Swedish exploration firm Lundin Petroleum's latest exploration well 6407/10-4 on the Lorry prospect in the Norwegian Sea has been classified as dry. The well, in PL700B, on the northern part of the Frøya High in the southern Norwegian Sea has been plugged and abandoned…
In the awards in predefined areas (APA) round 2015, Statoil has been awarded interest in 24 licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), 13 of those as operator and 11 as partner, breaking the company’s 2005 record for number of licenses awarded…
Norway's latest awards in predefined areas (APA) round was announced today, with some 56 licenses offered to oil firms. Duncan John, Partner at consultancy StrategicFit, offers his views. This APA round has shown that appetite for exploration in Norway has been resilient to low oil prices…
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gasand Tullow Oil subsidiary companies entered into a 10-year agreement with the government of Guyana to explore the deepwater Orinduik block, offshore Guyana, South America. Map of the Orinduik block…
Norway's latest awards in predefined areas (APA) license round has been hailed a success with some 56 exploration licenses being offered on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The APA rounds offer acreage in known areas on the shelf, rather than frontier acreage…
Over the weekend, the six world powers (P5+1), European Union (EU), and Iran reached an agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran’s oil production that will see Western nations enter Iran for oil exploration and production for the first time in more than a decade…
Ophir Energy, as operator, has dropped its stake in exploration licenses covering three blocks offshore the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean east of South Africa. The UK-based explorer had farmed in to the blocks – 5B/1, 5B2 and 5B3 – with Australia’s WHL Energy…
Despite high drilling rates on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, discovery rates have been low and investment fell 16% in 2015, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). Fifty-six exploration wells were spudded, with just…
Malaysia's Mitra Energy gained approval from the Prime Minister of Vietnam of the Reserve Assessment Reports for the Nam Du (Block 46/07 PSC) and U Minh (Block 51 PSC) fields, off Vietnam. Image from Mitra Energy…
Ophir Energy has appointed Dr John Bell to the position of director – Asia and Dr Oliver Quinn to the position of director – Africa and Global New Ventures. Both Bell and Quinn start their new roles with immediate effect, reporting directly to COO Dr Bill Higgs…
German explorer Wintershall has started drilling on the Kvalross exploration well 7224/2-1 in license PL611, in the Norwegian Barents Sea. Kvalross is to the south of OMV’s significant Wisting and Hanssen oil discoveries. The well…
Lundin Petroleum subsidiary Lundin Malaysia has completed the Imbok-1 exploration well offshore East Malaysia. The well, located in Block SB307/308 encountered minor oil shows and was plugged and abandoned. The well was targeting hydrocarbons in Miocene aged sands…
Norway, Cyrpus based rig operator Songa Offshore suffered a BOP equipment failure on one of its new Cat D semisubmersible drilling rigs as it was readying to start operations for Statoil. The Songa Endurance started drilling operations…
Premier Oil has confirmed its Isobel Deep oil discovery offshore the Falklands, as well as an additional discovery in the same well. The well, which was a re-drill of the 14/20-1 Isobel Deep well, hit 27m of net pay, with no oil water contact or gas…
A year on since the oil price collapse and the effects are making themselves felt across Northwest Europe, particularly in the UK and Norwegian sectors. The count of exploration and appraisal well spuds in the UK is an all-time low…