origin, operator of a joint venture with Dublin-based Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd, resumed drilling in the Beetaloo Basin last year after a three-year break when drilling was banned, and had hoped to get first…
U.S. Offshore Oil Lease Sale Weakest Since 2016
A major sale of oil and gas leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday generated $93 million in high bids, the lowest total for any U.S. offshore auction since 2016, reflecting caution in the drilling industry amid a steep slide in oil prices.Firing up offshore drilling is a crucial part of U.S. President Donald Trump's "energy dominance" agenda to maximize domestic production of crude oil, natural gas, and coal.
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Set for March
U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer over 78 million acres for a region-wide lease sale scheduled for March 18, 2020, as part of President Trump’s America First Offshore Energy Strategy.The sale would include all available unleased areas in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said: “A strong and safe offshore energy program fuels the American economy…
Russia Leads E&P Race in Arctic Region
Russian and Norwegian exploration and production (E&P) operators have been expanding their operations in the Arctic continental shelf, which is estimated to hold vast deposits of hydrocarbons and rare earth minerals.Warming temperatures in the Barents Sea and northern coastline of Russia are giving an added impetus to resource development in this region, according to GlobalData.GlobalData's report…
CaribX Ups Stake in Cape Licence Off Honduras
The Central American and Caribbean specialist exploration company CaribX said that it is increasing its share of the Main Cape Operating contract in Honduras.Following government approval CaribX will hold a 55% interest in the highly prospective licence area.CEO Rory Scott Russell said: "We are pleased to have closed this latest round of funding and delighted to have such a highly qualified and experienced group of explorers and entrepreneurs joining the company.
Oil And Gas Discoveries Hit 4-Year High
The global oil and gas explorers powered ahead and discovered 12.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in 2019, the highest volume since 2015.According to Rystad Energy, last year recorded 26 discoveries of more than 100 million boe, with offshore regions dominating the list of new oil and gas deposits.Guyana’s success story from 2018 continued in 2019, with ExxonMobil adding four new discoveries within its offshore Stabroek block…
Beach Energy Eyes Offshore New Zealand
Australian oil and gas exploration and production company Beach Energy Limited has signed an agreement with OMV GSB Oil Exploration to acquire a 30% participating interest in exploration permit (EP) PEP50119 in the Great South Basin, offshore New Zealand.Under the agreement, Beach will acquire a 30% participating interest in the permit in exchange for funding a 30% share of the Tawhaki-1 well cost and the associated work program and budget.
PTTEP Charters Energy Drilling for Arthit Gig
Singapore based Energy Drilling has been awarded a contract by the Thailand's oil and gas company PTT Exploration & Production International (PTTEP) to provide drilling services on the Arthit field in Gulf of Thailand.The builder and manager of self-erecting tender assist drilling rigs said in a release that this contract secures employment for the high specification tender rig EDrill-1, for a firm…
Croatia Awards Licence to INA for Gas and Oil Exploration
The Croatian government said on Thursday it had awarded a licence to energy group INA for gas and oil exploration and exploitation on one block in the country's central and mountainous southern area.It gave no financial details.Earlier this year Croatia received one bid from INA for exploration in one block in the Dinarides region in a tender offering four blocks stretching over an area of 12,134 square km (4…
Shell Eyes Brazil Exploration Areas
The head of Royal Dutch Shell Plc in Brazil said on Friday that it currently made more sense for the company to look for exploration areas.Speaking after Brazil's disappointing oil auctions this week, which Shell chose to sit out, Andre Araujo said the Buzios block, where state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA won rights to extract proven reserves, is an area that any company would want. (Reporting by Roberto Samora Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Kosmos Strikes Oil Off Equatorial Guinea
American upstream oil company founded and based in Dallas Kosmos Energy made an offshore oil discovery in Equatorial Guinea, Reuters reported quoting the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons.The S-5 well was drilled at a total depth of 4,400 meters and encountered 39 meters of net oil play in the Santonian reservoir, in the offshore Rio Muni Basin, it said. “The discovery is a strong validation of our strategy to replace oil reserves by exploring the highly prospective oil basins like Rio Muni…
E&P Companies Struggle on RoI
International exploration & production (E&P) are struggling to make money from offshore investments made during the latest investment upturn, according to a new study by Rystad Energy.Rystad Energy has evaluated all offshore oil fields sanctioned since 2010 and ranked them by estimated value per barrel of oil (boe) under various oil price scenarios. The return on investment (RoI) figures were not…
