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…
On 20 Feb, oil production in fields operated by Petrobras in the Santos and Campos Basin pre-salt accumulations rose to 407,000bpd, a record daily output. It has taken eight years to achieve this level of output since initial discovery in 2006…
Stone Energy Corp. hit oil at its deepwater Cardona (MC 29 #4) well at Mississippi Canyon 29 in the US Gulf of Mexico, the company announced on 24 Feb 2014. Drilling operations are underway using the ENSCO 8502 drilling rig, which Stone Energy contracted last April…
Well 9-SPS-77 is now online with a production rate of 33,000bpd, Petrobras announced. Another production well is set to start by the end of 1Q 2014. Located in the Sapinhoá oil field, Block BM-S-9 of the Santos Basin presalt area, the well is in around 2118m of water…
The third phase of the Na Kika field in the Gulf of Mexico recently entered production, BP announced. Phase 3 production started on 19 Feb 2014, with a second well expected to come online 2Q 2014. Sitting in around 6300ft of water…
The UK’s North Sea oil and gas industry was put under a national spotlight today, both by the industry and the nation’s politicians. The industry and government welcomed the outcome of industry veteran Sir Ian Wood’s UKCS Maximizing Recovery Review final report…