Offshore drilling firm Paragon Offshore has picked up two contract extensions, having reduced day rates. In the Middle East, a contract with ADMA OPCO for the M1162 jackup has been extended from mid-January 2017 to late January 2019 and…
The repair of the Polyarnaya Zvezda and Severnoye Siyaniye, sixth generation semisubmersible mobile offshore drilling units (MODU), have been completed under the survey of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) at Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Shipyard in Yantai…
Repsol Sinopec Brazil has discovered hydrocarbon pay at the Gávea A1 well in the ultra deepwater pre-salt Campos basin, offshore Brazil. Map of Campos basin, from Statoil. Gávea A1…
A referendum to drill within 12mi of the Italian coast has been sunk after failing to attract enough people to vote. A low turnout meant that the referendum, which had asked Italians if the government should stop renewing offshore drilling licenses within 12mi of the coast…
Cairn Energy has spudded its latest appraisal well on the 'world-class' SNE or Shelf Edge discovery offshore Senegal using the Ocean Rig Athena drillship, says partner FAR Ltd. Last month, FAR said recent appraisal well drilling on the…
UK-based independent explorer Hurricane Energy is planning two new appraisal wells on its Lancaster discovery after raising £52 million funding. The two wells, called the Lancaster 7 wells, could help Hurricane make a final investment…
Sevan Drilling and Cosco have agreed to defer delivery of the new-build Sevan Developer cylindrical drilling rig for another six months. The deepwater unit is being built by Cosco, but has faced construction delays. Meanwhile, Sevan has seen a slowdown in contract awards for deepwater units…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Statoil a drilling permit for wells 30/11-12 S and 30/11-12 A in production license 035 (PL 035), part of block 30/11 in the Norwegian North Sea. Well 30/11-12 S is wildcat well that…
In late February, Weatherford completed a drilling and reaming project near Sakhalin Island, Russia, that resulted in a total of 52 hours in rig time saved. The operator contracted Weatherford to enlarge a 3641ft (1110m) hole section from 8…
Badger Explorer (BXPL) has received a letter of intent (LOI) from Statoil confirming its support BXPL's development program in 2016. The objective of the development program is to further develop, design and qualify technologies and solutions…
India’s Oil & Natural Gas (ONGC) has awarded Fugro a contract for the provision of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) services on board the drillship Sagar Vijay, off the east coast of India. Under the contract, Fugro will provide support for deepwater drilling operations in depths up to 900m…
The 'world-class' SNE oil field offshore Senegal contains at least 560 MMbbl, justifying 'a significant commercial development,' according to a partner on the deepwater project. The increase, given by FAR following an independent assessment of the field's contingent resources…
Norway's Statoil has made a 'minor' discovery near the Oseberg field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The firm drilled two wells on production license 035/272, 30/11-11 S and 30/11-11 A, about 2km southeast of the Askja East…
Mubadala Petroleum is set to commence drilling operations at the Sri Trang-1 exploration well in mid-May, offshore Thailand. The well is approximately 18km north-northeast of the Manora oil development, in the Gulf of Thailand and within the G1/48 concession…
UK-based explorer Cairn Energy has met with mixed results on its latest exploration well offshore Senegal. The BEL-1 well, drilled in 1031m water depth to 2767m total vertical depth, was targeting the Bellatrix exploration prospect and appraising the northern extent of the SNE field…