Orca-1 is Largest Gas Discovery of the Year
On 28 October 2019 oil giant BP announced a major gas discovery, Orca-1, exploration well in the BirAllah area off the coast of Mauritania.“The deepest and largest discovery so far this year, Rystad Energy estimates Orca-1 holds around 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of recoverable resources,” says Palzor Shenga, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team.Offshore continues to dominate exploration in 2019…
38 Oil and Gas Discoveries Made in Q3
GlobalData revealed that a total of 38 oil and gas discoveries were made globally in Q3 2019.South America and Europe led globally with the highest number of oil and gas discoveries during the third quarter (Q3) of 2019, with eight discoveries each during the quarter, according to GlobalData.Out of eight discoveries in South America, six are conventional oil discoveries, one is a conventional gas discovery and the remaining is a heavy oil discovery…
BP Wins Offshore Oil Block in Brazil with $75 mln Bid
BP PLC won the production and exploration rights for Brazil's offshore S-M-1500 block in the Santos Basin on Thursday, paying the government a signing bonus of roughly 308 million reais ($74.6 million).Relatively major blocks in the Santos Basin received no offers in the bidding round in Rio de Janeiro, although there was significant interest in the nearby Campos Basin.(Reporting by Gram Slattery, Marta Nogueira and Rodrigo Viga Gaier; editing by Jason Neely)
Shell Consortium, Petronas Win Oil Blocks Off Brazilian Coast
A consortium of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp and Qatar Petroleum won oil exploration and production rights in the C-M-713 block off the coast of Brazil on Thursday, paying the government a signing bonus of roughly 551 million reais ($133 million).Shortly before, Petronas won a separate offshore block, C-M-661, with a signing bonus of roughly 1.116 billion reais.(Reporting by Gram Slattery, Marta Noguiera and Rodrigo Viga Gaier, editing by Deepa Babington)
Schlumberger, WesternGeco to Provide E&P Data
WesternGeco, the seismic and geophysical data solutions division of Schlumberger, has entered a strategic collaboration with IHS Markit, a global provider of information, analytics, and solutions.The collaboration will bring together data, technology, and expertise from two of the industry’s leading sources of exploration and production (E&P) information and make it available through the GAIA digital subsurface platform.WesternGeco launched the GAIA platform to accelerate data discovery…
Novatek Wins Arctic Gas Field
Novatek said that its wholly-owned subsidiary Arctic LNG 1 has won an auction for a geological survey, exploration and production license for the subsoil area including the Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye gas field.The license is located on the Gydan peninsula in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, said the natural gas producer in Russia.The license area has estimated hydrocarbon resources of 2,183 billion cubic meters of gas and 212 million tons of liquids…
EOG Bags Offshore Ireland Licence
United Kingdom-based exploration and production company Europa Oil & Gas (EOG) has been awarded a 15-year frontier exploration licence for an area in the Slyne Basin, offshore Ireland.The area includes Europa’s flagship Inishkea prospect, which lies immediately to the north-west of the producing Corrib gas field in the Corrib Field Petroleum Lease Area.The Inishkea prospect has estimated gross mean…
Petronas Signs Offshore Deal with Gabon
Malaysian oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has signed an agreement with Gabon for two exploration permits after the African country enacted a new oil law last month.A Bloomberg report quoted Noel Mboumba, Gabon’s petroleum minister saying that the deal follows the enactment of a revised hydrocarbons code last month, made with the support of the International Monetary Fund.The new code is more fiscally attractive than the previous one…
Investments in Exploration Drilling to Double
Rystad Energy sees investments both in offshore and onshore exploration drilling doubling in the next five years, compared to the last five years. Conventional onshore demand will be driven by Asia, Africa and South America.Europe on the other hand, will be a hot spot for offshore exploration, led by investments on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the energy research and business intelligence company said.In the past few years conventional exploration drilling has been on a rocky road…
Ocean Monarch Mobilises to Otway
Australian upstream oil and gas exploration and production company Cooper Energy announced the semi-submersible drilling rig Ocean Monarch, operated by Diamond Offshore, has commenced mobilisation from the Gippsland Basin to the Otway Basin where it is to drill 2 offshore gas exploration wells.According to a press release, the wells, Annie-1 and Elanora-1, will be the first offshore gas exploration…
Neptune Acquires Interests in Offshore Indonesia
Neptune Energy East Sepinggan, subsidiary of the European exploration and production company Neptune Energy has agreed to acquire interests from the Eni East Sepinggan Limited, a unit of Eni in the Kutei basin production sharing contracts (PSC) offshore Indonesia.According to a press release from the Italian multinational oil and gas company, it will continue to be the Operator of the area which is located in the East Sepinggan area…
