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17 December 2018
CHC Announces New Contract with OMV to Support Norwegian Sea Drilling Program
CHC Group announced it has been awarded the contract from OMV (Norge) AS, to provide helicopter services in support of their forthcoming drilling program at the PL 644 field in the Norwegian Sea.The operation will begin in Q2l 2019 flying to the Deepsea Bergen drilling rig from CHC's base in…
17 December 2018
Australia: In Line with its Discipline on Capital Allocation, Total Reduces its Stake in Ichthys LNG by 4%
Total has signed an agreement to divest a 4% interest in the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia to operating partner INPEX for an overall consideration of 1.6 billion USD. The transaction, which is subject to Australian regulatory approvals, reduces Total’s interest in the asset to 26%.At full…
17 December 2018
Siccar Point Energy Increases Existing Reserves Based Lending Facility
Siccar Point Energy has signed an agreement with its existing syndicate of banks to increase and extend its existing Reserves Based Lending Facility (“RBL”). Key features are: - Increase in facility limit from $600 million to $800 million. Availability under the RBL has also increased to over $700 million. -…
17 December 2018
Nordic American Offshore Ltd. – Private Placement and Senior Management and Board Appointments
Nordic American Offshore Ltd. announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Scorpio Offshore Investments Inc., a closely held company owned and controlled by the Lolli-Ghetti family, including Emanuele Lauro (“Scorpio”), pursuant to which Scorpio has invested USD 5,000,000 in a private placement of the Company’s common…
17 December 2018
Area Fee Rates to be Adjusted
The area fee rates in Section 39 (1) of the Petroleum Regulations will be adjusted effective 1 January 2019.The Statistics Norway (SSB) consumer price index is the basis for the adjustment. The new rates are as follows:"After expiration of the period stipulated pursuant to Section 3-9 (1)(1), the area fee…
17 December 2018
Dry Well and Minor Oil Discovery Southwest of the Vega Field in the North Sea – 35/10-4 S and 35/10-4 A
Equinor Energy AS, operator of production licence 630, has completed the drilling of wildcat wells 35/10-4 S and 35/10-4 A.The wells were drilled about ten kilometres southwest of the Vega field in the northern part of the North Sea.The primary exploration target for well 35/10-4 S was to prove petroleum…
17 December 2018
Attractive Refinancing of the Dudgeon Wind Farm
The owners of the Dudgeon wind farm, Equinor, Masdar and China Resources Group, have signed a hybrid refinancing of GBP 1.4 billion. The refinancing includes commercial bank debt and senior secured notes privately placed with institutional investors. Both tranches have been oversubscribed, underpinning strong investor interest. The A- (EXP) rating…
17 December 2018
Magseis ASA Awarded Contract in the North Sea
Magseis is in the process of finalising a contract with an undisclosed client for the provision of a 4D seabed seismic acquisition survey in the North Sea. Magseis will mobilise a MASS-Modular crew for the project. The duration of the contract is estimated at approximately 2 months and will commence…
17 December 2018
Western Gas Selects McDermott and BHGE as Development Partner for Equus Gas Project in Australia
McDermott International, Inc. announced they, with Baker Hughes, a GE company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Western Gas Corporation Pty Ltd to be the exclusive development partners for the Equus Gas Project in Western Australia. The companies were also awarded a contract to support the planning phases…
17 December 2018
ExxonMobil Makes Final Investment Decision to Develop West Barracouta Gas Project
ExxonMobil said that it has made a final investment decision to develop the West Barracouta gas field in Bass Strait to bring new gas supplies to the Australian domestic market. The project, located in the VIC/L1 block offshore Victoria, is part of the company’s continuing investment in the Gippsland Basin.The…
17 December 2018
Total Strengthens Its Exploration Position In Mauritania
Total and the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines of Mauritania have signed an agreement awarding Total two new exploration and production contracts for Blocks C15 and C31 deep offshore Mauritania, covering an area of 14,175 square kilometers. According to the terms of the contracts, Total will be the operator…
17 December 2018
OGA Releases New Data Packages to Revitalise Greater Buchan Area
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) is continuing to make more and more data openly available to help revitalise exploration of oil and gas in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).At PROSPEX 2018, OGA announced their latest significant data release, the publication of a suite of subsurface data packages for the…
17 December 2018
Construction Start for Next Phase of Norway’s Upcoming Major Income Source
On 13 December, Kvaerner and Aker Solutions cut the first steel plate for phase 2 of the Johan Sverdrup offshore field development. After start of oil production starts, this installation will become one of Norway’s most important income sources for the coming decades. The Johan Sverdrup development, including phase 1…
12 December 2018
Hess Announces 2019 E&P Capital and Exploratory Budget
Focus on High Return Investments to Deliver Capital Efficient Production Growth and Significant Future Free Cash FlowHess Corporation announced a 2019 E&P capital and exploratory budget of $2.9 billion. Of this, approximately 75 percent will be allocated to high return growth assets in the Bakken and Guyana.Net production is forecast…
