Dragon Oil says drilling on the Cheleken Contract Area in Turkmenistan has been delayed and will be weighted towards H2 this year, with a total 14-16 wells due to be drilled. The Cheleken Contract Area covers about 950sq km and comprises two offshore oil and gas fields…
A third well is now producing in the Sapinhoá field, Petrobras announced, in keeping with the target date given when its preceding well was brought onstream in February. Well 7-SPH-04-SPS, which lays in 2120m of water on Block BM-S-9 of the Santos basin presalt region…
The US Energy Information Administration’s new “Today in Energy” brief looks at how US oil imports were down in 2013, but the share of imports last year from the United States' top three foreign oil suppliers—Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico—was the highest in at least four decades…
Lukoil Overseas completed drilling on its first offshore exploration well, Capitaine East-1X, at block CI-101 in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, the Russian company announced 2 April 2014. The well penetrated through 140m of sandstone from a Turonian formation…
A joint venture (JV) comprising two companies, both led by former BP group chief executives, has agreed to buy stakes in two blocks offshore Angola. The JV has been formed by Genel Energy, whose chief executive is ex-BP exec Tony Hayward (pictured right)…
Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP) cleared Statoil to enter the São Bernardo discovery in Espírito Santo (pictured, image courtesy Statoil), the Norwegian company announced. The São Bernardo oil discovery…
Repsol and Indra have jointly developed a water-based hydrocarbon leak early detection system, the companies announced on 26 March 2014. The system, called HEADS (Hydrocarbon Early Automatic Detection System) has successfully completed testing at the Repsol Industrial Complex in Tarragon…
Cairn Energy's JM-1 well, offshore Morocco, is to be plugged and abandoned without testing, after funding heavy oil. The JM-1 well (operated by Cairn with 37.5% WI) was drilled to evaluate Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic objectives…
Germany-based crude oil and natural gas producer is planning to divest its shareholding in the Eastern German company Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG) as part of its strategy to concentrate on the upstream sector. A 24 March agreement will see EWE Aktiengesellschaft take over Wintershall’s 15…
Houston-based Energy XXI is set to become the largest public independent producer on the Gulf of Mexico shelf after its acquisition of EPL Oil & Gas for US$1.53 billion. Upon completion of the merger, EnergyXXI projects the company will be worth about $6 billion…
Nigerian oil and gas exploration firm SEPLAT has announced plans to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the New York Stock Exchange (NSE) to fund its expansion, including into shallow offshore waters. An initial offer is expected to amount to at least US$500 million…
An oil and gas discovery has been made on the Pil exploration well, which sits in the Norwegian Sea. London-based Faroe Petroleum said the Pil well (6406/12-3S) encountered a gross hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir section with about 135m…
Total Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie (pictured) used his IHS CERAWeek keynote to encourage the oil industry audience to change the way oil and gas companies manage their assets. De Margerie discussed how the industry cannot tolerate rising capital expenditures…
During his keynote address at IHS CERAweek, Chevron Chairman and CEO, John Watson (pictured), addressed the challenges and changes in the industry, noting the effects of rising costs on the industry’s success. With labor and cost doubling over the past decade…
The Baker Hughes rig count for the week ending 28 Feb reported that the US is down two rigs from last week to 1769. Both of the rigs were drilling offshore, bringing the total to 55—and a year over year increase of three. Land-based rigs…