From a peak of 396 in 1996, numbers of wells drilled offshore UK fell to 164 in 2013, a low not seen since 1979. Development wells were down from 289 in 1998, to 120 in 2013. Exploration and appraisal drilling, on which offshore production ultimately depends…
As the industry advances into ultra-deepwater, an increasing number of tight tolerance wells require an efficient system for determining early influxes or losses during drilling, tripping, and cementing operations. Scott Hilliard of Statoil and Florian Le Blay…
As its bid licensing round is delayed again, will Lebanon’s offshore industry ever take off? Sarah Parker Musarra analyzes the current situation and explores the history of the troubled country. In April, Lebanon once again delayed its…
Shell’s GeoSigns has helped the company find reservoirs like the pre-salt West Boreas field in the Gulf of Mexico and there is more to come. Elaine Maslin reports. Shell’s iScope facilities…
SBM Offshore discusses some of the company’s developing technologies and how it is working toward unlocking reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. Exploration for fields further offshore and in deeper waters is leading to the development of more complex reservoirs…
Lundin Petroleum's latest Luno II appraisal well found oil but with lower than expected reservoir properties, leading the firm to revise down its resource estimate for the field to between 27 and 71MMboe. Lundin said the target of appraisal well 16/4- 8 S in the Luno II discovery…
Noble Energy announced successful results for the Katmai exploration well and the Dantzler-2 appraisal well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Katmai exploration well Noble is reporting great news at Katmai with total gross resources for the well estimated between 40 and 100MMboe…
Pacific Drilling’s ultra deepwater Pacific Sharav began its five-year drilling contract for Chevron on 27 August 2014. The contract is estimated to be worth more than US$1 billion, bringing Pacific Drilling’s total contract backlog as of 22 June 2012…
Carin Energy found oil samples in the FAN-1 exploration well offshore Senegal, according to joint venture partner, FAR Ltd. FAN-1 and SNE-1 in 3D seismic. From Far. FAR says elevated gas…
Shell made a gas discovery at the deepwater Majoram-1 well 180km off the Malaysia coast. The Marjoram-1 well is located in Block SK318, in 800m of water. Shell says the addition of new natural gas resources this year ensures the company is able to continue to provide cost-effective…
Santos hit a gas discovery at the Lasseter-1/ST1 exploration well, offshore Western Australia. Map of WA-274-P from Inpex The block and its surrounding areas are considered an area of high exploration potential…
Singapore-based KrisEnergy completed drilling on the Mancharee-1 well off the Gulf of Thailand with no significant pay zones identified. KrisEnergy says gas shows were encountered at several levels but no significant pay zones were identified…
Atlantic Petroleum entered commercial agreement to farm out 6% of its 15% ownership in license PL528 in the Ivory prospect located in the Norwegian Sea to Repsol. The deal is subject to government approval. The Ivory prospect is gas prone…
Santos announced the discovery of gas-condensate at the Lasseter-1 exploration well in WA-274-P, located in the Browse basin, offshore Western Australia. The Lasseter-1 well is located approximately 35km east-southeast of Santos’ Crown…
Rosneft, Seadrill Ltd. and North Atlantic Drilling Ltd. (NADL) entered into a framework agreement. The cooperation would see the Russian producer exchanging assets for shares in the Norwegian drilling company, which specializes in harsh environment operations…