12 December 2018
ConocoPhillips Announces 2019 Capital Budget and Operating Plan; Recent Oil Price Volatility Highlights Investment Appeal of Company’s Differentiated Value Proposition
ConocoPhillips announced its 2019 capital expenditure budget and operating plan. The operating plan reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to free cash flow generation, differentiated payout to shareholders and superior financial returns through business cycles. The 2019 operating plan is expected to continue driving underlying improvement in return on capital employed.…
12 December 2018
Ithaca Energy: GSA Acquisitions Completed
Ithaca Energy Limited reported that it has completed the previously announced transactions to acquire all the Greater Stella Area (“GSA”) licences and associated infrastructure interests of Dyas UK Limited and Petrofac Limited. The acquisition materially increases the Company’s production and reserves base, while simultaneously delivering full control and flexibility over…
12 December 2018
Cooper Energy: Sole Pipeline Pressure Test Successful
Cooper Energy provided the following update to its announcement of 12 November 2018 which reported that the pipeline installation contractor had identified an anomaly in the form of a through wall thickness opening at one location in the pipeline during performance of pipeline acceptance pressure testing (hydrotest).The pipeline installation contractor…
12 December 2018
UTEC Awarded Multi-Vessel Survey Work Offshore India
UTEC, a global surveying company in subsea services group Acteon, has been awarded a subcontract for a series of survey work scopes by McDermott International, offshore eastern India.UTEC will provide surface and subsea positioning services during the installation of subsea flowlines, PLEM (Pipeline End Manifold) and PLETs (Pipeline End Terminations),…
12 December 2018
Dry Well Near the Njord Field in the Norwegian Sea - 6407/11-1
Equinor Energy AS, operator of production licence 751, is in the process of concluding the drilling of wildcat well 6407/11-1. The well is dry.The well has been drilled about 15 kilometres southeast of the Njord field and 120 kilometres north of Kristiansund.The primary exploration target for the well was to…
12 December 2018
i3 Energy Provides Serenity Update
i3 Energy plc, an independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK, has released a new presentation on its website which provides additional information regarding its Serenity prospect. The Company will be presenting this material as part of its participation at the PROSPEX 2018 oil and…
12 December 2018
Milestone Coastal Wind Project for Seaway Offshore Cables
Seaway Offshore Cables (SOC), in combination with Subsea 7, has been awarded its first US offshore wind project by Ørsted Wind Power North America LLC who are constructing the project for Dominion Energy.This turnkey cable supply and cable installation contract for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) Project marks the continued…
12 December 2018
Drilling Permit for Well 35/4-2 in Production Licence 931
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Wellesley Petroleum AS a drilling permit for well 35/4-2, cf. Section 15 of the Resource Management Regulations.Well 35/4-2 will be drilled from the Transocean Arctic drilling facility in position 61°36'02.54" North and 03°12'19.21" East.The drilling programme for well 35/4-2 relates to the drilling of…
12 December 2018
Captain Field Development Plan Approval
Chevron North Sea Limited (CNSL), operator of the Captain Field, announced that the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has approved the Field Development Plan (FDP) to progress its Captain Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project in the U.K. Central North Sea.Through the application of polymer injection technology, the Captain EOR project…
11 December 2018
Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board Issues Call For Bids
The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) has issued Call for Bids NS18-3, which includes two industry-nominated parcels. Bids must be received by May 8, 2019 before 4:00 p.m. Atlantic Time. Successful bidder(s) may be awarded Exploration Licences (ELs), subject to the federal and provincial Ministerial review and approval process…
11 December 2018
Eni Announces a New Oil Discovery in Block 15/06, Offshore Angola
Eni struck a new oil discovery in the Afoxé exploration prospect located in Block 15/06, offshore Angola. The discovery is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million barrels of light oil in place.The Afoxé-1 NFW well, which has led to the new oil discovery, is located in the south-east…
11 December 2018
Eni Announces the Start-up of Vandumbu Field in Block 15/06, Offshore Angola
Eni started production from the Vandumbu field in Block 15/06, approximately 350 km North West of Luanda and 130 km West of Soyo, through West Hub N’Goma FPSO.First oil from the Vandumbu field was achieved on late November 2018, three months ahead of schedule. This, along with the start-up of…
11 December 2018
GC Rieber Shipping: Shearwater GeoServices Awarded Projects Equivalent to 8 Vessel Months
GC Rieber Shipping ASA's 20% owned geoservices company Shearwater GeoServices has been awarded projects equivalent to 8 vessel months in the Arabian Sea.Eni Oman BV in partnership with Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production has awarded Shearwater a seismic survey in Block 52, offshore Oman. The survey, due to commence…
11 December 2018
Drilling Permit for Well 36/1-3 in Production Licence 885
