Exploration News


Transocean Lands 17 Well Deal in Norway

Sep 22, 2022

Austria's OMV and German operator Wintershall Dea have jointly contracted Transocean's Transocean Norge semisubmersible drilling rig for drilling 17 wells in Norway. The two firms also said they had entered into an exclusive partnership with…

TotalEnergies Extends Suriname Rig Contract

Sep 22, 2022

TotalEnergies E&P Suriname has exercised an option to add the drilling of one additional well in Block 58 offshore Suriname to its contract for the Maersk Drilling's Maersk Valiant drillship. The contract extension is expected to start in January 2023…

UK Govt Confirms New North Sea License Round

Sep 22, 2022

The UK Government has announced it will support a new oil and gas licensing round in the North Sea that is expected to be launched in October. It has also lifted a moratorium on shale gas production in England. In a statement, the government said…

Adamantine awarded blocks in Seychelles

Sep 09, 2022

Adamantine Energy Seychelles, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adamantine Energy, has announced the signing of a Petroleum Agreement (PA) to formally acquire a 100% operated stake in two blocks offshore the Seychelles. The blocks are the Beau Vallon and Junon blocks…

Aker BP Extends Deepsea Nordkapp Hire

Sep 09, 2022

Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP has added two additional firm wells to its contract with Odjfell Drilling for use of the Deepsea Nordkapp semisubmersible drilling rig. The extension has an estimated duration of approximately six months…

Rystad: Global Exploration Falters

Sep 08, 2022

Global oil and gas exploration is set to falter this year as the number of licensed blocks and total acreage fall to near all-time lows as the sector struggles to shake off the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing oil market crash…

UK to Announce Dozens of New North Sea Oil and Gas Licenses -Sources

Sep 08, 2022

The British government is expected to announce dozens of new North Sea oil and gas exploration licenses in an effort to boost domestic production, two sources familiar with the government's discussions said.The exact number of new licenses was still to be confirmed…

Shell Extends Maersk Drillship Stay in Mexico

Sep 08, 2022

Shell has exercised an option to extend the provisioning of the 7th generation drillship Maersk Voyager for drilling services offshore Mexico. The contract extension is expected to commence in April 2023, in direct continuation of the rig’s current contract…

Tullow Oil Abandons Guyana Well After Dismal Drilling Results

Aug 05, 2022

Tullow Oil said on Friday it would abandon drilling operations at Beebei-Potaro exploration well in offshore Guyana after results showed the well bore water.The group, which holds 37.5% of the Kanuku block where the well lies, said it would…

High Impact Exploration Sees Rebound

Aug 04, 2022

38 high-impact exploration wells were drilled in the first half of 2022, similar to the same period in 2021 when 39 wells completed, says industry analysts Westwood Global Energy Group. The 38 wells resulted in 13 potentially commercial discoveries at a 34% commercial success rate…

Orcadian Agrees Farm-out on Carra Prospect

Aug 04, 2022

North Sea oil and gas development company Orcadian Energy has agreed a farm-out deal with Carrick Resources.The deal, based on the fulfilment of certain work milestones, centres on a sub-area of Licence P2320 which contains the the Carra prospect…

Equinor Lines Up Othello North Wildcat

Aug 04, 2022

Norway's Equinor has been granted a permit by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) to drill well 6507/8-11 S in the Norwegian Sea.The well, about 160 km offshore, about 10 km north of Heidrun, will be drilled using the Deepsea Stavanger semisubmersible drilling rig…

Eni Makes Latest Abu Dhabi Gas Discovery

Jul 29, 2022

Eni has announced a further 'significant' gas discovery, totaling an estimated 1-1.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas in place, in its first exploration well drilled in offshore Block 2 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).This discovery was…

Petronas Makes Gas Discovery Offshore Malaysia

Jan 07, 2022

Petronas announced a new gas discovery off the coast of Malaysia.The Malaysian company said Friday that its Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) subsidiary found gas at the Hadrah-1 wildcat exploration well of Block SK411, located in the shallow…

Equinor Drilling Ginny Wildcat off Norway

Jan 03, 2022

Exploration drilling operations have commenced on the Equinor-operated Ginny exploration well 6407/9-13 in the Norwegian Sea.The well, in production license PL1060, targets both an Upper Jurassic (Ginny) and a Middle Jurassic (Hermine) prospect located between the Galtvort and Hasselmus discoveries…

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