All eyes may be on Guyana, but there’s plenty of other countries worthy of attention in South America. Audrey Leon surveys the current spike in exploration activity in the region. Image from Anadarko Petroleum’s Q4 Operations Report…
2016 was a year of huge challenges for the offshore drilling rig sector as the low oil price environment and reduced E&P spending continued to bite. Stephen Gordon, of Clarksons Research, charts the state of the market, which is arguably facing some of its toughest times since the 1980s…
Even though the oilfield service market in shale is the place to be in 2017, Rystad Energy says there is clear evidence that offshore projects are still being prioritized by exploration and production (E&P) companies. In fact, for every…
Equatorial Guinea's Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has extended the closing date of its 2016 Licensing Round, due to a 'wave of new exploration interest' thanks to a more positive outlook in the industry. The round, offering 'all…
Mexico’s Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) expects to carry out exploration activities at Trión this year, with initial production slated to start in 2023. Image of José Antonio González Anaya, from Pemex Flickr…
Dallas-based Kosmos Energy is looking to drill “the industry’s most prospective exploration wells,” as the company moves towards its second phase of exploration offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Map of the Greater Tortue area…
Cairn Energy's latest well on the SNE (Shelf North Edge) field offshore Sengal has reached total depth, at 2852m, says partner FAR Ltd. Wireline logging operations have been completed on the SNE-5 appraisal well, in Senegal's Sangomar Deep block…
Russia's Gazprom Neft is set to drill the first exploration well on the Ayashsky Block in the Sea of Okhotsk after signing a contract for use of a Japanese drilling rig. Gazprom acquired a license for the exploration, development and…
Statoil is preparing to drill the Verbier prospect in the UK North Sea, with a rig anticipated to be in place by this summer, according to partner Jersey Oil & Gas (JOG). Map of Blocks 20/5b and 21/1d…
ExxonMobil, working with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), has achieved a major breakthrough with proprietary software using more than four times the previous number of processors used on complex oil and gas reservoir…
Sri Lanka’s government is offering a tender for Block M2 later this year, giving companies opportunities to undertake appraisal and development of gas discoveries and prospects, according to the country’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development…
Swedish oil explorer Lundin Petroleum says its 35-100 MMboe gross resource oil and gas discovery in its Filicudi exploration well in the Barents Sea has 'significant upside potential.' The well, 7219/12-1, is in PL533, which could contain up to 700 MMboe unrisked prospective resource…
Transocean is to scrap two idle rigs and has idled three others as contracts have been dropped, while others have been extended. The floaters M.G. Hulme, Jr. and GSF Rig 140 were classified as held for sale. Transocean says these rigs will be recycled…
Independent explorer Tullow Oil is lining up a string of exploration projects this year, including targeting the 500 MMbo Araku prospect offshore Suriname in 2H this year. Other projects include seismic campaigns in Ghana, Jamaica and Uruguay…
Fractured basement reservoir explorer Hurricane Energy says its previous 300 MMbbl estimate for the Lancaster field, west of Shetland is conservative. The firm has completed technical analysis of the Lancaster, Lincoln and Warwick assets…