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Equinor Energy AS a drilling permit for well 36/1-3, cf. Section 15 of the Resource Management Regulations.Well 36/1-3 will be drilled from the Transocean Spitsbergen drilling facility in position 61°48'14.14"N and 4°6'53.41"E.The drilling programme for well 36/1-3 relates to the drilling of wildcat wells…
11 December 2018
Vår Energi Established As Norway’s New, Leading E&P Company
On 10 December, after receiving appropriate approvals, the merger between Point Resources AS and Eni Norge AS has concluded. The two companies have joined forces to create Vår Energi AS, with a new organisation of about 800 employees.Vår Energi is the largest independent exploration and production (E&P) company on the…
11 December 2018
Neptune Energy Completes Integration of VNG Norge
Neptune Energy Norge takes operatorship and equity in Fenja fieldNeptune Energy announced it has completed the integration with the former VNG Norge business. The integrated business, 'Neptune Energy Norge', will be amongst the top five independent producers on the Norwegian Continental Shelf(1) and will become the operator of the Fenja…
10 December 2018
Equinor Completes Sale of Non-core Asset on UK Continental Shelf
Equinor and Verus Petroleum have completed their previously announced transaction, whereby Equinor has sold its 17% non-operated interest in the Alba oil field.Alba is located in the Central North Sea. Equinor’s equity production in 2017 was around 2,300 barrels of oil a day.
10 December 2018
Akastor ASA: First Geo and AGR Combine to Create Leading Provider of Well, Reservoir and Software Services
Akastor ASA, through its wholly owned subsidiary Akastor AS, has entered into agreements with Silverfleet Capital, DNB Bank ASA and Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge to combine AGR Bidco AS with First Geo AS. The Transaction will be carried out primarily as an asset deal, whereby assets in the…
10 December 2018
Azinor Catalyst: Operational Update and LOI Received for Acquisition of Interests in Three Planned Exploration Wells
Azinor Catalyst Limited, the Seacrest Capital Group-backed E&P Company focused on the UK Continental Shelf, announced that it has received a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) for the acquisition of material non-operated interests in three exploration wells planned for 2019 on Catalyst’s Boaz, Goose and Hinson prospects. The three independent prospects…
10 December 2018
Nexans Strengthens its Focus on Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) Services with a Dedicated Team of IMR Experts
The world relies increasingly on high voltage offshore cable connections to ensure the continuous and reliable flow of power. As these critical connections grow longer and with higher capacity, there is an increasing statistical risk of them being damaged by external factors, such as fishing activities. To address these challenges…
10 December 2018
Wello Launch Penguin WEC2 for H2020 CEFOW Array
Finnish wave energy developer, Wello Oy, have launched the next iteration of their Penguin wave energy converter (WEC) into the water in Tallinn, Estonia, as part of the CEFOW (Clean Energy From Ocean Waves) project.The Penguin WEC2 is due to be towed to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in…
10 December 2018
Qatar Petroleum Signs an Exploration Agreement Marking its First Entry into the Republic of Mozambique
Qatar Petroleum entered into an agreement with an ExxonMobil affiliate to acquire a 10% participating interest in three offshore exploration blocks in the Angoche and Zambezi basins in the Republic of Mozambique.The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals by the government of Mozambique. Following such approval, the various partners…
10 December 2018
Coro Energy Plc: Joint Technical Study, Offshore Malaysia
Coro announced that it has agreed with Petroliam Nasional Berhad ("PETRONAS") to conduct a joint technical study over Block 2A, Offshore Malaysia.The Block 2A Joint StudyUnder the terms of the Study Coro will have permission to conduct an extensive technical analysis of the acreage, thereafter Coro will have the option…
10 December 2018
Eni Announces the Entry of Mubadala Petroleum and BP as New Partners in Nour Concession in Egypt
Eni announced that the sale of a 20% participating interest to Mubadala Petroleum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, and a 25% participating interest to BP in the Nour North Sinai Offshore concession, Egypt, have now been approved by the Egyptian Government. The transactions were approved during a ceremony…
10 December 2018
Siemens Wins Order for its Largest Offshore Grid Connection in the UK to date
Siemens has been awarded an order to connect the 950MW Moray East offshore wind farm to the grid.Moray East is being developed by a joint venture company owned by EDP Renewables, a subsidiary of the Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal, ENGIE, a global energy and services group based in Paris,…
10 December 2018
Siemens Supplies World's First Lithium-ion Battery Solution for Offshore Drilling Rig
The long-term sustainability of the offshore oil and gas sector is predicated on reducing costs and minimizing projects' environmental impacts. Drawing off its extensive experience in the electrification of marine assets, Siemens has taken a significant step on the way to helping the industry achieve those goals by supplying the…
7 December 2018
Green Light to Uniquely Profitable Project
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has approved the plan for development and operation (PDO) of the Troll Phase 3 development. Capital expenditures of NOK 7.8 billion will help extend the productive life of the Troll field beyond 2050.A unique oil and gas field globally Troll generates highly important to…
7 December 2018
Sparrows Signs Five-year Servicing Order with Pemex Procurement International, Inc.