Japanese Firms Begin Offshore Wind Surveys
Japanese companies Sumitomo Corporation and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER) have begun an offshore ground investigation off the coast of Japan to explore the possibility of developing an offshore wind power plant.The Japanese government is currently in the process of determining areas to be designated as offshore wind power development promotion areas under a new law enacted this fiscal year…
Aker Energy Issues Bonds to AFC
Aker Energy Ghana, a subsidiary of Norwegian-based oil exploration and production firm Aker Energy AS, has entered into an agreement to issue $100 million of convertible subordinated bonds to Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).AFC also intends to take part in future capital market activities, said a press release.Aker Energy has issued subordinated convertible bonds to AFC of $100 million. The bonds…
Further Delay in Barryroe Project Loan
Ireland's offshore Oil and gas company Providence Resources has again pushed back a deadline to receive $9mln of funding from Apec, its farm-in partner in the key Barryroe site off the south west coast.The loan from Barryroe's Chinese backer was due by June 14. It is now due to be received in July 5, the company said."Due to delays associated with internal transaction processing with their investors…
Novatek Wins New Russian Licences
Independent Russian gas producer Novatek and LNG operator Novatek has secured the right to explore on the Krasnoyarsk Territory.Russia’s largest LNG producer said in a press release that it has obtained five new licenses on the Krasnoyarsk Territory located in close proximity to its existing licenses on the Gydan Peninsula.Novatek -Yurkharovneftegas obtained the right for geological survey licenses for the Khalmeryahskiy…
Shell Sees Significant Oil Discovery in Albania
Shell Upstream Albania B.V. said on Friday initial tests showed "a flow potential of several thousand barrels of oil per day" from its Shpirag 4 well in central Albania, and it needed more work to determine its commercial volume."We are pleased that these initial tests have confirmed the potential of this discovery and look forward to growing our business in Albania," Marc Gerrits, Shell's Executive Vice-President of Exploration…
Argentina Grants Offshore Exploration Permits
Argentina awarded permits to begin hydrocarbon exploration in 18 areas off the coast of the country in the Malvinas West basin to companies including Exxon Mobil Corp, Total SA, YPF SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the government said on Friday.The winning companies offered bids totaling $724 million, the government said, to explore the areas that are located in the South Atlantic, some near the Malvinas Islands under the control of the British government…
ADNOC Launches Bid for Five Blocks
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said that it has launched the second exploration bid round for five new oil and gas blocks.The bidding will be for both conventional and unconventional resources, and the successful bidders will enter into agreements granting them exploration rights, ADNOC said in a statement.The new blocks are three offshore and two onshore.The five new blocks open for are known as Offshore Block 3…
Wintershall Wins Argentina Offshore Bid
Germany's largest crude oil and natural gas producer Wintershall won the bidding process for two blocks in the promising Malvinas Basin off the coast of Tierra del Fuego as part of the “Costa Afuera” licensing round.In addition to the CMA-1 exploitation concession, with this award, the company will participate in further offshore exploration projects in Argentina. The exploration licenses are located…
Danos Awarded Major Permian Contract
Danos has been awarded a significant contract across multiple services lines with a Texas-based, independent exploration and production company. The project will leverage Danos’ Amelia Integrated Services Complex to fabricate piping and structural components which will then be shipped to the installation site in Midland, Texas, for assembly and construction of a central tank battery.“With this project…
Shell Faces Lawsuit From Environmentalists
Environmentalist and human rights groups said on Friday they had started a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands to force the energy firm to cut its reliance on fossil fuels.The groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, handed over a court summons to Shell at its headquarters in The Hague, demanding it stop extracting oil and gas and cut its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050."Shell spends billions on oil and gas exploration each year, with current p
Ecopetrol, Repsol Sign Joint Deal for Offshore Oil Block
Colombia's state-run oil company Ecopetrol has signed a joint contract with Spain's Repsol to operate an offshore block in the Caribbean, Ecopetrol said on Wednesday.The contract for the GUA-OFF-1 block is the second new offshore deal Ecopetrol has inked with the Colombian government this year.Colombia recently modified contractual terms for offshore exploration and launched a permanent bidding process in an effort to boost its long-stagnant oil sector.
