Total and its partners are to move ahead with the 650MM bbl, deepwater Kaombo project offshore Angola after cutting US$4 billion from the capex costs on the project. Kaombo will develop six of 12 discoveries made in Block 32, covering 800sq km…
Shell quits Alaska: Royal Dutch Shell will discontinue its 2014 plans for drilling offshore Alaska. Shell’s U-turn on Alaskan drilling follows a profit warning and a court judgment, raising “substantial obstacles” to the company’s plans for drilling in the Chukchi Sea…
OMV and its partners have announced the completion of the largest 3D seismic survey in the Black Sea. The survey, covering 7740sq km, in the 1-21 Han-Asparuh block,offshore Bulgaria, is also OMV's largest survey. Interpretation of…
Lundin Petroleum AB is to increase its spending on new developments by 25%, to US$1.4 billion, in 2014. The majority of the cash (75%) will be spent on ongoing projects offshore Norway, with most of the rest being spent on the Bertram development in Malaysia…
BG Group’s Europe business has signed contracts with Wood Group PSN and Stork Technical Services (RBG) to provide a range of specialist support over the next five years to its Armada, Everest and Lomond assets in the central North Sea. The…
Statoil is to continue its Barents Sea exploration campaign in 2014, with 5-7 new wells planned. The Norwegian oil firm is planning to test potential in the Hoop area, where OMV made the recent play-opening Wisting Central discovery…
ION Geophysical Corp. is showing its new Narwhal integrated ice management system at the 2013 SEG Annual Meeting in Houston this week. The tool is designed to improve seismic data acquisition and drilling operations, while operating in arctic environments and provides ice visualization…
Shell and Baker Hughes have signed a software license and joint development agreement to produce a high-end platform for geological and reservoir modeling using Baker Hughes’ JewelEarth software. Shell says the new platform will bring enhanced…
The Danish offshore is a mature oil and gas province with 40 years of production, but the Danish Energy Agency’s latest annual report,* says that the country is expected to remain a net exporter of oil through 2020, while gas production is…
Russia’s campaign to sell its energy wares throughout the Asia Pacific region continued at several US energy conferences this spring: IHS CERAWeek (March) and LNG 17 (April). Russia reiterated that it can curb production declines and ramp…
UK oil and gas exploration firm EnQuest is to become a North African player after farming in to fields in the Gulf of Gabes offshore Tunisia. The move involves EnQuest taking a 70% stake and operatorship of the Didon and Zarat fields from Swedish oil and gas company PA Resources…
Hyundai Heavy Industries and Fred. Olsen Energy are implementing DNV’s ISDS class notation for integrated software dependent systems on the semisub newbuilding Bollsta Dolphin. Key stakeholders discuss expectations and challenges. The…
Investment in North Sea oil and gas production has been predicted to top a 30 year high - but cost per barrel has risen five-fold in the past decade, according to analysis by the industry.Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UKOil & Gas UK…
Bureau Veritas unveils certification guides Guide on Offshore Wind Farm Project CertificationBureau Veritas Certification France has released a comprehensive Guide on Offshore Wind Farm Project Certification, which allows industry players…
The challenges of drilling in the Arctic have become so multifaceted it’s hard to know what position folks line up behind. If it were just the usual environmentalist vs oil companies – and that fight is perennial to be sure – things would be clearer…