Oil major Shell has been fined £22,500 after admitting failures that led to an oil leak in the North Sea. The leak, the biggest in a decade in the North Sea, was discovered on 10 August 2011, when oil was spotted on the sea surface near Shell’s Gannet F field…
The high costs surrounding deepwater developments and the low price of oil is a challenging combination for operators. Khalid Mateen. Photo from OE Staff. For deepwater operators, such as Total…
Lundin Petroleum has started drilling exploration well 7130/4-1 on the Ørnen (Eagle) prospect. Ørnen is in PL708, on the eastern parts of the Finnmark Platform in the southern Barents Sea. The reservoir is expected to consist of Upper Permian carbonates…
Rockhopper Exploration has agreed a deal to take over fellow Falklands explorer Falkland Oil and Gas (FOGL). The move will make the combined company the largest North Falkland Islands license and discovered resource holder with a material working interest in all key licenses in the area…
The University of Houston (UH) petroleum engineering program – started in 2009 with just 20 undergraduate students – has been elevated to a full department within the UH Cullen College of Engineering. The move was announced this month. The new department…
Geosciences company Benthic has been awarded two contracts by Woodside to undertake offshore geotechnical site investigations for the proposed Browse floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) development and the Greater Enfield development located off the coast of Western Australia…
Reusing wells on the Norwegian shelf can be good business. This is why the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) is skeptical of the proposal to plug wells as a measure to keep drilling rigs in activity. As resource steward, the NPD wants…
Statoil is the operator for production license 104 and has received consent to drill exploration well 30/89 S on the Oseberg field. Statoil has allocated 54 days for the activity and will be drilling with the Songa Delta, in approximately 99m water depth…
BG Group secured 35% stake from Houston-based Noble Energy in Block 12 offshore Cyprus in a US$165 million farm out deal, which gives the UK deepwater and LNG focused company a piece of the Aphrodite natural gas discovery. Map of Cyprus…
The Department of Mineral Fuels (DMF), the government agency responsible for Thailand’s upstream petroleum industry, granted approval to KrisEnergy for the production area application (PAA) for for an area containing the Rossukon oil discovery in the Gulf of Thailand…
Norway's DNV GL is planning to carry out what it is calling the oil and gas industry's largest ever controlled release of carbon dioxide from an underwater pipeline as part of research around carbon capture and storage technologies. The…
TGS is reprocessing some 22,847km of 2D seismic offshore Portugal thanks to success in the conjugate offshore Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. This project, which uses TGS' broadband solution Clari-Fi, is now fully underway, said the firm…
Engineering company Monadelphous Group has won a major long-term maintenance and modifications services contract associated with Shell's Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) project. The contract, worth more than AU$200 million, will be for provide maintenance…
Premier Oil has spudded its latest Falklands Islands exploration well. The 14/20-2 Isobel - 2 well in the North Falklands basin is a second attempt on the Isobel Deep area, after drilling in May hit oil shows in a suspected high pressure formation…
Since the first oil shock of 1973, instability in the Middle East has frequently been associated with higher oil prices. In an industry desperate for positive movement in crude price, the current turmoil in this region is having a limited impact…