E&P Sector Hits Record Free Cash Flow
The world’s publicly listed oil and gas companies are bringing in cash at the best rate ever witnessed even though oil prices have only partially recovered from the huge drop suffered in 2014 and 2015.According to a report by Rystad Energy, energy research and business intelligence company, free cash flow for public exploration and production (E&P) companies skyrocketed last year to almost $300 billion…
Bourbon Wins Shell Contract in Bulgaria
Bourbon Marine & Logistics said on Thursday it has been awarded a contract from Shell to support the oil major's exploration drilling in the Black Sea offshore Bulgaria.The French services company said its project scope covers the full logistics solution project management, offering for the first time both marine logistics together with shore logistics: marine services, logistics base, warehousing…
Seismic Shoot Offshore South Africa Begins
Africa Energy Corp., an oil and gas company with exploration assets offshore South Africa and Namibia, has announced the start of a new 3D marine seismic acquisition programme over the Paddavissie Fairway on Block 11B/12B offshore South Africa.The Brulpadda discovery is located on Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin 175 kilometers off the southern coast of South Africa. The block covers an area of 19…
BHP to Drill More Wells in Trinidad
BHP Group Ltd has stepped up exploration drilling in deep water off Trinidad and Tobago hunting for gas which could supply the country's Atlantic LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant in the 2020s, a senior executive said.The company expects to complete drilling of three wells in block 14, located in its northern contract area, by the middle of this year, Niall McCormack, BHP's vice president for exploration…
Colombia, Shell Ink Offshore E&P Contracts
Colombia's government on Monday said it signed two exploration and production contracts with Shell in offshore areas of the Caribbean Sea that will require the company to make initial investments of $100 million.Colombia recently modified contractual terms for offshore exploration and launched a Permanent Area Allocation Process so companies can apply to explore in areas of interest, offering 20 blocks as part of a strategy to boost the oil sector."The signing of these contracts revalidates the
PTTEP Makes Gas Discovery in Off Australia
Thai oil and gas company PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) has made a gas and condensate discovery at the Orchid-1, the first exploration well in Permit AC/P54 located in the Timor Sea, Australia.Phongsthorn Thavisin, President and Chief Executive Officer of PTTEP disclosed that PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) (PTTEP AAA), a wholly owned subsidiary of PTTEP had made a successful discovery of gas and condensate at the Orchid-1…
DEA Extends Concessions in Egypt
German oil company DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG has said it has extended its concessions for the Ras Budran and Zeit Bay oil fields in the Gulf of Suez, offshore Egypt. DEA’s General Manager Sameh Sabry signed the new concession agreement. The new agreement extends the concession for five years ending mid-2022. It includes an optional extension of another five years until 2027, subject to mutual agreement.Sameh Sabry says: “I am delighted that we managed to agree on a concession extension.
