Six of the offshore exploration wells that are set to drill in the UK in 2017 have an average pre-drill prospect volume of over 100 MMboe. Douglas-Westwood, through its Westwood Insight, asks if this signal a renaissance for UK exploration…
Members on an Australian Senate Inquiry have mostly supported oil and gas activities in the Great Australian Bight, subject to robust regulatory standards, says the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA). The…
Canadian explorer Husky Energy has signed a production sharing contract (PSC) for a new exploration block offshore China. Block 16/25 is in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, about 150km southeast of Hong Kong. Husky expects to drill two exploration wells on the shallow water block during 2018…
Kosmos Energy started the second phase of its multi-well exploration drilling program offshore Mauritania and Senegal. The Atwood Achiever drillship is now on location offshore Senegal in the Cayar Offshore Profond block and has started…
Offshore Ireland focused Providence Resources has been approved to move into the second phase of exploration on Frontier Exploration License (FEL) 2/14, containing the Druid and Drombeg prospects. FEL 2/14 is in about 2250m water depth…
Norwegian oil firm Statoil has set out its plans to drill around 30 exploration wells, in up to 11 countries on five continents, as operator and partner, in 2017 - an increase of around 30% compared to 2016. More than half of the wells will be drilled on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS)…
The latest Australian petroleum exploration spending data is 'an urgent wake-up call for governments and industry,' the country's oil industry body has warned. Dr Malcolm Roberts, CEO of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration…
Anadarko Petroleum has appointed two of its executives as its new executive vice president of operations, and executive vice president, international and deepwater exploration. Hollek. Image from Anadarko…
Finder Exploration has added a new exploration permit to the portfolio – AC/P 61. The permit, which Finder has 100% interest, is located in the Vulcan Sub-basin, western Bonaparte Basin in the Timor Sea, approximately 250km offshore and 650km…
The first exploration wells on new Barents Sea acreage, which has been opened to the industry for the first time, could be in place as early as next year, targeting billion barrels of oil equivalent prospects. Three new licenses in areas…
Quadrant Energy has taken over Finder Exploration's stake in four Bedout Sub-basin exploration permits offshore Western Australia. The permits are located 130km off the coast of Western Australia and contain both the 2014 Phoenix South oil discovery and the 2015 Roc wet gas discovery…
This year, the deepwater drilling record could be broken not just once, but twice, breaking the last record, set back in 2013. Elaine Maslin takes a look. Total’s Raya-1 well is due to be drilled offshore Uruguay using Maersk Oil’s ultra…
Carnarvon Petroleum secured 100% interest in the WA-521-P offshore exploration permit in the Roebuck basin on Western Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS). Positioned adjacent to the Phoenix/Roc acreage, Carnarvon has been studying the…
Statoil has reached a deal with Austria's OMV to acquire a 30% interest in an exploration permit offshore New Zealand, increasing the Norwegian oil major's interests in the region. Petroleum Exploration Permit (PEP) 57073 covers 9800sq km in the East Coast Basin…
Quadrant Energy confirmed presence of condensate-rich gas after completing a wireline logging program of the Roc-1 well, offshore Western Australia. Partner Carnarvon Petroleum said initial analysis showed condensate to gas ratio at the top end of the range of 20-40 bbl per Mcm…