Russian arctic oil exploration is facing an uphill battle against international sanctions and low oil prices. But, the country’s oil companies and government are still keen to find produce their icy black gold. Eugene Gerden reports. The…
With a mean estimate of 23.6 billion bbl of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, the Arctic could be one of the last big finds. Heather Saucier examines what is at stake on the US side. Source…
W&T Offshore encountered hydrocarbon pay at Ewing Banks 910 with the successful drilling and evaluation of the Ewing Banks 910 A-5 ST well in the Gulf of Mexico. The company logged 160ft of gross hydrocarbon interval and is currently completing the well…
Rig owner and operator Songa Offshore is close to taking delivery of the first two of four Cat D rigs it is building to work for Norway’s Statoil. The Songa Equinox has completed sea trials and is scheduled for delivery mid-June. The…
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is naming Shell as being ultimately responsible for the grounding of the Kulluk ice-class mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) in 2012 offshore Alaska, due to the company’s inadequate assessment of the risk for the towing…
Det norske oljeselskap received a green light for drilling an appraisal well on the Ivar Aasen field, from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Ivar Aasen. From Det norske. Drilling at well 16/1-22 A…
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway granted Statoil consent for exploration drilling at its operated production license 602 in block 6706/11 in the Norwegian Sea. The field is located around 233km from the nearest mainland at Skomvær in the county of Nordland…
Premier Oil’s “high-impact, play-opening” Isobel Deep North Falkland Basin well has made an oil discovery, the operator confirmed this morning, in higher than expected reservoir pressure. Operations have been suspended and the rig will be released to drill in the South Falkland Basin…
Tullow Oil began exploration drilling at the Zumba prospect in the Norwegian Sea, according to partner North Energy. The Leiv Eiriksson. From Ocean Rig. Zumba is located in production licence 591…
Eni has made a new gas and condensate discovery offshore Libya. The discovery is in the Bouri North A1-1/1 exploration well in 125m water depth, in Area D, 140km from the coast and 20km north of the Bouri production field. Eni says…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Statoil Petroleum a drilling permit for well 6706/11-2 on the Gymir prospect. Well 6706/11-2 will be drilled from the Transocean Spitsbergen semisubmersible drilling rig after completing…
Australia-based WorleyParsons will pay US$55 million to an ExxonMobil (XOM) subsidiary after reaching a settlement on a dispute over a $550 million contract for engineering work for an offshore drilling platform it designed. In 2008, WorleyParsons was contracted by Exxon Neftegas…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) granted Suncor Energy a drilling permit for the wildcat well 25/10-13 S in the central North Sea. Well 25/10-13 S, located in production license 571, will be drilled from Dolphin Drilling's Borgland Dolphin semisubmersible…
Talisman Energy's Snømus exploration well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea has been classified as dry. The 15/12-24 S Snømus well - the first exploration well on production license 672 - was drilled in 86m water depth using…
Statoil's Norwegian Sea Bister well found no oil, partner Faroe Petroleum reports. Drilling on Bister, in production license 348/C, near the 2013 Snilehorn discovery, reached target depth and intersected good quality reservoirs, but no hydrocarbons were found…