The UK's new regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), has launched a competition linked to future exploration licensing rounds in order to stimulate further offshore oil and gas exploration activity in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS)…
Zennor Petroleum has completed its acquisition of First Oil & Gas and Antrim Resources from the administrators of First Oil Expro. Zennor now takes over interests in the North Sea producing fields Mungo and Monan (License P059), Bacchus (License P255)…
Dutch firm Boskalis has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire offshore activities from VolkerWessels. Under the offer, Boskalis will acquire maritime and offshore wind energy related activities of VolkerWessels, namely VBMS, Stemat and VSI (Volker Stevin International)…
Norway's Statoil has terminated its contract with COSL Offshore Management for the semisubmersible drilling rig COSL Innovator, which it was using on the Troll field in the Norwegian North Sea. One man died and two more wre injured after a wave hit the rig on 30 December last year…
Total's Uptonia exploration well 34/6-4 on production license 554 in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea is to be plugged and abandoned as a dry well, says the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The well was drilled about 6km northeast…
Subsea 7 has won a contract extension from BP for subsea construction, inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services in the North Sea. Under the agreement, Subsea 7 will provide BP with an additional two years of IRM delivery, extending the contract to 2019…
The UK oil and gas industry could release more than five million man hours each year if the sector standardized and simplified safety practices. The sector could recover as much as one hour of work per day per person at worksites through…
Since its discovery in 2010, the Sea Lion field offshore the Falkland Islands has been subject to a string of development options. Elaine Maslin looks at Premier Oil’s optimized final plan. Ocean Rig’s Ocean Guardian semisubmersible drilling rig…
Sixteen new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the Danish sector of the North Sea have been granted under Denmark's 7th Licensing Round, pending parliament approval. The move will see several new foreign operators enter the Danish sector…
Wintershall is due to start drilling its latest exploration well on production license 248 in the North Sea, starting in March. The firm has been given consent to drill two wells, 35/8-6S and 35/8-6A, taking around 85 days, depending on whether a discovery is made…
Statoil encountered a 20m gas column at its wildcat well 30/9-28 S, in the Statoil-operated production license 104, in the central North Sea, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). Map of wildcat well 30/9-28 S…
Zennor Petroleum entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with the joint administrators of First Oil Expro, a company within the First Oil Group, to acquire subsidiary companies First Oil & Gas and Antrim Resources. These…
Were the North Sea’s oil and gas industry not already depressed enough, the latest results from an annual survey of the sector, revealed in Aberdeen this morning, will surely ensure it’s descent into sclerosis. Attendees at the launch…
The failure of UK-based independent explorer First Oil has resulted in partners EnQuest and Cairn Energy increasing their stakes in the Kraken heavy oil field development. First Oil had held 15% interest in the Kraken field in the UK North Sea…
West of Shetland basement fractured reservoir explorer Hurricane Energy has a new non-executive chairman after John Hogan announced his plans to step down from the board on completion of a three-year stint in the role in March of this year…