Det norske oljeselskap has completed its agreement to acquire Premier Oil Norway. The merger, previously announced on 16 November, comprises all Premier Oil plc’s Norwegian assets for a net consideration of US$120 million on a cash free, debt basis…
Bad weather has delayed first oil from Premier Oil's Solan project, in the West of Shetland area, until January, the firm announced on 23 December. Premier Oil stated in its operations announcement that further progress has been made…
Shipping and offshore specialist law firm Wikborg Rein says current low oil prices could mean there are bargains to be had for investors in the offshore sector who follow recommended procedures for assessing and acquiring distressed companies…
Det Norske's Alvheim floating production, storage and offloading vessel has returned to full capacity after an electric fault was fixed. The fault, which occurred late November, was in the high voltage drive motor for one of the gas export compressors on Alvheim…
UK-based explorer Faroe Petroleum has awarded a rig contract for the drilling of Brasse exploration well in the Norwegian North Sea. The firm also says production has restarted from the Enoch field, in which it has a 13.86% stake. The…
Noble Energy revealed a 15,000 boe/d increase in its Q4 2015 sales volumes for both offshore and onshore fields to an estimated 405,000-415,000 boe/d. Map of Noble's Gulf of Mexico assets. Image from Noble…
Apache is to increase investment in drilling to 78% of its annual capital spending in 2016-2020, compared to 51% in 2012-2015, a business breakfast was told in Aberdeen this morning. Investment in seismic will double, from 5% of its capital spending to 10%…
Otto Energy has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Byron Energy for the staged farm-in for participating interests in to up to three lease areas held by Byron in the Louisiana Gulf of Mexico (GOM) area. The transaction…
Low production efficiency in the UK North Sea has amounted to some 900 MMboe of lost production, a senior oil executive told a business breakfast in Aberdeen this morning. Ray Riddoch, Nexen Petroleum’s UK managing director, said in 2014…
Vaalco Energy’s North Tchibala 2-H well, the second development well drilled by Vaalco in the North Tchibala field, was brought online, offshore Gabon. The well was stabilized at rate of approximately 500 b/d, gross. The well was drilled to a measured depth of 16…
Norway-based geoscience firm Dolphin Group has said it may be forced into insolvency if it is not able to restructure its business. The firm, which owns Dolphin Geophysical, saw shares halve in trading this morning, following its announcement…
Chevron is planning a 24% reduction in its 2016 capital and exploratory investment program to US$26.6 billion, compared to 2015’s $35 billion. Chevron's Big Foot in the GoM. Image from Chevron…
Seadrill Partners has secured one-year contract extensions for the T-15 and T-16 tender rigs with Chevron Thailand E&P. The contracts will now expire in July and August 2019, respectively. The total backlog of the two contract extensions is approximately US$80 million…
Ophir Energy has cut its planned development cost and signed a heads of agreements for LNG offtake from its Fortuna FLNG project offshore Equatorial Guinea. Gross capital costs on the project - due to be Africa's first floating LNG project…
Even before the drastic drop in oil prices, deepwater extraction costs were under examination, as costs had nearly quadrupled in the past 10 years. The price collapse has created a greater urgency for rethinking how the industry does business…