Exploration News

 

Israel launches offshore bid round

Nov 16, 2016

Israel's Minister of Energy has opened the country's first offshore bid round covering 24 areas in the Levant Basin, with some located close to existing major gas discoveries. The discovery of giant gas fields in the Levant Basin, offshore…

Petrobras completes first Libra well

Nov 14, 2016

Petrobras completed the first well in the Santos Basin’s Libra pre-salt field last week, with the anticipation of starting production next year, connected to the Pioneiro de Libra floating production and storage offloading (FPSO) unit. The West Carina…

All eyes on Verbier as Statoil confirms drilling

Nov 14, 2016

Statoil has confirmed to the Oil and Gas Authority that it will drill a well on the Verbier prospect in the North Sea, in summer 2017, according to partner Jersey Oil & Gas. Jersey says the prospect, which is in production license 2170…

Winners named for C-NLOPB bid round

Nov 10, 2016

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) received nearly US$563 million (CAD $758 million) in work commitments in its latest deepwater bid round for the East Newfoundland and Jeanne d’Arc regions, offshore the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador areas…

Hurricane spuds Lincoln probe, aims for 250 MMbbl unrisked

Nov 09, 2016

UK-based basement explorer Hurricane Energy has spudded its latest well West of Shetland. The firm, which recently completed the successful Lancaster 7 appraisal spudded the Lincoln well on 8 November, the firm said. The Lincoln well…

Wintershall spuds Shuwaihat off Abu Dhabi

Nov 08, 2016

Wintershall has spudded its first offshore well for the Shuwaihat project, off Abu Dhabi.  Image from Wintershall. The Shuwaihat field is situated in the western region of Abu Dhabi…

Statoil to use Scarabeo 5 at Njord

Nov 08, 2016

Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Statoil consent to use the Scarabeo 5 semisubmersible rig for well activities on the Njord field, in the Norwegian Sea. Statoil is the operator at Njord, around 130km north of Kristiansund…

Quadrant starts at Phoenix South-2

Nov 07, 2016

Quadrant Energy has spudded the Phoenix South-2 well within the WA-435-P exploration permit in the North West Shelf of Australia. Joint venture partner Carnarvon Petroleum said the well has been drilled down to approximately 1500m depth…

Statoil to drill at Cape Vulture with Deepsea Bergen

Nov 03, 2016

The Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Statoil consent to drill an exploration well in block 6608/10 with an option for a sidetrack. Statoil is the operator of development license 128. The exploration well will be drilled in a prospect named Cape Vulture…

Growing expectations

Nov 03, 2016

After some rough starts, Mexico’s energy future might be headed in the right direction. Mexico’s upcoming deepwater round and the state owned oil firm Pemex’s upcoming joint ventures were up for discussion at a recent event held by Rice University’s Baker Institute…

Nexen eyeing Buzzard phase 2

Nov 02, 2016

The UK business of CNOOC-owned Nexen Petroleum is planning two high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) exploration wells in the North Sea, with at least one in 2017, and assessing a phase 2 of its massive Buzzard development.  Presenting…

Anadarko to close FCX deal in Q4

Nov 01, 2016

Anadarko Petroleum posted a net loss of US$830 million in Q3 2016, as the US independent moves forward with its deal with Freeport McMoRan (FCX) and shifts its focus to oil with the deepwater Gulf of Mexico on its priority list. Walker…

Drillship inked for Guinea deepwater probe

Nov 01, 2016

Houston headquartered Hyperdynamics has signed a letter of award with drilling contractor Pacific Drilling for use of the Pacific Bora drillship on a deepwater drilling campaign offshore Guinea, West Africa, starting Q2 2017. The unit…

Providence issues LOI for Druid drilling

Nov 01, 2016

Offshore Ireland explorer Providence Resources has inked a letter of intent for use of a deepwater drilling rig to drill on the deep water Druid prospect in the southern Porcupine Basin in 2017.  The Druid prospect is in Frontier Exploration…

Waiting on LNG trains

Nov 01, 2016

It took a long time for exploration to make its impact offshore East Africa. Now it has, will there be another wait for LNG projects to look profitable? Professor Alex Kemp reflects. Image from iStock…

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