The Obama Administration has decided to rescind a proposal to drill off the US Atlantic Coast in 13 areas, due to current market dynamics, strong local opposition, and conflicts with competing commercial and military ocean uses, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) said today (15 March)…
UK-based explorer Cairn Energy has increased its resource estimate on the major SNE discovery offshore Senegal by 20%, with potential for it to increase further, following successful appraisal work. The deepwater field, sitting in about 1100m water depth…
Songa Offshore is looking to raise US$150 million in cash to help it deliver the fourth and final Cat D new build rig, the Songa Enabler. The firm has been building the rigs for client Statoil. But, lower than expected utilization rates on the first two delivered units…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Wintershall a drilling permit for wildcat well 35/8-6 S, in block 35/8 of production license 248. Well 35/8-6 S will be drilled from the Borgland Dolphin drilling facility, a semisubmersible…
The Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway has given Statoil consent to use the West Epsilon jackup drilling facility for permanent plugging of wells at Huldra 30/2-A, in production license 051. Statoil has allocated 215 days for the activity…
Det norske oljeselskap has gained approval from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for a drilling permit for well 16/1-26 S, which is part of the Ivar Aasen field, in the North Sea. Well 16/1-26 S will be drilled from the Maersk…
The first production test at Eni’s Zohr 2X appraisal well delivered some 44 MMcf/d of gas, offshore Egypt. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi. Image from Eni. The Zohr 2X well, Eni’s first appraisal well on its giant Zohr discovery…
Rosneft has made its debut as a drilling operator in international waters, as the Russian giant commenced drilling operations at the PLDD-1X well, offshore Vietnam. The HAKURYU-5 rig, image from Japan Drilling…
In this video, Weatherford illustrates that upgrading a rig with the right integrated solution can result in a safer, more efficient wellsite. According to the company,pre-installed rig systems are not always well suited for complications that arise during drilling operations…
UK-based explorer Cairn Energy's latest appraisal well on its SNE discovery offshore Senegal has been hailed a success. Far Ltd, a partner on SNE, has previously estimated the SNE 2C contingent resource at 468 MMbbl. An updated resource…
Douglas-Westwood (DW) forecasts deepwater expenditure to total US$137 billion from 2016-2020. This represents a 35% decline compared to DW’s previous edition of the deepwater forecast issued March 2015. The prolonged low oil price has impacted the deepwater market…
Exceed has secured a contract to support Fairfield Energy in its forthcoming North Sea well plugging and abandonment campaign. Fairfield’s program includes 45 platform wells and 16 subsea wells, all of which will be plugged and permanently abandoned…
Shell Canada’s operations offshore Nova Scotia were brought to a halt over the weekend due to severe weather, which caused a 2km pipe from the Stena IceMAX drillship to fall to the seafloor. The Stena IceMAX…
Global offshore drilling giant Transocean has set back the delivery date for five new jackup rigs by nearly four years. In an agreement with rig builder Keppel Offshore & Marine's shipyard, Keppel FELS, delivery of the five Super B 400…
Byron Energy's SM-6 #2 well in the South Marsh Island Block 6 in the US Gulf of Mexico has intersected a number of hydrocarbon bearing sands which may result in an increase in reserves estimates for the block, says partner Otto Energy. Otto…