New and 'final' regulations regarding drilling in the US Arctic have been jointly issued by the country's authorities, including a requirement to have a relief rig on standby and containment equipment. Image from BSEE Twitter…
Italian explorer Eni has announced it will begin an exploratory drilling campaign at its three fields in the Bay of Campeche offshore Mexico. Eni representatives were in Mexico City on 30 November to sign a new production sharing contract…
The US Department of the Interior announced it will cancel two planned Arctic offshore lease sales under the US government’s current five-year plan for 2012-2017 due to Shell’s failed Arctic campaign and current market conditions, which left…
Petrobras announced a further hydrocarbon discovery at the giant pre-salt Libra field in the Santos basin, offshore Brazil. The Brazilian national said that well 3-BRSA-1310-RJS, in the central portion of the block, identified the presence of hydrocarbons in a low-porosity reservoir…
The Bulgarian Ministry of Energy awarded Shell E&P a permit for deepwater exploration of oil and natural gas in Blocks 1-14 Silistar in the Black Sea, according to Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova. Image from Shell…
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has given Shell final approval to drill into deeper into hydrocarbon-bearing zones at its Burger J prospect in the Chukchi Sea, off Alaska, in the US Arctic. “After extensive review and under a robust array of safety requirements…
The Transocean Polar Pioneer semisubmersible officially began Shell’s US$1 billion Arctic drilling program in the Chukchi Sea on 30 July. The Polar Pioneer. From Transocean. Drilling operations began at Shell’s Burger J prospect…
Japan’s Agency of Natural Resources and Energy has chosen Tokyo-based operator Inpex to drill an exploratory well in the country’s offshore waters in the Sea of Japan. Exploratory drilling will take place from May to August 2016, 80-86mi…
Shell’s arrival in the Chukchi Sea came with limitations from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) that allows the supermajor to begin drilling, but not into oil-bearing zones just yet. The Noble Discoverer…
Image: Hummer drilling operations/Petsec Energy Castex Offshore Inc. commenced drilling the Main Pass Block 270 #3 well. The exploratory well is being drilled in federal offshore waters on Petsec’s Hummer prospect…
An oil industry consortium that includes BP and ExxonMobil suspended a Canadian arctic exploration program in the Beaufort Sea region due to insufficient time to begin test drilling before its lease expires in 2020, according to Seeking Alpha…
API encouraged congress and regulators to prioritize Arctic offshore oil and natural gas development as the House Natural Resources Committee prepared to hold a hearing on Arctic energy today (16 June). “Arctic oil and natural gas…
A drilling exploration program is set to begin at Cambodia Offshore Block D offshore Thailand, after a project cooperation agreement was signed between subsidiaries of Mirach Energy and Landocean Energy. Map of Block D…
LLOG Exploration and its partners Ridgewood Energy and Stone Energy Corp. drilled a successful exploration test at the Viosca Knoll 959 “Crown & Anchor” prospect. The initial exploratory well encountered greater than 50ft of net oil bearing sand in a high-quality Miocene reservoir…
With a mean estimate of 23.6 billion bbl of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, the Arctic could be one of the last big finds. Heather Saucier examines what is at stake on the US side. Source…
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