In April, Transocean’s Deepwater Asgard drillship arrived in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to work under a two-year contract for Chevron. The ship is a Daewoo Shipbuilding DSME 12000 design with dynamic positioning capabilities and can drill up to 35…
Drill rig fleet operators are dropping dayrates as the market is squeezed due to the precipitous fall in global crude price. Industry insiders say dayrate bargaining by upstream companies is the play of the day. Rigs operating in the Middle East are particularly exposed…
Germany's Wintershall is stepping up its activities in the southern North Sea, the company has announced. In addition to an extensive drilling campaign in the Netherlands, the UK and Denmark, the company intends to take its natural gas and crude oil discoveries into the production phase swiftly…
KrisEnergy began drilling the Rossukon-3ST sidetrack well offshore Thailand. Image from KrisEnergy. Rossukon-3ST is located in the G6/48 license that covers 566sq km over the Karawake basin…
Analyses foresee 2015 as being the toughest year for drilling companies since 2009. On the back of falling oil prices, contractors are facing increased pressure as operators shift risks and liabilities, often in contradiction with entrenched industry-accepted allocations…
KrisEnergy encountered oil and gas pay at the Rossukon-3 exploration well in the Gulf of Thailand. Image from KrisEnergy. Rossukon-3 is located in the G6/48 contract area that covers 566sq km over the Karawake basin…
Lundin’s first development project offshore Malaysia, the Bertam field, is now onstream, with plans to continue with production from remaining wells throughout 2015. Malaysia drilling operations…
Karoon Gas Australia made a discovery at the Echidna-1 exploration well, the third in the Santos drilling campaign, offshore Brazil. Image from Karoon. According to the Australian company…
US-based Noble Energy acquired from Argos Resources a 75% interest and operatorship of 285,000 gross acres in the PL001 license in the North Falkland basin, northwest of the PL032 license that includes the Sea Lion oil discovery. Edison International SpA obtained the remaining 25%…
French supermajor Total is assessing development options for a new small gas discovery made in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The estimated 3-10 MMboe recoverable gas discovery was in exploration well 25/6-5 S, called Skirne East by Total and Shango by partner Faroe Petroleum…
Cobalt International Energy opted to plug and abandon its North Platte No. 2 appraisal well at Garden Banks Block 959 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico due to a seal failure in the riser connection system, the company announced on 9 April. The well…
Rystad Energy’s Senior Analyst Bielenis Villanueva Triana ranks Mexico’s exploration competitiveness as compared to other global prospective areas. Fig. 1: Mexico’s petroleum provinces which have proven hydrocarbon potential…
In 4Q 2014, Aberdeen-based Return To Scene, a subsidiary of SeaEnergy, completed project delivery of its first contract with Pemex. Capturing the Ku-S platform. Photo from Return2Scene. The…
While the countdown to Round One has dominated activities in the Mexican offshore sector over the past 12 months, there have still been other notable contracts awarded. Pemex’s Ku-S platform in the Bay of Campeche…
Statoil made an oil discovery at Walker Ridge’s Yeti in deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Yeti map. From Statoil. The Yeti exploration well is located in Walker Ridge Block 160, approximately 15km south of Chevron’s Big Foot field…