FCX specializes in copper and gold miningFreeport enters energy sector with $9B merger Phoenix-based copper and gold mining company Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) has moved to acquire subsidiary McMoRan Exploration as well as Houston-based Plains…
Map of Muriú prospectPetrobras makes 4th find off Sergipe-Alagoas Petrobras has made a fourth oil discovery in the ultra-deepwater Sergipe-Alagoas basin offshore Brazil, the company announced on 5 December 2012.Tests confirmed the presence of light oil in the Calumbi formation…
Like a Christmas present, what was widely rumored and anticipated following recent Israeli hydrocarbon discoveries, Houston’s Noble Energy announced in late December 2011 the results of its recent well in the Cypriot Economic Zone. It contains up to 9tcf of natural gas…
Burdened by high drilling costs, lower success rates and smaller discoveries relative to other regions, not to mention post-Macondo regulatory changes, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico will nevertheless draw $70 billion in investment over the next two decades…
Some notable heavy oil projects offshore Brazil are entering advanced phases to increase or maintain production. Russell McCulley reports from Rio de Janeiro on the latest developments at three Campos Basin fields – Statoil’s Peregrino, Petrobras’…
With massive investment and aggressive technology development required to match world energy demand in coming decades, South America’s ‘southern cone’ will have a big role to play. Russell McCulley reports from Rio de Janeiro.Thanks in large part to Brazil’s pre-salt discoveries…
The South China Sea didn’t get a lot of respect – until the last few decades anyway. Now the area that rests between China and its fledgling Southeast Asian neighbors has become a geopolitical flash point. Tensions turned into a shooting war in the 1970s and looks like it could again…
Recruiting and retaining skills remains one of the industrys biggest talking points. In this OE two-parter examining the issue from differing offshore sector perspectives, operator BP's Simon Drysdale discusses the need for continual nurturing of existing talent…
The traditionally risk-averse offshore oil & gas industry has long relied on not just following regulations set out by governments but also requirements outlined by classification societies to ensure their operations are safe. As water depths…
A prediction of an oil price slump in less than a decade prompts Andrew McBarnet to onder on the prevailing wind currently favouring the marine seismic business.Possibly the most provocative oil industry analysis to surface in the last few months emanates from the portals of academia…
The extreme shortage of skilled personnel in the oil & gas industry is arguably the industry's biggest challenge today. Technical solutions may have changed but new challenges remain, particularly in the specialist area of subsea engineering…
Overall, total capital investment on developing UK oil & gas reserves rose by 40% to £8.5 billion in 2011, according to Oil & Gas UK's 2012 Economic Report. Confirmation in the 2012 UK Budget of measures to promote activity in a targeted way…
Mexico's latest licensing round only the second in state oil company Pemex's long history, made possible by recent exploration & production contract reforms failed to draw a successful bid for the offshore blocks on offer. Russell McCulley talks to Juan Carlos Zepeda Molina…
Statoil may not have the biggest R&D budget, but company officials say the operator's technological track record on the Norwegian continental shelf will help it push recovery rates to new highs and create the first subsea factory, including seafloor separation…
At a recent Bergen conference showcasing the strength in depth of Norway's subsea industry, Statoil EVP Øystein Michelsen challenged delegates to work with his company in developing the technology to go further, deeper and colder and seize the…