Drill Bits News

 

Equinor Drills Dry Well in Barents Sea

Feb 18, 2026

Equinor and its partners have drilled a dry well on the Vikingskipet prospect in the Barents Sea.Wildcat well 7018/5-2 was drilled in production license 1236, about 190 kilometers west of Hammerfest and about 140 kilometers southwest of the Snøhvit field.Equinor is the operator of the license with 50% working interest, with partners Vår Energi and Petoro holding 30% and 20%, respectively.This is the first exploration well in the production licence…

Eni Confirms Large Gas, Condensate Find off Ivory Coast

Feb 16, 2026

Eni has made a significant gas and condensate discovery offshore Ivory Coast after drilling the Murene South-1X well in Block CI-501, confirming the potential of the Calao channel complex.The discovery, named Calao South, is estimated to contain up to 5…

Equinor Finds Oil and Gas in North Sea off Norway

Feb 16, 2026

Equinor and its partners have discovered oil and gas in the exploration well drilled in the North Sea in the Granat prospect near Gullfaks, offshore Norway.Wildcat wells 33/12-N-3 HH and 33/12-N-3 GH were drilled in connection with drilling…

Turkish Drill Ship Heads to Somalia for First Overseas Mission

Feb 15, 2026

Turkey sent its deep-sea drilling vessel Cagri Bey to Somalia on Sunday for what its energy minister said would be Ankara's first offshore exploration mission outside its maritime zone.Describing the move as a 'historic moment' in Turkey's oil and gas exploration efforts…

Mubadala Hires SLB for Deepwater Drilling Services Offshore Indonesia

Feb 12, 2026

SLB has secured multiple offshore drilling services contracts by Mubadala Energy for the Tangkulo natural gas deepwater development and associated exploration and appraisal activities in the Andaman Sea offshore Indonesia.The contracts cover…

North Sea Wildcat Well Fails to Deliver for Vår Energi

Feb 12, 2026

Norwegian oil and gas firm Vår Energi and its partner Kistos Energy have drilled a dry well in the Balder area in the North Sea.The well 25/8-C-23 D, dubbed Prince Updip, was drilled in production license 027, from the Ringhorne platform, just over 200 kilometers west of Stavanger…

Transocean Secures $184M for Drilling Rigs Operating off Norway

Feb 11, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has secured contract awards and extensions totaling approximately $184 million for two of its harsh-environment semisubmersible rigs operating in Norway.The company said the fixtures represent about $184 million in firm contract backlog…

Transocean-Valaris Tie-Up to Create $17B Offshore Drilling Major with 73 Rigs

Feb 10, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has agreed to acquire Valaris in an all-stock transaction valued at about $5.8 billion, creating one of the world’s largest offshore drilling contractors with a fleet of 73 drilling rigs.The combined company…

Vantage Drilling’s Ultra-Deepwater Drillship Heads to India Under $260M Contract

Feb 10, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Vantage Drilling has secured a contract with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for its ultra-deepwater drillship Platinum Explorer for operations off India.The binding Notification of Award (NoA) from ONGC comes…

Stena Drilling’s Stena Evolution Drillship Gets DNV’s Emissions Notation

Feb 05, 2026

Stena Drilling’s Stena Evolution drillship has received the Abate (P+) notation from classification society DNV.The Abate (P+) qualifier confirms defined design and control of the vessel’s power generation systems, together with an emission…

Exploration Well in Black Sea Offshore Block Comes Up Dry

Feb 04, 2026

An OMV Petrom-operated exploration well, drilled at the Vinekh prospect in Black Sea's Han Asparuh block off Bulgaria, has been assessed as dry, after encountering only non-significant natural gas shows, according to NewMed Energy, one of the partners in the license…

Akrake Completes Drilling of Sèmè Field Production Well Offshore Benin

Feb 03, 2026

Akrake Petroleum Benin, an indirect subsidiary of Rex International Holding, has completed drilling of the AK-2H horizontal production well at the Sèmè Field offshore Benin.The AK-2H well was drilled with a total horizontal length of 1,405 meters through the reservoir section…

Northern Offshore’s Energy Emerger Rig Up for Drilling Job off Oman

Jan 30, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Northern Offshore has secured a contract for its Energy Emerger jack-up rig for a drilling operation at Yumna field, offshore Oman.Rex International’s indirect subsidiary Masirah Oil announced that its parent company…

Equinor Gets Permit to Drill North Sea Wildcat Well

Jan 29, 2026

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Equinor a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the North Sea.The permit is for wellbore 25/7-13 in production license 782 S.The license is operated by Equinor with 60% working interest, with partner Aker BP holding the remaining 40%…

Noble Completes $360M Sale of Five Jack-Ups to Borr Drilling

Jan 29, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has completed the sale of five jack-up drilling rigs to Borr Drilling for $360 million.Under the transaction, Noble generated approximately $210 million in cash and received $150 million in seller notes from the sale of the Noble Tom Prosser…

Current News

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AKOFS Offshore Inks New Vessel

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UK Trade Body Challenges Gover

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Inpex Secures Environmental Ap

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