Statoil has picked up the largest number of licenses in the Oil & Gas Authority's 29th Offshore Licensing Award focusing on frontier or underexplored acreage on the UK Continental Shelf. In total, 25 licenses have been offered, covering 111 blocks…
PGS has completed its fleet expansion with the naming of its latest newbuild, the Ramform Hyperion, at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding yard in Nagasaki, Japan today (22 March). The first vessel of the Ramform Titan-class came in 2013 with the delivery of Ramform Titan…
ExxonMobil has confirmed a new discovery offshore Guyana at the Snoek well, as the supermajor continues its efforts in the area by drilling the Liza-4 well. Image from Exxon. Exxon encountered more than 82ft (25m) of high-quality…
Badger Explorer entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with the shareholders of Dwellop to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Dwellop for approximately US$22.4 million (NOK 190 million). In addition, certain shareholders of Badger…
Maersk Oil reached an agreement with the government of Denmark that will see a full redevelopment plan for the Tyra project in the Danish North Sea. Tyra East. Image from Maersk Oil. The…
Trelleborg has secured a contract for the supply of floatover equipment for a major offshore oilfield development project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the firm announced today (6 March). The contract spans the project’s second of three engineering…
The second jacket for the Shah Deniz Stage 2 platforms has set sail to the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan, the BP-led Shah Deniz consortium announced today (16 March). Sailaway of the QU jacket…
Noble Energy has won approval to drill an additional well, Leviathan-7, at its giant Leviathan project offshore Israel, alongside the Leviathan-5 well, in a move that aims to streamline operations and reduce drilling costs, Noble's partner Delek Group announced today (14 March)…
The latest Gulf of Mexico lease sale had 28 companies vying for 163 tracts in a total of 913,542 acres in the Central Planning Area of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), bringing in nearly US$275 million in high bids. Image from BOEM Twitter…
Noble Energy cut first steel on its giant Leviathan natural gas project, offshore Israel. First steel cut for Leviathan. Image from Noble Energy LinkedIn. “We are excited to join…
The US Department of the Interior (DOI) announced its first lease sale under the Trump Administration’s new Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022 (Five Year Program), offering 73 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) this summer…
Noble Energy has sanctioned the US$3.75 billion phase one of the giant Leviathan project, as partners in the Israeli gas field have approved the final investment decision. Leviathan sits in1600m water depth, 130km offshore Israel, and is estimated to contain 22 Tcf of natural gas…
India's government has awarded 31 contract areas as part of its Discovered Small Fields (DSF) bid round 2016, including eight offshore. A total of 134 bids were received for 34 contract areas. Of those, 22 companies (singly or in consortium) were shortlisted for 31 Contract Areas…
US oil major Chevron has picked up a new exploration permit in a 'gas-rich' part of the Carnarvon Basin, offshore western Australia. Chevron paid US$2.3 million (A$3 million) for the cash bid permit WA-526-P, which will last six years…
2016 was a year of huge challenges for the offshore drilling rig sector as the low oil price environment and reduced E&P spending continued to bite. Stephen Gordon, of Clarksons Research, charts the state of the market, which is arguably facing some of its toughest times since the 1980s…