Sparrows Group has signed a five-year blanket order with Pemex Procurement International, Inc. acting on behalf of Pemex Exploracion y Produccion (PEP) to service 41 of its cranes situated on assets in four of the Mexican national oil company’s developments in the region. As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the…
7 December 2018
Quick Plugging of Shut-in Wells at Valhall
Through utilisation of the PWC® (Perforate, Wash & Cement) plug and abandonment method (P&A) on the Valhall field, HydraWell has contributed towards Aker BP executing its plugging programme significantly quicker than planned. Since May 2017, HydraWell has contributed towards plugging 10 shut-in wells on the original drilling platform (DP) at…
7 December 2018
Eni Norge: Battery Hybridisation of Stril Barents
Eni Norge AS and Simon Møkster Shipping have reached an agreement to ensure significant reductions in the fuel consumption of the vessel Stril Barents supporting the Goliat field. A system including Shore Power connection and Energy storage (Battery) will be installed on board.The system will provide better control and higher…
7 December 2018
Carbon Capture Storage Licence Awarded
The Oil and Gas Authority announced it has awarded its first carbon dioxide (CO2) appraisal and storage licence as an independent regulator.The award has been made to Pale Blue Dot Energy (Acorn) Ltd (PBD) for the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project. The project seeks to re-use existing oil…
7 December 2018
Sapura Energy Berhad: Award of Contract for ONGC KG-DWN-98/2 Nelp Block in India from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (OGNC)
The Board of Directors of Sapura Energy Berhad announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sapura Fabrication Sdn Bhd jointly in a consortium with Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the flagship Engineering Procurement Construction infrastructure arm of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has been awarded with a contract for Offshore Process Platform (Central Processing Platform…
7 December 2018
Chevron Announces $20 Billion Capital and Exploratory Budget for 2019
Chevron Corporation announced a 2019 organic capital and exploratory spending program of $20 billion.Details of the 2019 Capital and Exploratory Spending Program can be found here.In the upstream business, approximately $10.4 billion is forecasted to sustain and grow currently producing assets, including $3.6 billion for the Permian and $1.6 billion…
7 December 2018
Tower Resources: Cameroon Drilling Contract for the Proposed NJOM-3 Well
Tower Resources plc, the oil and gas company with its focus on Africa, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Tower Resources Cameroon S.A, has signed a contract with Vantage Drilling International for the Topaz Driller jack-up rig to provide drilling operations for the NJOM-3 well which is planned for Tower’s…
7 December 2018
Premier Oil: Completion of the Babbage Area Sale & Operations Update
Completion of the Babbage Area salePremier announced that following receipt of necessary approvals, the sale of its interests in the Babbage Area to Verus Petroleum SNS Ltd (Verus) has now completed.Premier has received £30.3 million ($38.7 million), after adjustments for Babbage cash flows collected by Premier since the effective date…
7 December 2018
Ophir Provides an Update on Recent Drilling Activity in Indonesia and Thailand
Paus Biru Gas Discovery, Sampang PSC, IndonesiaThe Paus Biru-1 exploration well has resulted in a gas discovery. The well was drilled to a total measured depth (MD) of 710 metres and encountered 29 metres of estimated net pay within the target Mundu formation carbonate reservoir.A drill stem test (DST) taken…