Exploration News


Quadrant hits at Roc-1

Jan 04, 2016

Quadrant Energy encountered condensate rich gas from at least three hydrocarbon columns at the Roc-1 well, offshore Western Australia. Map of Roc-1, courtesy of Carnarvon. Roc…

Myanmar pays off for Woodside

Jan 04, 2016

Woodside Energy has made a gas discovery offshore Myanmar giving hope to the string of majors who entered the country following its emergence from sanction driven isolation.  Woodside made the discovery on the Shwe Yee Htun-1 exploration well in Block A-6 in the Rakhine Basin…

Senegal well flows for Cairn

Jan 04, 2016

UK based independent Cairn Energy has successfully tested its SNE-2 appraisal well offshore Senegal. The firm performed drilling, coring, logging and drill-stem testing (DST), as part of its latest, minimum three-well exploration campaign offshore Senegal…

Tackling the backlog

Jan 01, 2016

With many assets now more than 25 years old, asset integrity is a daily concern on the UK Continental Shelf. Is the industry keeping up? Elaine Maslin reports. Rope access is used to get to areas usually out of reach…

First cut is the deepest

Jan 01, 2016

OE reached out to analysts Wood Mackenzie and IHS Energy to find out the view on the next 12-18 months. And the outlook is not so great for exploration spend. Audrey Leon and Elaine Maslin report. Wood Mackenzie Image from iStock…

Middle Eastern resilience

Jan 01, 2016

Both maintaining and launching new offshore production is high on the agenda in the Middle East, not least in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran. IHS’ Mirzi Moralde outlines current activity in the region. Total’s…

Offshore’s opportunity?

Jan 01, 2016

Innovate, collaborate, standardize; lead with lean.   One could argue that the future of the global offshore E&P business, particularly deepwater development, is ours to create. Confronted…

Bringing subsea projects “in the money”

Jan 01, 2016

Jon Fredrik Müller and Audun Martinsen, of Rystad Energy, take a look at rising costs and the downturn and share how these two will affect the subsea market going forward. An illustration of the Johan Sverdrup field center…

IOG gains North Sea extensions

Dec 31, 2015

Independent Oil & Gas (IOG) has received extensions from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) for its Cronx and P2085 licenses located in the North Sea. Cronx OGA has extended the Cronx license by one year to 9 January 2017. In addition…

Vitol dry off Ivory Coast

Dec 31, 2015

Map of CI-508. From Genel. Vitol Energy is plugging and abandoning the Aigle-1X exploration well off the Ivory Coast after failing to encounter hydrocarbons, according to partner Genel Energy…

Retreating from the US Arctic

Dec 18, 2015

The US is losing its opportunity to lay claim to Arctic exploration, falling behind countries such as Norway and Russia. Now with Shell and Statoil exiting Alaska’s offshore, many in the industry and in politics are wondering how to salvage Alaskan offshore exploration…

UKCS Exploration: "Could do better"

Dec 17, 2015

Better success rates from North Sea exploration drilling could be achieved if historical well data was stored and shared better, according to the results of a review of well data published. The Oil and Gas Authority says a lack of quality geoscience and geophysics work…

BP Caspian work for KCA Deutag

Dec 17, 2015

Drilling and engineering contractor KCA Deutag has been awarded two contracts with BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) with about US$360 million for the initial contract or $1 billion including all options. The first contract has been awarded…

Faroe inks rig for Brasse drilling

Dec 17, 2015

UK-based explorer Faroe Petroleum has awarded a rig contract for the drilling of Brasse exploration well in the Norwegian North Sea. The firm also says production has restarted from the Enoch field, in which it has a 13.86% stake.  The…

Petrobras in further Espírito Santo find

Dec 16, 2015

Petrobras hit a new oil discovery in the Espírito Santo Basin offshore Brazil, according to partner Inpex. Map of the BM-ES-23 concession. From Inpex. The discovery contains oil…

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