Cairn Energy has discovered hydrocarbons at its SNE North-1 wildcat well offshore Senegal, as well as oil in a deeper secondary objective, marking the end to the company’s five-well drilling campaign for the year. Map of the SNE field…
Statoil and partners OMV and Petoro have made a non-commercial gas discovery in the Gemini North well, northeast of the Wisting discovery in the Barents Sea. The well found a small amount of oil. The well was drilled in license PL 855…
Statoil has received the green light from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for a drilling permit for the Koigen Central wildcat (well 7317/9-1) in the Barents Sea. Map of 7317/9-1, Koigen Central…
Providence Resources' Druid exploration well has reached its first target in the 53/61-1 well and found the reservoir to be water wet. Drilling offshore Ireland will now continue to the deeper Drombeg target. The well is being drilled by the Stena IceMAX drill ship in 2233m water depth…
Lundin Petroleum is on the heels of beginning an active exploration drilling program in the southern Barents Sea with Ocean Rig’s Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible. The program, which will begin with a multi-billion bbl prospect, includes spudding…
Pacific Drilling CEO Christian J. Beckett has stepped down from his positions as CEO and as a member of the board, after a 10-year tenure, to pursue other opportunities, the firm has announced. Paul T. Reese, the Houston-based company’s current Executive Vice President and CFO…
Diamond Offshore is championing a new Floating Factory concept meant to meet future deepwater challenges, but drumming up support during the downturn may be tough. Karen Boman reports. Photo from iStock…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Statoil a drilling permit for wildcat well 7435/12-1 in the Barents Sea. Map of 7435/12-1, from NPD. Well 7435/12-1 in production…
CIMC Raffles has started sea trials for the ultra-deepwater drilling rig Blue Whale II, following the completion equipment testing. The sea trials are expected to last for three weeks. Designed to operate in water depths of 3658m and drill to depths of up to 15…
Talos Energy's Zama-1 exploration well, which made the 'world class' Zama discovery, has failed to find further volumes in a deeper target. Zama-1 is being drilled in 166m water depth, in Block 7 in the Sureste Basin, about 37mi (60km) off Tabasco…
Varel UK has signed a collaborative project with the University of Aberdeen to design and develop a new drill bit, which addresses the unique challenges of drilling in Resonance Enhanced Drilling (RED) mode. Resonance Enhanced Drilling…
Tullow Oil has revealed its plans for the rest of the year to drill offshore Suriname, and resuming at the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) fields offshore Ghana. Image from Tullow Oil. In the company’s half year 2017 report…
ExxonMobil has discovered additional oil at a Payara appraisal well offshore Guyana, upping the ultra deepwater discovery's resources to about 500 MMboe. Map of Stabroek, from Exxon. The…
Island Constructor. Image from Island Offshore. Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Norske Shell consent to use the Island Constructor mobile drilling facility for the start-up of well 6407/9-G-5 on the Draugen field…
Oilfield giant schlumberger has revealed a slew of new contacts including a deal to supply equipment to the Leviathan field, offshore Israel, and to perform ocean bottom survey work on BP's Clair Ridge field, west of Shetland, UK. The…