Energy sector services company CLS Offshore has invested about £350,000 in new offices at Hull, UK, with plans to add a fabrication workshop in the near future. CLS expects to rapidly build its office team in Hull to 25, with up to 75…
Lundin Petroleum AB has started drilling the latest appraisal well at the giant Johan Sverdrup discovery, in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The well,16/3-8S, on PL501, is at the crest of the Avaldsnes high. Its objectives are to establish the depth…
Tullow Oil plc's Mantra well, offshore Norway, is to be plugged and abandoned after being classified as water wet. Mantra, drilled with the 31/3-4 wildcat exploration well,was the first exploration well in the Tullow-operated 551 production license…
BP Norway has extended its contract for the jack-up Maersk Reacher by two years, from September 2014 to September 2016. BP Norway holds options to further extend the contract by up to additional four years, taking it out to September 2020…
Offshore projects, including oil spill response and observation systems, have been included in the European Union's€80 billion research and innovation program Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 is a challege-based research and innovation program run by the European Research Council (ERC)…
Kosmos Energy Ltd. signed a one well rig share agreement with BP plc and Maersk Drilling for use of the rig Maersk Discoverer. The rig is expected to commence drilling operations on the FA-1 (formally Eagle-1) exploration well in the Foum Assaka offshore block in Morocco in 1H 2014…
The Petrobras' P-55 platform, one of the strategic projects in the Brazilian company's 2013-2017 Business and Management Plan, started up Dec. 31, 3013 in Campos Basin's Roncador field. P-55 is part of Roncador´s field Module 3 project and will be connected to 17 wells…
New year, new focus. OE asked, “What are the main technology trends for your sector this year?” In 2014, we expect to see an emphasis on automation and control systems to enhance rig efficiency and safety. Multi…
Royal Dutch Shell plc announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Repsol S.A.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio outside North America for a headline cash consideration of US$4.1 billion. As part of the transaction…
Ophir Energy has said the Mlinzi Mbali-1 well offshore Tanzania has not found commercial hydrocarbons, but will offer 'crucial information' about Block 7, off the east African coast. The well was the first well drilled on Block 7. It…
Norwegian exploration firm Rocksource has agreed a farm-out deal with Atlantic Petroleum Norge and announced a deal for a European oil firm to buy electromagnetic data and use its software. The farm-out is an option deal with Atlantic Petroleum…
Statoil has made a gas discovery in the Askja West prospect and an oil discovery at the Askja East prospect in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The exploration wells, 30/11-9-S and 30/11-9-A, were drilled using the Ocean Vanguard semisubmersible…
KBR is to provide detailed engineering and procurement support services for the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project in the Caspian Sea under a contract with BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited. This contract follows the completion of FEED services…
The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has launched a new bid round for exploration licenses in the Gulf of Suez. Fifteen blocks, five in the Gulf of Suez and 10 in the Western Desert sedimentary basins, will be available, with licenses to be agreedon a production sharing model…
Seismic acquisition firms Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) and TGS have announced new contracts and an expanded co-operation agreement in the Barents Sea. The two firms said they will increase the number of blocks covered in the Barents Sea cooperation agreement from 11 to 17…