Cairn Energy spudded the first appraisal well on the SNE oil field located 100km offshore Senegal; according to joint venture partner Far Ltd. Map from Far. The SNE-2 well will…
Less than eight months after its discovery, BP and the Egyptian government signed a heads of agreement to rapidly progress the development of the Atoll deepwater field offshore Egypt as early as 2018. BP's…
Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) granted approval to partners Guarantee Petroleum, Sirius Petroleum, and Owena Oil & Gas to drill the proposed Ororo-2A well on the Ororo Field offshore Nigeria. The Ororo Field is located within OML 95…
Chevron subsidiary Chevron Overseas (Congo) began oil and gas production from the Lianzi Field, the company’s first cross-border project between the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Angola, offshore Africa. Map of Lianzi…
Drilling has started on the 200 bbl prize SNE-1 appraisal program offshore Senegal. The three wells SNE-2, SNE-3 and BEL-1 will be drilled back to back in a program that is estimated to be completed in mid-2016. Both SNE-2 and SNE-3 appraisal wells will be logged…
Jerry Lee reports on all the exploration and production activity currently ongoing in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The Maersk Discoverer drilling in Egypt’s East Mediterranean Sea. Photos from BP…
The Mediterranean and North African region is largely considered to be a promising frontier oil and gas area, and yet, border tensions, and internal disputes have seriously held back exploration efforts. Audrey Leon surveys the prospects…
Following the success of its 2012 and 2014 bidding rounds, the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy of Equatorial Guinea has announced it will launch a new bidding round for all remaining deep and ultra-deepwater blocks in 2016. Two…
Retrieving an unreliable blowout preventer (BOP) is a necessary but expensive operation, costing upwards of US$1-2 million dollars. This cost can easily escalate in developing ultra deepwater regions such as Brazil, West Africa and Gulf of Mexico…
McDermott International received regulatory approval for its McDermott Marine Construction Ghana Ltd. (MMCGL) joint venture to pursue key offshore opportunities in Ghana. McDermott and MMCGL officials made the announcement during the 2015 Africa Oil Week in Cape Town…
Statoil has completed a farm-in transaction with ExxonMobil, acquiring a 35% interest in the ER 12/3/154 Tugela South Exploration Right offshore South Africa. The remaining interests are held by operator ExxonMobil (40%) and co-venturer Impact Africa (25%)…
Mozambique is looking forward to some US$691 million spending on exploration after naming successful bidders in its fifth licensing round. ExxonMobil, with partner Rosneft, has led the pack in bids to win new acreage, including deepwater areas…
CGG announced that it has been appointed as technical consultant by the Gabonese Republic’s Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons to help with the promotion of its 11th Licensing Round focusing on five highly prospective deepwater blocks…
New analysis is estimating that Eni’s Zohr natural gas discovery has significant technical, commercial, and strategic implications for the gas market in Egypt, according to IHS Energy. Map of Zohr…
Galp Energia entered into an agreement with the Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, and Kosmos Energy for the award of Block 6 offshore São Tomé and Príncipe, offshore Africa. Galp Energia will be the operator of the block with 45% interest…