W&T Offshore has received approval for a capex of US$125 million that will set up the Houston-based company to drill six to eight wells in the Gulf of Mexico this year, with its priority going to its Mahogany field. Image from iStock…
Dolphin Drilling, a subsidiary of Fred. Olsen Energy, has entered into a US$6.1 million one-well contract extension with Statoil for use of the Bideford Dolphin semisubmersible drilling rig. on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The vessel…
Gazprom Neft has commissioned two new production wells at its Prirazlomnoye field in Russian arctic waters. The new wells bring the total number of wells currently in operation at the Prirazlomnaya platform to 10, six of which are production wells…
Xodus Group has won a contract with North Sea operator Apache to deliver subsea engineering services for two new infill well developments at the Nevis and Skene fields in the northern North Sea. The project includes a novel idea of designing…
Drilling has started on Cairn Energy's latest exploration campaign offshore Senegal, according to partner FAR. Cairn Energy is using the Stena DrillMAX drillship to drill the SNE-5 well, which was spudded on Saturday, which will be followed by the SNE-6 well…
Offshore Ireland focused Providence Resources has been approved to move into the second phase of exploration on Frontier Exploration License (FEL) 2/14, containing the Druid and Drombeg prospects. FEL 2/14 is in about 2250m water depth…
Maersk Drilling has been awarded a new contract with Petrogas E&P Netherlands for the jackup, Maersk Resolute. The firm contract covers the drilling of the two wells, A8 and A9 in the A12 block of the Dutch continental shelf. The drilling…
North Atlantic Drilling (NADL) has been awarded a firm one-well extension plus one optional well from Statoil for the jackup West Elara. The work will start in direct continuation of West Elara's existing contract with Statoil and the…
China’s CNOOC has revealed its 2017 business strategy and development plan that includes a total of five new projects set to come onstream, and a capex that could reach US$10.2 billion (RMB 70 billion). Image from CNOOC…
Private equity back UK explorer Azinor Catalyst says success on a planned exploration well in Scotland's Outer Moray Firth could change industry perception of what is an under-explored part of the Moray Firth. The firm is planning a well on its Partidge prospect in the Outer Moray Firth…
Australia-based explorer Pura Vida Energy has agreed in principal a deal with a rig contractor to fund a share of the costs of a three-well drilling program offshore Gabon, west Africa, in return for a share of future production on any discoveries found…
Total 2016 offshore discovered liquids resources reached only slightly below 2.3 billion bbl, 90% lower than in 2010, according to Norwegian consultancy Rystad. Furthermore, Rystad says total global discovered volumes (oil and gas combined) are their lowest since the 1940s…
Statoil is set to drill its next well, on the Mim prospect, near the Norne field after being given the green light by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Statoil will use the Deepsea Bergen semisubmersible drilling rig to drill well 6507/3-12 in production license 159 B…
Baker Hughes and Schlumberger are to be awarded contracts for integrated drilling and well services on Statoil's two new Cat J jackup rigs, Askepott (translated as Cinderella) and Askeladden (a character from Norwegian folklore). The…
Stabilizing oil prices have prompted producers to return to both shale and offshore projects, but the industry still needs to cut costs. A new workforce program offered by the University of Houston (UH) focuses on helping oil and gas…