Total E&P announced today that its Saphir-1XB exploration well on Block CI-514 tested light oil in deep water off Africa's Ivory Coast. “Drilled in an abrupt margin play, this first well is the first discovery in the San Pedro Basin…
Shell announced a deepwater natural gas discovery off Malaysia. The successful Rosmari-1 well is 135km off the coast of Sarawak, in the South China Sea (Block SK-318). It was drilled to a total depth of 2123m and encountered a gas column of more than 450m…
Maersk Drilling’s second drillship, Maersk Valiant, has started its voyage to the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) today after being delivered from Samsung Heavy Industries' (SHI) shipyard in Geoje-Si, South-Korea. Maersk Valiant (pictured) will…
Nearly US$8 billion worth of contracts on the Kaombo mega-project offshore Angola have been announced today, following operator Total’s final investment decision on the project on Monday. An alliance between Technip and Heerema Marine Contractors has won an engineering…
Total has selected Aker Solutions to provide a subsea production system for the Kaombo Block 32 development in Angola. The NOK14 billion contract will see Aker Solutions deliver 20 subsea manifolds and 65 vertical subsea wellsets. The…
Total and its partners are to move ahead with the 650MM bbl, deepwater Kaombo project offshore Angola after cutting US$4 billion from the capex costs on the project. Kaombo will develop six of 12 discoveries made in Block 32, covering 800sq km…
Aker Solutions has won a contract worth more than US$300 million from Petrobras to supply eight manifolds that alternately inject water and gas to increase oil recovery from Brazil's deepwater offshore fields. The subsea manifolds, designed for 2500m water depth…
Deepwater drilling is no longer just about exploration. Lars Eirik Nocolaisen looks at market sentiment and potential reality. Reporting season 1Q 2014 saw deepwater drillers’ reporting numbers in-line with expectations, but still stock prices have plummeted…
Infield analyst Edward Richardson examines whether the newbuild rig market is heading for deeper waters. History shows us that when oil prices are high operators seek to expedite the development of existing reserves and prove up additional resources…
Douglas-Westwood (DW) has forecast that the global autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) fleet will increase 42% during 2014-2018, compared to the previous five years. The fleet is forecast to total 825 units in 2018, led by strong demand in the military sector…
Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) announced the completion of two new shore base locations to house its well containment equipment available for use in the US Gulf of Mexico. In addition, this year marks the three-year anniversary of…
The government of Myanmar (Burma) has named Chevron, BG Group, Statoil, Woodside Energy, Shell, and ENI, among others, as selected candidates for its 2013 offshore licensing round. The move follows the lifting of Western sanctions in 2012…
The National Assembly of the Comoros, a sovereign archipelago island nation east of Mozambiue, Africa, has ratified a production sharing contract with Bahari Resources. The PSC, covering offshore blocks 35, 36, and 37 (previously named blocks A…
Ophir Energy’s deepwater Padouck Deep-1 well, in the Ntsina block, offshore Gabon, has completed drilling and found no significant hydrocarbons. London-based Ophir said the well, drilled with the Vantage Titanium Explorer, was targeting…
The Sunbird-1 exploration well in area L10A offshore southern Kenya is to be plugged and abandoned after finding hydrocarbons. Pancontinental Oil & Gas, which holds 18.75% WI in the BG Group-operated well, said while hydrocarbons were found…