Petrofac has been selected as duty holder for newly appointed southern North Sea Sean field operator Oranje-Nassau Energie (ONE), as of 1 June. Dutch operator ONE made its first step into UK waters when it bought a 50% stake in and took…
Chevron's Erskine field has restarted production after being shut-in since September last year while a major upgrade was carried out on BG Group's Lomond facility, which it exports production through. Before the shut-down, the field was producing about a quarter of what is able to…
Newly formed Norwegian exploration firm Origo Exploration has given a boost to its exploration portfolio by signing three farm-in transactions involving four licenses: two on the UK Continental Shelf, and two on the Norwegian Continental Shelf…
UK well services contractors have predicted they will suffer a 23% drop in revenues in 2015 as they to feel the full effects of the downturn in oil prices. The drop in 2015 revenues would follow a mere 1% increase in revenues in 2014…
North Sea-focused Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the 50% of license P1609 containing the Skipper discovery from Alpha Petroleum Resources (Alpha). This transaction will result in IOG’s independently verified 2C resources increasing by 13…
BG Group completed the sale of its wholly-owned 543km pipeline network linking natural gas fields and the Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas (QCLNG) export facility to APA Group. This transaction has resulted in gross proceeds for BG Group of around US$4…
NorSea Group (UK) has established a new executive team to lead the company’s growth in Scotland. Walter Robertson has been appointed managing director while Mike Munro becomes the company’s first operations director. Walter has 30…
Houston-based Paragon Offshore entered into a US$300 million sale-leaseback agreement with SinoEnergy for two heavy-duty harsh environment jackup rigs. Propsector 1. From Paragon. According to the terms of the agreement…
Forty years ago this month (June), after a frenzy of exploration and something of a race to be first, first oil was produced from the UK North Sea. Opened by then-UK Energy Secretary Tony Benn, the Hamilton Brothers’ Argyll field beat BP’s Forties field to the post by just over three months…
Premier Oil has taken over 100% interest in its Solan field development West of Shetland as the project nears first oil. Premier says the Ocean Valiant rig has arrived at the Solan field and drilling of the second pair of producer-injector wells is due to start imminently…
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…
According to the latest analysis from Wood Mackenzie capital and operating costs in the UK and Norway's upstream sectors will decrease steadily this year as operators respond to lower oil prices. Wood Mackenzie projects that the biggest reductions will come in drilling costs…
OMV's Maari MR7A development well is now online offshore New Zealand, according to joint venture partner Cue Energy. Map of PMP 38160. From Cue. The Maari MR7A well is located in PMP 38160 in the Taranaki basin…
Seadrill’s 1Q 2015 results showed the company’s revenue at US$1.244 million, down just 1.36% from $1.261 million in 4Q 2014. The West Jupiter. Image from Seadrill. Operating profit skyrocketed to a whopping 35…
Floating production unit operator BW Offshore has taken a hit in revenues and profits following a fatal fire on one of its vessel offshore Brazil. However, the firm says it will recoup its losses after the fire on the Cidade de São Mateus floating production…