Plexus Bags Gazprom Contract Via Gusar
Aberdeen-based oil well technology firm Plexus Holdings said its Russian licensee Gusar had clinched its first major contract to supply gas exploration equipment to Gazprom.The contract covered the first year of an up to five-year jack-up gas exploration drilling programme on the Kara Sea Shelf.Under the terms of a 2016 licence agreement with Gusar, Plexus would receive a licence royalty of 20% based on the invoice value of Plexus products rented or sold.In addition…
Ecopetrol Wins Offshore Colombia Block
Colombia’s state-run oil company Ecopetrol SA has signed Colombia’s first offshore exploration and production contract under a newly revised contract model.According to a report in Reuters, the deal for a nearly 400,000-hectare (988,000-acre) bloc in the Caribbean is country’s first new oil and gas contract in more than four years.The Col-5 tract in the Caribbean Sea is adjacent to US independent Anadarko…
Aker Energy Hits Oil Offshore Ghana
Aker Energy, as the operator of the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) block, announced Monday that it encountered oil in the Pecan South-1A well south of the main Pecan field offshore Ghana.Aker Energy said it is in the process of analyzing the well result and will commence further drilling to verify the volume estimate. These volumes will be an addition to the gross contingent resources (2C) from the existing discoveries in the area…
Cyprus Offshore Gas Discovery: Conflict or Hope?
Oil giant ExxonMobil, together with partner Qatar Petroleum (QP), made giant gas discovery to the east Mediterranean region after finding a gas-bearing reservoir offshore Cyprus and estimated in-place gas resources in the reservoir at 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.The gas discovery off the coast of Cyprus could either bring tensions between the Mediterranean island and Turkey to the boil or help resolve the 45-year dispute between them…
CNPC to Develop New Shale Oilfield
China's state-owned CNPC has started developing a new offshore shale oilfield near the Bohai Rim Basin, the company said via its official newspaper on Thursday.CNPC aims to produce 50,000 tonnes of shale oil from the Bohai Rim Basin in 2019 and to achieve production capacity of 1 million tonnes by 2028.The new drilling venture is in response to president Xi Jinping's call to step up national energy security…
ExxonMobil Finds Natural Gas Off Cyprus
U.S.
Repsol Unveils Big Gas Discovery in Indonesia
Spanish energy giant Repsol has made a substantial natural gas discovery in Indonesia along with its partners, Malaysia's Petronas and Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration (Moeco).The company described the discovery in South Sumatra as "the largest gas find in Indonesia in 18 years" and one of the 10 largest in the world over the past 12 months.The discovery is also among the ten largest finds worldwide in the last 12 months.
Turkey Set to Begin Drilling off Cyprus
Turkey will begin drilling for oil and gas near Cyprus in coming days, state-owned news agency Anadolu reported Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying on Thursday, a move that could stoke tensions with neighboring Cyprus and Greece.Turkey and the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government have overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in the eastern Mediterranean…
Repsol Makes Huge Find in Indonesia
A consortium led by Repsol has found new gas resources in Indonesia estimated at at least 2 trillion cubic feet, the Spanish oil and gas firm said on Tuesday, equivalent to around two years' worth of Spanish demand.The discovery at the Sakakemang block in South Sumatra is among the 10 largest finds worldwide in the last 12 months, and the biggest in Indonesia for 18 years, Repsol said.Following its strategy to maximize the use of gas as major economies phase out carbon…
Repsol's Biggest Gas Discovery in Indonesia in 18 years
A consortium led by Repsol has found new gas resources in Indonesia estimated at at least 2 trillion cubic feet, the Spanish oil and gas firm said on Tuesday, equivalent to around two years' worth of Spanish demand.The discovery at the Sakakemang block in South Sumatra is among the 10 largest finds worldwide in the last 12 months, and the biggest in Indonesia for 18 years, Repsol said.Following its strategy to maximize the use of gas as major economies phase out carbon…
Santos Broadens Offshore Exploration in N.Australia
The oil and gas producer in the Asia-Pacific region Santos has struck a joint venture (JV) agreement with fellow-listed Beach Energy to partner over four exploration permits in the Bonaparte basin, offshore northern Australia.The two companies will each hold a 50% JV interest in the four permits, with Santos acting as operator.Santos’ position in the Bonaparte basin already includes an 11.5% interest in the Bayu-Undan gas-condensate field and the Darwin LNG plant…
McDermott Bags Pan Malaysia Jobs
American multinational McDermott International has announced Malaysian offshore projects contracts for developing pan Malaysia oil fields.One contracts was from Sarawak Shell Berhad and the other from Sapura Exploration and production, a press release from the fully-integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry said.McDermott's scope of work for SSB includes the transportation and installation of jackets…
High Impact Exploration on The Rise
In the first few weeks of 2019 there have been four high impact discoveries of conventional oil and gas, finding 25% of the high impact volume discovered globally in the whole of 2018.According to Westwood Insight, one of these discoveries, Glengorm in the UK North Sea, is reported to be the biggest there since 2008.The second and third are offshore Guyana in the Stabroek licence, the gift that keeps on giving…
Croatia Publishes Tender for Oil and Gas Exploration
Croatia published a tender for gas and oil exploration in mountainous areas of the country's central and southern regions, the state hydrocarbon agency said on Monday."The deadline for submitting bids is Sept.10, 2019 at 1200(1000 GMT). A tentative deadline for awarding licences is December," the agency said.The exploration in the Dinarides region will take place in four blocks with an overall area of 12,134 square km.
