Wintershall is due to start drilling its latest exploration well on production license 248 in the North Sea, starting in March. The firm has been given consent to drill two wells, 35/8-6S and 35/8-6A, taking around 85 days, depending on whether a discovery is made…
Statoil encountered a 20m gas column at its wildcat well 30/9-28 S, in the Statoil-operated production license 104, in the central North Sea, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). Map of wildcat well 30/9-28 S…
Zennor Petroleum entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with the joint administrators of First Oil Expro, a company within the First Oil Group, to acquire subsidiary companies First Oil & Gas and Antrim Resources. These…
Were the North Sea’s oil and gas industry not already depressed enough, the latest results from an annual survey of the sector, revealed in Aberdeen this morning, will surely ensure it’s descent into sclerosis. Attendees at the launch…
The failure of UK-based independent explorer First Oil has resulted in partners EnQuest and Cairn Energy increasing their stakes in the Kraken heavy oil field development. First Oil had held 15% interest in the Kraken field in the UK North Sea…
West of Shetland basement fractured reservoir explorer Hurricane Energy has a new non-executive chairman after John Hogan announced his plans to step down from the board on completion of a three-year stint in the role in March of this year…
North Energy completed the acquisition of Explora Petroleum for a cash payment of US$2.5 million this week. Image from North Energy. The transaction was implemented through the…
UK-based exploration minnow Cluff Natural Resources (CLNR) has entered into a further memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Halliburton. The move will see the pair to collaborate on the development of CLNR's southern UK North Sea gas…
Wood Group PSN says it is to reduce rates paid to about a third of its UK-based contractors by about 9% 'in response to continuing cost and efficiency challenges affecting the UK North Sea oil and gas sector.' Wood Group, which already…
UK-based heavy oil explorer Xcite Energy says it is hopeful it could submit a fully-funded first phase development plan for its Bentley heavy oil field by the end of 2016. The firm's hopes have been raised after being given an extension…
Norway's Det norske is expecting sailaway of the Ivar Aasen devlopment topsides in late may, with installation offshore Norway expected for July 2016. In a market update, the firm said key activities for the project, on the Utsira High…
Norway-based Harding was awarded contracts to deliver lifeboats and davits to the Culzean offshore gas complex, that will be constructed for Maersk Oil UK by Sembcorp Marine subsidiary SMOE Pte. Image from Harding…
Malaysian independent exploration firm Hibiscus Petroleum is set to become a UK North Sea operator after receiving regulatory and shareholder approval for its acquisition of a 50% stake in the Anasuria cluster. It will be the firm's first producing asset…
Norway’s decommissioning market has the potential to be the second largest in the North Sea after the UK Continental Shelf, according to Oil & Gas UK’s first Norwegian Continental Shelf Decommissioning Insight report. The report, which provides a forecast for the region over the next decade…
Funding worth £1.8 million (c2.4 million euros) has been awarded to a group of European scientific institutions as part of a major initiative to improve the understanding of the influence of man-made structures, including oil and gas platforms and wind farms…