New York-headquartered Hess says it is cutting its 2015 capital and exploration budget by 16%, compared to 2014, to US$4.7 billion. While the firm said most of the cash (45%/$2.1 billion) would be spent on its unconventional shale resources…
Germany’s Wintershall picked up eight new exploration licenses from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in the current licensing round APA 2014. Image from Wintershall. Wintershall…
Suncor Energy Norge received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to drill at exploration well 34/4 in the Norwegian Sea. The well is located in the Suncor-operated production license 375, in Block 34/4. Drilling will begin this month for a period of 154 days…
Statoil is bringing the Transocean Spitsbergen semisubmersible back to the waters to drill a wildcat well in the Snedrid Nord prospect, after gaining consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA). Transocean Spitsbergen…
ConocoPhillips has started drilling on the third well in its Barossa area exploration campaign, Barossa-4, in the Bonaparte basin, offshore Australia's Northern Territory. The latest well follows the Barossa-3 appraisal well…
With Mexican oil open to private investment for the first time, the country’s initial bidding round is expected to remain competitive despite low oil prices, delays and a number of uncertainties, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData…
Faroe Exploration is planning four exploration wells offshore Norway in 2015 - Shango, Pil, Blister and Kvalross. Shango, operated by Total (Faroe 20%), is in the Norwegian North Sea on the northern part of the prolific Utsira High. The…
The Binh Minh 2 vessel completed a 3146km 2D seismic acquisition program in the Santos-operated SS-11 block, offshore Bangladesh. Block SS-11 covers an area of 4475sq km in the Bay of Bengal over the Bengal Fan. The majority of the block lies in shallow waters of up to 200m…
Origin Energy says the Speculant-1 exploration well in the Otway basin, offshore Victoria, Australia, is to be suspended while development options are assessed. The well, which encountered 'potentially commercial quanitities of gas' in the primary Waarre formation reservoirs target…
Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy today cranked open the door to Barents Sea exploration by putting some 54 blocks or part blocks in the icy northern region into its 23rd licensing round. The opening of the Barents Sea to exploration…
The US Gulf of Mexico deepwater Madison well has been plugged and abandoned after failing to find commercial hydrocarbons. Operator Noble Energy drilled the well to a total depth of 16,850ft, in 7149ft water depth, on Mississippi Canyon 479…
Noble Energy’s Madison exploration well has been plugged and abandoned in the Gulf of Mexico after no commercial hydrocarbons were found. The well was drilled to a total depth of 16,859ft in the Mississippi Canyon 479 and reached its targeted Upper and Middle Miocene objectives…
Lundin Petroleum has started drilling exploration well 26/10-1 on the Zulu prospect in production license (PL) 674BS, 100km west of Stavanger in the North Sea. Zulu is about 30 km northeast of the Johan Sverdrup discovery. The main objective…
Egypt’s bid to pay off its mountain of debt to international oil companies and improve contract terms could create a rush of activity to make up for lost time. Patrick Werr reports. Former chairman of Egypt’s state-owned gas holding company…
ExxonMobil began production at the Arkutun-Dagi field, off Russia. Image of the Arkutun-Dagi topside. Arkutun-Dagi is part of the multi-billion-dollar Sakhalin-1 project, which also…