ADNOC, US Firm Sign USD 244mln Deal
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) said it awarded an onshore block, known as Onshore Block 3 to US-based oil and gas exploration and production company Occidental Petroleum.The award has been endorsed by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC).Occidental will have a 35-year concession and invest $244m during the exploration phase of the block, which covers an area of 5,782 square kilometres in al-Dhafrah region in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.Onshore Block 3 covers an area of 5…
Croatia Approves Tender for Oil and Gas Exploration
Croatia on Wednesday approved a tender for oil and gas exploration in mountainous areas of the country's central and southern regions.The details of the tender will be released by the state-run Hydrocarbon Agency, which is in charge of running the process, at a later date."There will be four exploration blocks in the overall area of 12,134 square km.
Total Plans Biggest Exploration Drive in Years
Total is launching its biggest exploration campaign for years in 2019 as part of a turnaround plan that is ditching the company's focus on risky long-shots in favor of areas known to contain commercial levels of oil or gas.The French major aims to drill 23 wells this year, its senior vice president for exploration, Kevin McLachlan, told Reuters, in waters off Mauritania, Senegal, Namibia, South Africa…
Equinor Stops Drilling Arctic Well After Incident
Norway's Equinor has put on hold the drilling of a key exploration well in the Barents Sea after a well incident last week, the company said on Monday.The incident occurred when Seadrill's rig West Hercules was drilling the Gjoekaasen well offshore Norway .The so-called "high-risk, high-impact" well could hold between 26 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalents, one of Equinor's partners…
Inpex Wins Exploration Acreage Offshore Norway
Japan’s Inpex Corporation, through its unit Inpex Norge bagged two exploration licenses offshore Norway in Norway’s Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2018 licensing round.The PL1027is located in the western Barents Sea offshore and PL1016 is located in the northern Norwegian Sea offshore the Kingdom of Norway, it said in a statement.The annual APA licensing rounds aim to promote the further exploration of blocks in previously explored…
Norway Awards 15 Exploration Licences to Lundin Petroleum
Europe’s independent oil and gas exploration and production company Lundin Petroleum announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway has been awarded a total of 15 exploration licence interests in the 2018 Norwegian licensing round (Awards in Predefined Areas, APA).The record-high award includes 8 licences in the North Sea, 2 licences in the Norwegian Sea and 5 licences in the southern Barents Sea.
