Drilling News


New facilities for Butch?

Jun 02, 2014

Success of the Butch South West prospect, drilling on which has started, could prompt a new stand alone production facility in the North Sea, according to Faroe Petroleum.  Drilling on the Centrica-operated Butch South West exploration well 8/10-6S…

Romanian well fails to deliver

May 30, 2014

Petroceltic International's Muridava-1 exploration well on the Muridava (EX-27) license in the Romanian Black Sea has been plugged and abandoned after failling to find commercial hydrocarbons. The well, spudded on April 11 and drilled to 2747m total depth…

Rig activists arrested

May 29, 2014

Greenpeace activists who boarded the semisubmersible drilling rig Transocean Spitsbergen (pictured) 300km offshore Norway are now in the hands of Norwegian police, says Statoil.  But, Greenpeace's ship, the Esperanza, has moved to the location where Statoil plans to drill…

Rowan drillship down for repairs

May 28, 2014

Rowan Companies plc said the Rowan Renaissance drillship has been pulled from service off West Africa after experiencing equipment problems, the company announced in its monthly fleet status report released on 27 May 2014. Rowan said…

Saipem wins Caucasus E&C contracts

May 28, 2014

Saipem has been awarded a new engineering and construction contract in the Caucasus region and some new drilling contracts in the Middle East, for a total value of about US$750 million. In the E&C onshore sector, Saipem has been awarded by the Shah Deniz consortium…

Well costs hurt down under

May 26, 2014

The urgent need to address the global cost competitiveness of Australia’s oil and gas industry has been highlighted by a new analysis that shows fewer exploration wells are being drilled offshore despite significantly higher expenditure. An…

Statoil's Barents Apollo approved

May 23, 2014

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Statoil Petroleum AS a drilling permit for well 7324/2-1. It will be the first well to be drilled in Production License (PL) 615 in the Barents Sea. The wildcat well 7324/2-1 (Apollo) will…

BHI offshore rig count up 18%

May 23, 2014

Today's Baker Hughes North American offshore rotary rig count listed 60 rigs operating this week, up 3 rigs from a week ago and up 9 rigs from a year ago (18% year-over-year increase). The majority, 58 rigs, are working in the Gulf of Mexico…

Gazprom Neft, EDC sign agreement

May 23, 2014

Gazprom Neft has announced the signing of a three-year framework agreement on drilling and well reconstruction with  drilling service provider Commonwealth of Independent States Eurasia Drilling Company Limited (EDC). Under the terms of this agreement…

Petrobras confirms Santos find

May 22, 2014

Petrobras announced today that it has confirmed the Sagitario well discovery (formally 1-SPS-98 / 1-BRSA-1063 -SPS) initially announced 25 February 2013 while in the drilling phase. Located in the ultra-deepwater presalt area of the Santos basin…

Schlumberger launches new drilling and mapping technology

May 21, 2014

Schlumberger has launched a new technology, the GeoSphere reservoir mapping-while-drilling service, which has been tested in more than 140 wells worldwide. The new technology gives operators an opportunity to optimize well landing operations…

Woodside's GOM assets sold to W&T

May 20, 2014

W&T Offshore Inc. subsidiary, W&T Energy VI, acquired Woodside Energy's deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets for US$51 million, the company announced on 20 May 2014. The transaction includes a 20% non-operated working interest in the producing Neptune field (Atwater Valley Blocks 574…

HRT advances Polvo field

May 20, 2014

Brazilian independent HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA announced plans to focus on the offshore Polvo field, in the Campos basin.  HRT operates the field with 60% interest along with partner Maersk (40%). In 4Q 2013, the National Petroleum Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP)…

Apache to begin drilling Phoenix South-1 off WA

May 20, 2014

The Atwood Eagle semisubmersible drilling rig has been mobilized to the Phoenix South-1 well location within the WA-435-P exploration permit, off Western Australia. Perth-based partner Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd. said that operator Apache Energy Ltd…

BP extends Odfjell Angola contract

May 20, 2014

Odfjell Drilling and BP Angola have agreed a deal securing further work for Odfjell Drilling's sixth generation ultra-deepwater and harsh environment semisubmersible Deepsea Stavanger (pictured) on Block 18 in Angola. The contract is…

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