Exploration News


Eni in US$2 billion Egypt investment

Nov 12, 2015

Italian giant Eni and the Egyptian Government entered into an agreement for three amendments for the IEOC concessions, both onshore and offshore Egypt that will see the Italian giant make an additional investment of more than US$2 billion in the next four years…

Kosmos in major Mauritania hit

Nov 12, 2015

Dallas-based Kosmos Energy encountered a “significant play-extending” discovery at its Marsouin-1 exploration well, offshore Mauritania, Africa, marking its second significant natural gas discovery within eight months in the area. Map of Block C8…

Lundin spins Malaysian bit

Nov 09, 2015

Lundin Petroleum has started drilling the Selada-1 exploration well in Block PM308A, offshore Malaysia.  The well will target hydrocarbons in Miocene aged sands and is located 14km to the south of the Bertam field, operated by Lundin…

Eni in Marine XII Congo find

Nov 05, 2015

Italy’s Eni encountered a new oil and condensate discovery in the Marine XII block, offshore Congo. Image from Eni. The Nkala Marine prospect is located in Marine XII block, about…

Cairn spuds off Senegal

Nov 05, 2015

Cairn Energy spudded the first appraisal well on the SNE oil field located 100km offshore Senegal; according to joint venture partner Far Ltd. Map from Far. The SNE-2 well will…

Ororo drilling gets approval

Nov 03, 2015

Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) granted approval to partners Guarantee Petroleum, Sirius Petroleum, and Owena Oil & Gas to drill the proposed Ororo-2A well on the Ororo Field offshore Nigeria. The Ororo Field is located within OML 95…

Ophir in dry Thai well

Nov 02, 2015

Ophir Energy came up dry at the first well of its two-well drilling campaign in Block G4/50 offshore Thailand.  The G4/50-10 well in located on the Soy Siam prospect, which commenced drilling using the Emerald Vantage jackup rig in October and reached a total depth of 1627m…

Apache up North Sea reserves 50%

Nov 02, 2015

Houston headquartered Apache has unveiled a string of discoveries it has made in the UK North Sea which could increase its total North Sea reserve base by 50% and result in investment in new production facilities. The company says it has made two 'significant' discoveries in the Beryls area…

Thinning the herd

Nov 01, 2015

For the offshore floating rig market, the downturn presented the perfect storm: too many rigs, not enough demand, and with some 200 newbuilds set to enter the market over the next decade. Audrey Leon reports. The Maersk Developer…

Surveying Mediterranean prospects

Nov 01, 2015

Jerry Lee reports on all the exploration and production activity currently ongoing in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The Maersk Discoverer drilling in Egypt’s East Mediterranean Sea. Photos from BP…

Mediterranean gridlock

Nov 01, 2015

The Mediterranean and North African region is largely considered to be a promising frontier oil and gas area, and yet, border tensions, and internal disputes have seriously held back exploration efforts. Audrey Leon surveys the prospects…

Primeline fails off China

Oct 30, 2015

Primeline Energy’s LS23-1-1 well showed little potential for commercial production, offshore China. The company will now continue with the exploration drilling program for the LS30-3-1. Image from Primeline…

Chevron to slash 6-7000 jobs

Oct 30, 2015

US supermajor Chevron announced in its Q3 results that it expects to make further workforce reductions in the realm of 6000-7000 in an effort to cut costs. The company’s earnings this quarter were better than anticipated, according to analysts Simmons & Co…

ConocoPhillips in deepwater departure

Oct 30, 2015

Houston-based ConocoPhillips has made the strategic decision to drop out of its deepwater exploration program by 2017, despite a significant program that the company is executing in 2016. Ekofisk…

Equatorial Guinea launches 2016 bid round

Oct 29, 2015

Following the success of its 2012 and 2014 bidding rounds, the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy of Equatorial Guinea has announced it will launch a new bidding round for all remaining deep and ultra-deepwater blocks in 2016. Two…

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