BP Gives Up Acreage Offshore Nova Scotia
BP Canada is scaling back its oil and gas exploration plans off Nova Scotia, as the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (NSOPB) said the company is giving back 50% of the area included in its license.According to NSOPB, half of the area included in in Exploration License 2434R is a consolidation of four offshore parcels roughly 300 kilometers southeast of Halifax.The move comes after BP failed to drill four wells within the first phase of its exploration license…
Equinor Grabs 29 New Licenses on Norwegian Continental Shelf
Norwegian energy major Equinor has been awarded 29 new licences by Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy as part of the Award in Predefined Areas (APA) for 2018 – 13 licences as operator and 16 as partner.Norway's government says it awarded a record 83 licenses for exploration in mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf, in a welcome sign of continuing interest in the country’s oil sector.“The…
LLOG Exploration Reports Deepwater Exploratory Discovery
The deepwater exploration company operating primarily in the Gulf of Mexico reported the drilling of a successful discovery on its Nearly Headless Nick exploratory prospect on Mississippi Canyon Block 387 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.Louisiana-based company said that it has drilled successful discovery on LLOG’s exploratory prospect, Nearly Headless Nick, in Mississippi Canyon 387Brought online five new fields in 2018…
BP Partners with Eni For Exploring Oman Block
British multinational oil and gas company BP and Italian oil and gas giant ENI have signed a heads of agreement with the Ministry of Oil & Gas of Oman to explore Block 77 in central Oman.In addition, Eni has signed with the Ministry of Oil & Gas and with BP a Head of Agreement (HoA) that sets up the principles for the acquisition of the Exploration and Production rights of Block 77 onshore.Block 77…
Eni, Thailand's PTTEP Win Adnoc Exploration
Italy's Eni SpA and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Pcl secured rights to explore for oil and natural gas in Abu Dhabi from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), following Abu Dhabi’s first competitive block licensing round.A tweet from Adnoc said, "We’re pleased to announce that Adnoc has signed two historic agreements, awarding two offshore exploration blocks to a consortium led by Italy’s Eni and Thailand’s PTTEP…
Bahrain, ENI Join Forces for Offshore Exploration
National Oil and Gas Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain (NOGA) and ENI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pursue petroleum exploration of Block 1, an offshore area of over 2,800 sqkm still largely unexplored, located in the northern territorial waters of the Kingdom of Bahrain with water depth ranging from 10 metres up to 70 metres.The signing took place by Mohamed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa…
AzEire Gets Irish Offshore License Extension
Ireland-focused oil and gas exploration company backed by Seacrest Capital AzEire has been awarded an extension of a frontier exploration license (FEL) and a conversion of a license option to an FEL."The Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Actions and Environment has approved both the extension of Frontier Exploration Licence 1/13 (FEL 1/13) for two years, and the conversion of Licence Option 16/17 (LO 16/17) to Frontier Exploration Licence 1/19 (FEL 1/19)…
Exploration Firms Drill Dry Well in North Sea
Lundin Petroleum AB (Lundin Petroleum) announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS (Lundin Norway) has completed exploration well 2/6-6S, targeting the Oppdal and Driva prospects in PL860 in the North Sea. Both targets were dry. The well was drilled with the Rowan Viking jack-up drilling rig and was operated by MOL Norge with a 40 percent working interest. The partners are Lundin Norway with a 40 percent working interest and Petoro with a 20 percent working interest.Meanwhile…
Italy to Block Exploration Permits
The Italian government is planning to block the issuing of about 36 permits to look for oil and gas as part of plans to cut the country's carbon footprint, the industry ministry said on Wednesday.In a statement the ministry said upstream oil and gas activity in Italy was not of strategic importance for the country.Some industry experts say Italy is sitting on some of the biggest reserves in Europe, but red tape has scuppered exploration for years.Italy's domestic gas production accounts for only
Spirit Energy Gets Nod for Oda Development
North Sea explorer Spirit Energy has been given the green light from Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) to start up its first operated development in Norway.Oda is a subsea development where the wellstream is sent on to the Ula platform for processing and transport.Spirit Energy expects to start-up in February/March 2019. Other partners in the project are Aker BP, Faroe Petroleum, and Suncor Energy.According to NPD notification…
India Plots Exploration Licensing Round
India will start auctioning for 14 oil and gas blocks in its second exploration licensing round on Monday, giving freedom to the companies to carve out areas they want to drill.The blocks together hold undiscovered reserves of about 14,995 million tonnes of oil equivalent, according to a tweet from Directorate General of Hydrocarbon, India's upstream regulator.India, the world's third biggest oil importer, wants to unlock its vast hydrocarbon resources to cut dependence on foreign oil.India impo
Ghana Exploration Licensing Round Attracts Global Majors
Sixteen oil and gas firms have submitted applications for one or more of five Ghanaian offshore blocks in the West African country's first exploration licensing round, its energy ministry said.The interest is a major vote of confidence in Ghana, which is keen to unlock more resources after it began pumping from its flagship offshore Jubilee field in 2010.The companies that have submitted applications are Tullow Oil…
